Charles and I just returned from a trip along Florida's Atlantic Coast. No, we aren't sailing yet. This was a road trip in my Saturn wagon. Our intention was to get out of Charleston for a couple days and view some boats for sale in marinas along the coast. We have spent a lot of time looking at boats here in Chuck-town. Boats in Florida and in the islands all seem to be 10-20k cheaper than the boats here. We have not figured out why and personally I am quietly hoping it has nothing to do with the words "impending doom".
We found some great potential boats on Boats.com and decided to enlist the help of a local broker/friend of a friend, to help us out. Although this broker is great, I have determined they are not necessary to purchase a boat; unless it' your first sailboat and you have little to no experience sailing. A broker is a necessity in our case. Tracy has been wonderful.
So from the list of potential boats we found, Tracy called the brokers to make appointments for us. After weeding through the brokers who refused to meet with us because they had "weekend plans", or refused to show any boat on the Lord's Day; we managed to schedule four appointments on our route from Charleston to Ft. Lauderdale.
The first boat...an 89 Morgan Classic 41 was beautiful. We have seen a lot of boats thus far and she was pristine. Since we have to lean on our surveyor to tell us what she is really worth, all Charles and I can do is admire the space. She was clean, comfortable, had good storage, a fully enclosed dodger, and all the electronics needed for a wild adventure north, south, east and west. Her current owner is a single guy who wanted an escape. He is ready to get back on board, or off board I guess, and sell the boat. The best part...she was originally from Charleston, SC.
What we didn't like is that there was not a dive platform off the back, which is a non-negotiable not previously mentioned. Charles is a treasure hunter and needs the platform for diving off the boat. I love scuba diving, and would also benefit from the platform. We would have to research adding this to the boat if it were our choice.
The second boat was a 91 Beneteau 40. She was also very clean. Kept in great condition. I really liked her, but after seeing the 41 Morgan, Charles was baffled at how small it felt.
The Third boat was a 39 Cal. This boat was not very clean, and was lacking the love she needed to share her story with potential buyers. She had a fowl odor, despite only having one head. The broker knew absolutely nothing about the boat. He was not a sailor. One of the windows was leaking and the broker sadly sighed under his breath, "well that'll have to be fixed I guess". He couldn't show us much. Charles and I searched for things that were in the listing. We ended up finding some, but never could find the water maker. He showed us a Gulf Star as well. Uh...no. The poor girl had a lot of water damage. Some of the spots in the floor were so soft I really don't think anyone should have been on the boat.
The last boat was an 87 Morgan OutIslander 43. She was a fixer upper and "does not show well" according to the broker. He was right. I had trouble seeing past the garbage and the Playboy Magazines proudly displayed by whomever was obviously living on the boat. We politely moved on. The moral of the story...if you want someone to buy what you are selling, spend an hour making it look good. Or maybe just flush the head a couple times.
So Charles and I really liked the first Morgan. We even went back on our drive home and looked at her again. She seems to have everything we think we need. I know there is no perfect boat. Just a boat with which you can be happy. I think we could be happy with the 41 Morgan. We plan to make an offer and I will keep you posted!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
A goal is a dream with a deadline
Charles and I (Megan) are chasing a dream. With all the F-ed up things going on in the world we thought that maybe our story might be worth documenting. We are in our young 30s and looking to celebrate our financial success by circumnavigating the world in a sailboat. Irresponsible? Foolish? Weird? Insane? Dangerous? Selfish?
These are the doubts that fill my quiet moments. But I take a deep breath and realize that safety, comfort, stability, and security are out numbered; not to mention incredibly BORING!!! Not boring in the 3:30 on a Friday sense; more like I would rather lay down and never wake up kind of boring. Where are we without our dreams? Ahh, I don't want to think about it.
Charles and I don't want to live the life that we were programmed to live. We want to see, feel, and hear what makes up this world. What better way to experience this than through sailing? Our goal is to find a boat we can make our home, learn to sail, and eventually sail away. Yes, I said we need to learn to sail. Charles and I have had sailing experience, but very limited. We have a lot to learn.
Our plan is to post most of our success stories as well as our humiliating failuries. Hopefully this will give you all some perspective before you judge us. I guess my hope is that you won't judge us, but hell judgement is so obviously a part of our human nature.
So we are in the process of looking for a boat. My non-negotiables are safety, comfort, stability, and security. Hmmm, sounds familiar. Charles' non-negotiables are the same; however he is more into the comfort and I am more into the safety. We both have friends who sail and are more than willing to offer their advice. We are very thankful for it, but have also realized it is most important for us to follow our own instincts; as sailing is like religion. Everyone has an opinion, and you are damned to hell if you don't choose the right one.
We also have a budget that requires we look at boats built between 1989 and 2000. We prefer 2 cabins and 2 heads, but we can get by with 1 head as long as it has an enclosed shower. We want a boat that has most everything we need in order to take off on our trip. We would like to finance a majority of the cost so that we can break it all down into a monthly budget. Realistically I am sure we will take some of these costs on as even boats with "everything" have problems and replacement needs.
We are focusing on Endeavor, Beneteau, Morgan, Pearson, Catalina, Jeanneau, Hunter, and we will keep you posted!
I am off to drink some wine and watch Family Guy...and prepare for circumnavigation. Oh, and a goal is a dream with a deadline; our deadline is May 08'. Ready or not...
These are the doubts that fill my quiet moments. But I take a deep breath and realize that safety, comfort, stability, and security are out numbered; not to mention incredibly BORING!!! Not boring in the 3:30 on a Friday sense; more like I would rather lay down and never wake up kind of boring. Where are we without our dreams? Ahh, I don't want to think about it.
Charles and I don't want to live the life that we were programmed to live. We want to see, feel, and hear what makes up this world. What better way to experience this than through sailing? Our goal is to find a boat we can make our home, learn to sail, and eventually sail away. Yes, I said we need to learn to sail. Charles and I have had sailing experience, but very limited. We have a lot to learn.
Our plan is to post most of our success stories as well as our humiliating failuries. Hopefully this will give you all some perspective before you judge us. I guess my hope is that you won't judge us, but hell judgement is so obviously a part of our human nature.
So we are in the process of looking for a boat. My non-negotiables are safety, comfort, stability, and security. Hmmm, sounds familiar. Charles' non-negotiables are the same; however he is more into the comfort and I am more into the safety. We both have friends who sail and are more than willing to offer their advice. We are very thankful for it, but have also realized it is most important for us to follow our own instincts; as sailing is like religion. Everyone has an opinion, and you are damned to hell if you don't choose the right one.
We also have a budget that requires we look at boats built between 1989 and 2000. We prefer 2 cabins and 2 heads, but we can get by with 1 head as long as it has an enclosed shower. We want a boat that has most everything we need in order to take off on our trip. We would like to finance a majority of the cost so that we can break it all down into a monthly budget. Realistically I am sure we will take some of these costs on as even boats with "everything" have problems and replacement needs.
We are focusing on Endeavor, Beneteau, Morgan, Pearson, Catalina, Jeanneau, Hunter, and we will keep you posted!
I am off to drink some wine and watch Family Guy...and prepare for circumnavigation. Oh, and a goal is a dream with a deadline; our deadline is May 08'. Ready or not...
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