November 2013: The Adventure Begins

It was early November, 2013, and the plan was to go look at a couple of boats. I admit it, I had "boat fever", and just wanted to feel a deck under my feet. My old and good friend Mad Dog and I drove over to Seattle, WA, from Moscow, ID late on the fifth of November ... it was a six hour drive on a rainy Tuesday evening. We had appointments to look at two different (but similar) Ingrid 38 sailboats ... one on Wednesday, and another on Thursday, before returning to Moscow on Friday.

Wednesday morning we took the ferry out to where the first Ingrid was berthed, and were pretty excited about the prospect of "boat shopping"! While visiting the first Ingrid, we noticed a boat similar to a Hans Christian at the marina and made an inquiry about her ... turned out to be a Young Sun 35. Nice boat ... clean, nice lines, and well built ... but certainly a bit out of my price range. We did some further investigating into Young Sun boats that night, and found another for sale near where our second Ingrid appointment was located. Same year, same sail plan, basically the same boat but with a much reduced asking price. We endeavored to visit that YS Thursday afternoon.

Thursday dawned fairly nice ... a beautiful sunny day ... a bit cool, but a nice, crisp, fall morning. The second Ingrid was fairly nice. She needed some interior finishing work, but she felt good and solid ... and seemed to fit the bill. We spent three hours looking her over and discussing her pros and cons with the seller. Had to seriously consider this boat ... but I wanted to check out the second YS prior to making any kind of decision. And I really wasn't planning on making a purchase anyway.

By the time we arrived at Seattle Yachts at Shilshole Bay Marina, the weather had turned nasty ... cold, brisk, gusty winds, and driving rain! Bob the Broker wasn't too excited about taking us out to the boat, given the weather and being that we didn't have an appointment ... I think he considered us "hull kickers". He finally relented, and out through the pissy weather we trudged. Bob grumbled all the way; he was missing lunch, and wondering why anyone would want to look at a boat on a day as bad as that. We insisted there was no better day to look at a boat; if she showed well on a day that crummy, then she would likely be a keeper! Finally aboard, we pulled up floorboards, looked through all the cupboards and lockers, checked the bilge, perused the electronics board, paced the deck ... and Bob politely asked if we were smugglers.

Well, she was nice. Her name was "Amiga". She's a solid boat, clean, with a dry bilge ... no bad odors, lots of salty wood ... nice lines. I liked her. She felt good, snug and homey. Back in the office, while Bob finally had his hot soup lunch, Mad Dog and I looked over the most recent survey, from November 2012. Nothing screamed "BAD BOAT" ... so when Bob came back and asked what we thought, I said, "I'd like to buy her". Hmmm ... I couldn't believe I just said that ... and Bob was a bit stunned as well ... he really wasn't the broker for the sailboats (he's a power boat guy), and the broker who was supposed to be handling Amiga was not there that day. But he was patient with us, and walked me through the steps, as this was my first large boat purchasing experience.

The 2012 survey valued Amiga at $47K ... the owner (a recent widow) had originally put her on the market at $49K ... but after two months, she had just been reduced to $39K. I offered $35K ... and Dog and I ran to the bank to get a cashier's check cut for a 10% deposit. After returning to the marina, and dropping the deposit off with Bob, we shook hands, made our goodbyes, and headed back to Moscow. Bob's final question to us was, "Really, who are you guys"?!

Mad Dog and I ate dinner at a local pizza place in Ballard that night ... a place called something like the "The Flying Squirrel". It was a former Chinese restaurant, and had a very odd, eclectic feel to it. But it was good food, friendly service, and tasty beer. We chatted about the Young sun, and her potential, and I just felt very good about the whole deal. I was a bit excited about the prospect of owning her, but really didn't expect my offer to be taken seriously.

We arrived back in Moscow Friday afternoon, and as we were unloading Mad Dog's stuff from the car, my phone rang; it was Bob the Broker. The owner had considered my offer, and countered with $36K ... pretty much accepting my offer, but adding on $1K to cover her moorage costs with the brokerage. How could I not take this deal ... she was basically being handed to me on a silver platter? I liked the boat ... she seemed solid and seaworthy ... and the price was right ... I could easily afford her. But she was a bit smaller than I originally wanted (35 feet LOA as opposed to my wishes of 45) ... she had a forward V-berth (I wanted an aft berth) ... and she had teak decks (which I swore for years I would not have). But she felt like home when we sat around in the salon ... and she would be much easier to single or double hand ... she had a beautiful canoe-stern, a full keel, and from all accounts we had read, the Young Sun 35 was a true blue water cruiser. My bluff had been called, and now it was up to me to make a decision. The next thing I knew I had accepted the counter, pending a sea trial and a new survey ... and so the deal was fairly struck. And all I could do was smile!

(As a bit of a caveat, I'd like to say that I have been truthful about the finances here, and will continue to be. I would like others to know what kind of costs to expect when shopping for their dreams. I'd also like to publicly thank the former owner of Amiga for selling her to me ... I expect that it may have been a difficult decision, and I'm sure it was an emotional one ... thank you very much for helping me move closer to my dream of world cruising!)

Lutra (originally Clear Horizon, and more recently named Amiga) ... sitting peacefully at the Seattle Yachts brokerage docks, Shilshole Bay Marina, Seattle, WA (07 Nov 2013):



Lutra ... portside, looking forward (07 Nov 2013):




So, that's all for now ... next ... the sea trial!