survey says....

Our survey, which took 10 hours over 2 days ("thorough" is the word of the day if you plan to make such a huge purchase and want to know without a doubt that your future home will, in fact, float while you are living aboard it) turned up various issues on the boat we are under contract to buy. Some of them we knew about and some were a surprise (not the good kind, mind you!). We used a gentleman out of Green Bay, WI named Ben Miller (who I highly recommend. I am happy to pass along his contact info for those in the market for a survey.) and after lots of discussing with him and between us, we approached the seller/brokerage with our list of "issues". We fully expected they would fix at least the very minimum problems in order to move forward with the sea trial. Those issues were more safety and structural in nature and ABSOLUTELY HAD to be addressed before putting the boat in the water, mast up, sails on, etc. Surprise of surprises, they have agreed to fix almost all of the items on the list! We should hear back today or tomorrow about the schedule of the maintenance and when we can get her into the water to complete the sea trial. We are beyond excited with the response and are already making our own little "to do" list of things we want to upgrade once she is ours :-)

sale pending.

As this process has been progressing, it seems slow to an unbelievably impatient person such as myself. I've been trying to tell myself that good things come to those who wait and in that I've been contenting myself with the little things--one of which is the photo below. We've been waiting and checking every day for the listing for the boat to change to "sale pending". It's small but I'll take it :-)

Next up is a marine survey including the rigging, scheduled for Monday and the sea trial scheduled for Friday. Unfortunately, I will be in Vegas for the sea trial but if all goes well we'll be closing on her the following week and be enjoying the last of summer on her by the weekend!

offer: accepted.

News, you guys! We are thrilled, though cautiously optimistic, to announce that our offer was accepted. Many steps are still between us and our dream boat but this is the first step in the right direction. Surveys and a sea trial will be scheduled beginning next week. More to come...

and we're off.

We JUST sent off our offer to the brokerage. We feel confident and excited about this huge decision. We'll keep you posted!

make 'em an offer....hopefully one they won't refuse.

You guys, this is stressful. We looked at the Union 36 again on Friday, toting along our laundry list of things to consider (the list Mr. Nigel Calder has in his book Cruising Handbook). On the way home we threw out concerns and ideas for upgrades, and of course next steps. This boat is slightly different than previous boats we've seen in that it's owned by a brokerage, not an individual. What does this mean, exactly? That's what we are trying to figure out. Actually, we feel it puts us in a good position. This particular brokerage is associated with a marina and has its own shop for repairs, upgrades, and just all around knowledgeable people. So we have the distinct comfort of knowing that any repairs necessary will be performed by professionals. The next steps: we'll make an offer, make sure the surveyor inspects the issues we feel the boat already needs fixed and hopefully they'll agree to fix them. We actually feel as if the boat is very well outfitted for our purposes. And in excellent condition. Fingers crossed!

back in the cockpit again.

After the disappointment that was Serena, I had been feeling sour. In my excited impatience, I thought this might actually go smoothly. How immature of me! I mean, it is after all, a floating house. Making a huge purchase of something with so many moving pieces, is fraught with complications. Look at our friends over at Windtraveler who are further along in the buying process. Analysis paralysis and blips, indeed. 

There are still many variables at play in our situation so again, hiccups and all, I feel pretty great about saying that we are back in the cockpit again. On the prowl and ready to pounce on a gem. I believe there are two that are very real, if slightly unattainable options on our horizon. Both are from the Robert Perry design catalog. One is 35' and one is 36' and both are priced within $5,000 of each other. They have full keels, and a classic look full of teak (oh my, when I saw both of them I swooned). Both are sturdy and sea-kindly to those of us with weaker constitutions. One is slightly better outfitted with a few features we want (brand spanking new engine and single-sideband radio, hello!). Actually, as I write this, I realize that the one with the new engine has even better berthing options as well and has already seen the Caribbean and been majorly upgraded in the last year ($40,000 worth). We are planning to see the more local one later this week and see if we still have that feeling about her. Fingers crossed. 

winner, winner chicken dinner

After a long day at the boatyards yesterday, I think we have a winner. 
We have been looking pretty carefully over 2 different boats. One was Serena, the 38 Morgan from the previous post and the other was Hopscotch, a 36' Canadian Sailcraft. Hopscotch was the very first boat we looked over during our first soujourn to the south side a few weeks ago. It was a fluke that we even got to see her. She's not even been put on the market but the lovely people at Skyway Yacht Works happened to be friends with the owner and knew he was looking to sell. Long story short, we boarded her and found she had lots of what we were looking for in a cruising boat. 
Do you know how exhausting it is to look at boats?! There are so many things to be on the look-out for. They'd all begun to blend together, so we went back a second time and saw all the boats we were definitely interested in, and took some photos. Yesterday was the third and final visit. We took our trusty checklist of things to look for while combing over both Serena and Hopscotch. Nigel Calder's Cruising Handbook: A Compendium for Coastal and Offshore Sailors has been a huge help in moving forward in our plans to cruise. At the back of this book, Nigel has this monstrous checklist of things to look for when purchasing a boat. We are talking 15 pages long. Single spaced. We embarked on the checklist for both boats. I sat at the navigational station of each boat and read all the items aloud and we investigated every single one of them. Josh had come prepared with magnets, a head lamp, a pen light, and an inspection mirror. What we thought might take a few hours ended up taking six when all was said and done. Whew! Both vessels had some issues that need to be addressed but in the end, both Josh and I were leaning towards Serena. We are currently doing the math upgrades and repairs that will be needed on this hot little momma and will hopefully be making an offer on her very soon.

serena

That might be her name.
Over the past few weekends, we have been looking at boats. We've looked before but never with such purpose. What's different? We're closer than we ever have been to casting off. Really. I know I said that along time ago, but this time it's true.
We've probably seen a few dozen boats. So many, in fact, that they all seem to blur together into some sort of mega-boat, à la Megatron—a boat with super powers that transforms into a jack-knife AND segway. Or not. What has actually happened is that we've narrowed down the field to two. Probably just one, but as Josh is doing his left-brained thing, I can't definitively say it's "the one".
Her name is Serena—a name I can happily live with, since changing a boat name is considered bad luck—and she's a 38' Morgan 382. Built in 1978, she was part of the second iteration of Morgan 38's that were built (the first being Morgan 38—designed and build in the late 60s by Charley Morgan, the second, third and fourth—382, 383 and 384 designed by Ted Brewer in the late 70s then redesigned in 1980 and 1983 under those numbers, respectively). Yes, she's at the top end of our size range (initially we said 32 to 36') but no matter. As she's only 2 feet over, the cost differential is minor. Serena has plenty of bells and whistles that make her attractive to us including: an almost new motor (something like 350 hours which is all but unheard of in a boat in her price range and size), auto pilot, lots of new deck hardware including self-tailing winches, newer sails, new boom, and new Harken battcar main sail system.
She also has some deficits which would require upgrades. Josh wants a chart plotter, she has no bow roller which would mean manually pulling up the anchor (not fun, from what I hear), and most importantly to me, she has no stove or oven. While it's not a deal breaker, it will require some work to install. We'll have to devise a locker storage set-up for the propane which could be a challenge. We will also definitely have to paint the bottom. She's solely been a fresh water boat and does not have sufficient bottom paint to deal with the saltiness in the caribbean.
I'm hoping we can get down to see her on more time this weekend and walk over her and do a literal floor plan of what we would do and how much said upgrades would cost if she were our boat. That way, we know where to start for an offer. Fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted.