One of our ships is scheduled to come in before the end of the year and
we will be enjoying a modest windfall. The MRS has said
"You can use part of this for a new boat, if you want."

After extended contemplation and a thorough look at my options, there's
no way I would spend what it would take to get a new, 40-foot trawler
these days- and most of them are now ridiculously overpowered as we
enter an era of "gotcha" fuel prices.
Plus- I don't find a lot of choices (priced under $way too much) that I
like any more than my present boat.

So, what's goofier? Spending up to several hundred thousand on a boat
that isn't exactly what you'd really want- or spending far more than
your present boat will ever be worth to bring it back to "as new"
condition and do a few upgrades to a 23-year old hull?

Anybody else ever face this same decicion? What did you decide, and are
you happy that you made the decision you did?

BTW, my list of projects to renew, refresh, and upgrade "Indulgence"
would include:

1. Two part poly paint job
2. Preventive epoxy coating of the interior of black iron fuel tanks
3. Bow thruster. (Haven't had one since we bought this single screw
back in the early 90's, might not need one most of the time, but there
have been instances where a bow thruster would have been handy)
4. All exterior brightwork taken to wood and started afresh by a true
professional
5. New swim step
6. Add a davit
7. Upgraded inflatable
8. Replace some water stained interior veneers
9. Replace the galley stove
10. Replace the 1985-era CRT radar
11. Add an autopiot
12. Rebuild the false stack to eliminate a perennial leak on the cabin
top
13. Upgrade to a VacuFlush or Tecma marine toilet

Especially as we already have the new engine from just two years ago,
(and because I like my present boat so much) I'm leaning toward the
upgrade vs. the replacement. My horseback guess is that I could do most
of the list for under $50k, only a small portion of which would be
recoverable if I ever decided to sell....on the other hand, we have
almost a 9% sales tax up this way so it doesn't take the most expensive
boat purchase in history to watch that same $50k fly away in tax
payments with nothing (personal) to show for it at all.