Monday, April 1, 2013

April 1, 2013.

The engine install is going swimmingly. Its moving along slower than I would like but it is going well so I'm encouraged. The folks we're renting the house from are due back by the first of May so we're scrambling to get things done.

With all this on our plate an opportunity has presented itself. Now that we've been here in the heart of Annapolis for a while we've learned an interesting fact. A surprising number of people can't afford their boats. As a result there’s a number of banks that are now unhappy boat owners.

Periodically there are notices in the newspaper about repossessed boat auctions. A lot of these boats are total pieces of shit but that's where the “being local” comes to our advantage. We've put in offers on a few sailboats that I thought we could repair and resell for a tidy profit. We always bid low and somebody has always outbid us.

This week I realized that I've been aboard one of the boats being auctioned and its actually in fabulous shape. We figured “what the hell” and put a low ball offer in. Color us shocked when our offer was accepted. So now the conundrum....

This boat is 15 years newer than our boat so we've decided to finish our refit and sell the Veranda. The difficult part of this decision is that the new boat is a Nordic Tug 39. Thats right, no sails. Bill the powerboater. I think I could pull it off although Christy has her doubts. We could still go to the Bahamas and frequent all the spots we love. Hell, its only got a 4 foot draft, we could get into places we've never dreamed of trying before.



The boats clean, needs minimal work, has a centerline Queen berth, a nice layout and Christy's personal favorite.....a big ass fridge.

I'd have to forget all the rules of the road but I'm getting older so thats bound to happen anyway. I could just plow along indifferent to the havoc left behind in our wake.

If all goes as planned we will be a 2 boat family by the end of the month. Only one boat has a name so we'd like a little help naming the other one. I'm leaning towards “Bullshitter”

13 comments:

Latitude 43 said...

When you are living on a boat with no job, and only boat projects to work on, you tend to forget what day it is. You had me there for a while. Nice boat!
Paul

Deb said...

And a happy April Fools' Day to you as well :)

Deb
S/V Kintala
www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com

TJ said...

Let me check the date on this post again...

Sabrina and Tom said...

OMG - powerboat! Congrats!

~~_/)~~
Sabrina
s/v Honey Ryder Caliber 40 LRC

Anonymous said...

Name it 'April Fools'!

Anonymous said...

Haha. Had me worried there until I saw the date. Good one Bill.

S/V Asilomar - Stephen Luta said...

Another good April Fool's tale. Was about to send you email to request being put on the potential buyers list then looked at calendar.

Anonymous said...

Since you are moving to the semi-dark side, sounds like you found a name she's "The Other One".

About to head to the Keys for a couple of months. Hope to see you this fall.

sv Vixen

Jon and Arline Libby said...

Come on Bill,didn't you forget to post your "Ha Ha April Fools"

But I understand if it's really what you want, hell there's some out there that we'd love too, but I can justify the fuel or afford it.

S/V Veranda said...

If you ever see me on a powerboat, I'm probably being held hostage. I hope all of your April Fools Day was as enjoyable as mine.

Diana said...

I can't believe I fell for it....AGAIN! :)

S/V Veranda said...

and thats one of the reasons I love you girls....

Anonymous said...

Just checking in after the long winter...you had me going!