Well, as those following the saga know, we've settled on a Morgan 46,
whether shoal, deep, ketch, sloop, inner forestay or other configuration, as
the layout and other specs so nearly meet our direct design parameters.

A quickie review for those new to the saga: We started looking in the 30-40
foot, 60k range, in the Virgins (all), with a list of about 50 and going
aboard more than 30. We'd had counseling/haranguing/ridicule to the effect
that it would never happen - both parameters were significantly too small.

The second search, after that proved essentially fruitless, despite some
tantalizing boats, including a very meaningful example of a boat which
eventually sold for just more than half the original asking price, was of
the Florida perimeter, in up to 45 feet and 100k. That list, culled from a
couple of (turned out to be identical - I didn't know that boats.com and
YachtWorld were the same - 1000+ boat searches) had over 80 boats, of which
we boarded nearly 60. The exceptions (60 vs 80) were mostly duplications of
a type which didn't work, which was most of them. However, there *were*
many I'd fit on and be happy with but which didn't meet Lydia's
needs/desires. In the end, we had a long discussion about what those were,
and most of them turned out to be very practical, so I plugged them into my
mentality, as future searching would have to be on my own while she stayed
beavering away at the mortgage-origination business for the bank. We'd seen
a couple of boats which were very attractive, so when I redid the search a
little later, to revisit them, I also added some which met the new criteria.
I went back a few weeks later, knocking out both of our previous interests
as not working, but, out of the ~40 additional boats seen, offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

So, at this point, I'd been aboard legions of boats which didn't fit (I'm
6-4 and refuse to live the rest of my life if I have to hunch to stand or
curl up in a ball to sleep), and the rest didn't fit the layout needs.
Summer passed with us getting married on my front lawn and bidding farewell
to her mother after staying with us (from England) for 3 months. Then, the
search began anew.

This time I was going to see a boat which worked, or we weren't going to get
to go. The geography was from Baltimore to Corpus Christi, and all the
coastline in between. Over 1500 boats searched, and over 200 boats
selected, with (yet again, increased) parameters of up to 47' and 150k, and
not very many duplications of type.

The first leg of that was Baltimore to Charleston, over 60 boats boarded
(most on/off in less than a minute) out of about 80 selected. Hooray...
There were several which *could* fit, all under 45 feet. So, I went back
through the spreadsheet and struck all the remainder over 45'. Heh. I'd
been on a Morgan 46, but it was such a project boat, that my notes made only
passing reference to its being a 'potential type boat' - one which could
work for us - and so those were struck from the list as I overlooked the
type.

The next leg of that search was the Florida perimeter, again. Even after
taking off the over-45 set, there were over 80 boats, and I got aboard more
than 60. However, about halfway through that trip, at Jordan Yachts, since
there were a bunch of boats all in the same place, the broker took me aboard
a bunch which weren't on the list I'd sent him. An amazingly rehabbed M46
was among them. Boinnnnggg! Light-over-my-head cartoon revelation. This
boat works. So, I quickly did a review of current boats available on
YachtWorld and went to see all of the ones in FL, including doubling back to
the west coast at the end of the trip for the last 3. End result of this
trip was an additional few types of boats which could work.

So, after the entire Christmas holidays being spent reviewing the 10+ hours
of videos and reports/writeups I did, we narrowed our focus to only 4 types.
Since we had, now, finally, a range of choices, we also elected to drop the
last leg of this search, eliminating the Gulf coast from north of St.
Petersburg to Corpus. Further review led us to drop all the others and
focus on the M46. Whew. Only about a year of searching, over 3000 boats
researched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded, more than doubling our
original budget, but we now have something which works on all levels.

So, off we go, again, over the New Year's break. We started on the west
coast, looking at one which needed some rehab/upgrades, but at a bargain
price. We took along a recommended craftsman to look at what needed doing,
and were pleasantly surprised at the initial non-binding, verbal, estimate.
That boat was very highly equipped for cruising, including solar, wind and
towed generators, watermaker, and even a washer and dryer. Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

In my research, I'd talked/internetted to as many M46 owners as possible,
and set my mind at ease as to their suitability for our purpose. I also
heard from a couple of FL owners who proved to be invaluable resources.

One offered to have us out sailing with them, and stay overnight. After a
bit of workarounds, we did just that, and got to hang out at their dock,
too, which was another marvelous confirmation of the camaraderie of the
cruising and liveaboard community. Suffice it to say, we enjoyed the sail
and the opportunity to experience a slice of liveaboard with another couple
taking up space. They went with us to the boat which had caused the scales
to fall from my eyes.

The other was an original owner of 23 years who'd just finished over 70k in
work on his boat. Before you get palpitations as I did, it turns out that
he's a (now) retired pilot with no kids, so his boat is his life, and gets
anything he thinks is neat, along with intensive maintenance, so he's put
about a quarter-mil into it since he's owned it. Having owned it from new,
and having all that work/upgrades/maintenance on it, he knew virtually
anything there was to know about them. Anyway, he went with us on two of
the boats, and was able to point out things I'd known about from my
research, but didn't know exactly how to pinpoint. Aside from running all
the gear and banging every square inch of the hull and deck, it was pretty
much like a survey to do these boats with him. Much to my pleasure, the
boat I'd told Lydia was "our boat" had only one (common) item that he
recommended attention on. This boat had received major upgrades to make
suitable for singlehanding, all of which were appropriate expenditures,
though I would not have made them. There's too many to list here; suffice
it to say one's not likely to fall overboard, and everything can be done
from the cockpit other than handing the lines to the dock - but the boat can
be put, stationary, at any position, for long enough to go do the lines,
singlehanded. The owner died shortly after making the upgrades, and it was
listed as an 'estate sale' about 6 months ago. It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased. We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate, if it
ever was. Which or whatever, the boat has had no evident attention since it
was put at the dock, with various indicators of a hurried departure, so I
don't think the current owner visits it. That's probably to our benefit,
and, being an attorney (you know, the kind who makes mincemeat out of his
opponent in court and then goes to lunch with him), we expect that future
relationships will be businesslike without personal feelings intruding.

So, the liveaboard couple and we went off to the pub and hashed out the
realities of the 3 in FTL. They resulted in pictures and video of my
calling my broker, getting confirmation that what I had in mind (which was
15k short of what Lydia wanted to offer) was appropriate and not likely to
jinx our chances should it not be accepted, on the rehabbed singlehander.
So, at about 4:30 PM on 2 January, we made our third boat offer (the first
died on the vine, the second was the subject of a post about buying a boat
but giving it back).

The owner, apparently, is currently out of town, so we have no word yet on
our offer. Like every other offer, much can happen between offer and
closing, so we're not yet getting our hopes up - but from what we've heard
from the listing broker, this certainly looks like it will be our boat...

So, over 3000 boats searched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded
later, we believe we have our type (make and model) as well as the
particular example we want. There's backups to that particular one; our VI
broker is researching the 3 over there in case this doesn't fly and the
other FL boats don't work, and, failing that, we don't have to have the boat
immediately, and the broker through whom we offered, my first choice back
when all this started, I'm sure, can find other examples.

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away
from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." - Mark Twain

Hey Skip,
Congratulations and I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed for you.

What a long, strange trip it's been!

Fair winds - Dan Best

Skip Gundlach wrote:
Well, as those following the saga know, we've settled on a Morgan 46,
whether shoal, deep, ketch, sloop, inner forestay or other configuration, as
the layout and other specs so nearly meet our direct design parameters.

A quickie review for those new to the saga: We started looking in the 30-40
foot, 60k range, in the Virgins (all), with a list of about 50 and going
aboard more than 30. We'd had counseling/haranguing/ridicule to the effect
that it would never happen - both parameters were significantly too small.

The second search, after that proved essentially fruitless, despite some
tantalizing boats, including a very meaningful example of a boat which
eventually sold for just more than half the original asking price, was of
the Florida perimeter, in up to 45 feet and 100k. That list, culled from a
couple of (turned out to be identical - I didn't know that boats.com and
YachtWorld were the same - 1000+ boat searches) had over 80 boats, of which
we boarded nearly 60. The exceptions (60 vs 80) were mostly duplications of
a type which didn't work, which was most of them. However, there *were*
many I'd fit on and be happy with but which didn't meet Lydia's
needs/desires. In the end, we had a long discussion about what those were,
and most of them turned out to be very practical, so I plugged them into my
mentality, as future searching would have to be on my own while she stayed
beavering away at the mortgage-origination business for the bank. We'd seen
a couple of boats which were very attractive, so when I redid the search a
little later, to revisit them, I also added some which met the new criteria.
I went back a few weeks later, knocking out both of our previous interests
as not working, but, out of the ~40 additional boats seen, offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

So, at this point, I'd been aboard legions of boats which didn't fit (I'm
6-4 and refuse to live the rest of my life if I have to hunch to stand or
curl up in a ball to sleep), and the rest didn't fit the layout needs.
Summer passed with us getting married on my front lawn and bidding farewell
to her mother after staying with us (from England) for 3 months. Then, the
search began anew.

This time I was going to see a boat which worked, or we weren't going to get
to go. The geography was from Baltimore to Corpus Christi, and all the
coastline in between. Over 1500 boats searched, and over 200 boats
selected, with (yet again, increased) parameters of up to 47' and 150k, and
not very many duplications of type.

The first leg of that was Baltimore to Charleston, over 60 boats boarded
(most on/off in less than a minute) out of about 80 selected. Hooray...
There were several which *could* fit, all under 45 feet. So, I went back
through the spreadsheet and struck all the remainder over 45'. Heh. I'd
been on a Morgan 46, but it was such a project boat, that my notes made only
passing reference to its being a 'potential type boat' - one which could
work for us - and so those were struck from the list as I overlooked the
type.

The next leg of that search was the Florida perimeter, again. Even after
taking off the over-45 set, there were over 80 boats, and I got aboard more
than 60. However, about halfway through that trip, at Jordan Yachts, since
there were a bunch of boats all in the same place, the broker took me aboard
a bunch which weren't on the list I'd sent him. An amazingly rehabbed M46
was among them. Boinnnnggg! Light-over-my-head cartoon revelation. This
boat works. So, I quickly did a review of current boats available on
YachtWorld and went to see all of the ones in FL, including doubling back to
the west coast at the end of the trip for the last 3. End result of this
trip was an additional few types of boats which could work.

So, after the entire Christmas holidays being spent reviewing the 10+ hours
of videos and reports/writeups I did, we narrowed our focus to only 4 types.
Since we had, now, finally, a range of choices, we also elected to drop the
last leg of this search, eliminating the Gulf coast from north of St.
Petersburg to Corpus. Further review led us to drop all the others and
focus on the M46. Whew. Only about a year of searching, over 3000 boats
researched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded, more than doubling our
original budget, but we now have something which works on all levels.

So, off we go, again, over the New Year's break. We started on the west
coast, looking at one which needed some rehab/upgrades, but at a bargain
price. We took along a recommended craftsman to look at what needed doing,
and were pleasantly surprised at the initial non-binding, verbal, estimate.
That boat was very highly equipped for cruising, including solar, wind and
towed generators, watermaker, and even a washer and dryer. Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

In my research, I'd talked/internetted to as many M46 owners as possible,
and set my mind at ease as to their suitability for our purpose. I also
heard from a couple of FL owners who proved to be invaluable resources.

One offered to have us out sailing with them, and stay overnight. After a
bit of workarounds, we did just that, and got to hang out at their dock,
too, which was another marvelous confirmation of the camaraderie of the
cruising and liveaboard community. Suffice it to say, we enjoyed the sail
and the opportunity to experience a slice of liveaboard with another couple
taking up space. They went with us to the boat which had caused the scales
to fall from my eyes.

The other was an original owner of 23 years who'd just finished over 70k in
work on his boat. Before you get palpitations as I did, it turns out that
he's a (now) retired pilot with no kids, so his boat is his life, and gets
anything he thinks is neat, along with intensive maintenance, so he's put
about a quarter-mil into it since he's owned it. Having owned it from new,
and having all that work/upgrades/maintenance on it, he knew virtually
anything there was to know about them. Anyway, he went with us on two of
the boats, and was able to point out things I'd known about from my
research, but didn't know exactly how to pinpoint. Aside from running all
the gear and banging every square inch of the hull and deck, it was pretty
much like a survey to do these boats with him. Much to my pleasure, the
boat I'd told Lydia was "our boat" had only one (common) item that he
recommended attention on. This boat had received major upgrades to make
suitable for singlehanding, all of which were appropriate expenditures,
though I would not have made them. There's too many to list here; suffice
it to say one's not likely to fall overboard, and everything can be done
from the cockpit other than handing the lines to the dock - but the boat can
be put, stationary, at any position, for long enough to go do the lines,
singlehanded. The owner died shortly after making the upgrades, and it was
listed as an 'estate sale' about 6 months ago. It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased. We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate, if it
ever was. Which or whatever, the boat has had no evident attention since it
was put at the dock, with various indicators of a hurried departure, so I
don't think the current owner visits it. That's probably to our benefit,
and, being an attorney (you know, the kind who makes mincemeat out of his
opponent in court and then goes to lunch with him), we expect that future
relationships will be businesslike without personal feelings intruding.

So, the liveaboard couple and we went off to the pub and hashed out the
realities of the 3 in FTL. They resulted in pictures and video of my
calling my broker, getting confirmation that what I had in mind (which was
15k short of what Lydia wanted to offer) was appropriate and not likely to
jinx our chances should it not be accepted, on the rehabbed singlehander.
So, at about 4:30 PM on 2 January, we made our third boat offer (the first
died on the vine, the second was the subject of a post about buying a boat
but giving it back).

The owner, apparently, is currently out of town, so we have no word yet on
our offer. Like every other offer, much can happen between offer and
closing, so we're not yet getting our hopes up - but from what we've heard
from the listing broker, this certainly looks like it will be our boat...

So, over 3000 boats searched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded
later, we believe we have our type (make and model) as well as the
particular example we want. There's backups to that particular one; our VI
broker is researching the 3 over there in case this doesn't fly and the
other FL boats don't work, and, failing that, we don't have to have the boat
immediately, and the broker through whom we offered, my first choice back
when all this started, I'm sure, can find other examples.

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

L8R

Skip and Lydia


--
Dan Best - (707) 431-1662, Healdsburg, CA 95448
B-2/75 1977-1979
Tayana 37 #192, "Tricia Jean"
http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/TriciaJean.JPG

Hey Skip,
Congratulations and I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed for you.

What a long, strange trip it's been!

Fair winds - Dan Best

Skip Gundlach wrote:
Well, as those following the saga know, we've settled on a Morgan 46,
whether shoal, deep, ketch, sloop, inner forestay or other configuration, as
the layout and other specs so nearly meet our direct design parameters.

A quickie review for those new to the saga: We started looking in the 30-40
foot, 60k range, in the Virgins (all), with a list of about 50 and going
aboard more than 30. We'd had counseling/haranguing/ridicule to the effect
that it would never happen - both parameters were significantly too small.

The second search, after that proved essentially fruitless, despite some
tantalizing boats, including a very meaningful example of a boat which
eventually sold for just more than half the original asking price, was of
the Florida perimeter, in up to 45 feet and 100k. That list, culled from a
couple of (turned out to be identical - I didn't know that boats.com and
YachtWorld were the same - 1000+ boat searches) had over 80 boats, of which
we boarded nearly 60. The exceptions (60 vs 80) were mostly duplications of
a type which didn't work, which was most of them. However, there *were*
many I'd fit on and be happy with but which didn't meet Lydia's
needs/desires. In the end, we had a long discussion about what those were,
and most of them turned out to be very practical, so I plugged them into my
mentality, as future searching would have to be on my own while she stayed
beavering away at the mortgage-origination business for the bank. We'd seen
a couple of boats which were very attractive, so when I redid the search a
little later, to revisit them, I also added some which met the new criteria.
I went back a few weeks later, knocking out both of our previous interests
as not working, but, out of the ~40 additional boats seen, offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

So, at this point, I'd been aboard legions of boats which didn't fit (I'm
6-4 and refuse to live the rest of my life if I have to hunch to stand or
curl up in a ball to sleep), and the rest didn't fit the layout needs.
Summer passed with us getting married on my front lawn and bidding farewell
to her mother after staying with us (from England) for 3 months. Then, the
search began anew.

This time I was going to see a boat which worked, or we weren't going to get
to go. The geography was from Baltimore to Corpus Christi, and all the
coastline in between. Over 1500 boats searched, and over 200 boats
selected, with (yet again, increased) parameters of up to 47' and 150k, and
not very many duplications of type.

The first leg of that was Baltimore to Charleston, over 60 boats boarded
(most on/off in less than a minute) out of about 80 selected. Hooray...
There were several which *could* fit, all under 45 feet. So, I went back
through the spreadsheet and struck all the remainder over 45'. Heh. I'd
been on a Morgan 46, but it was such a project boat, that my notes made only
passing reference to its being a 'potential type boat' - one which could
work for us - and so those were struck from the list as I overlooked the
type.

The next leg of that search was the Florida perimeter, again. Even after
taking off the over-45 set, there were over 80 boats, and I got aboard more
than 60. However, about halfway through that trip, at Jordan Yachts, since
there were a bunch of boats all in the same place, the broker took me aboard
a bunch which weren't on the list I'd sent him. An amazingly rehabbed M46
was among them. Boinnnnggg! Light-over-my-head cartoon revelation. This
boat works. So, I quickly did a review of current boats available on
YachtWorld and went to see all of the ones in FL, including doubling back to
the west coast at the end of the trip for the last 3. End result of this
trip was an additional few types of boats which could work.

So, after the entire Christmas holidays being spent reviewing the 10+ hours
of videos and reports/writeups I did, we narrowed our focus to only 4 types.
Since we had, now, finally, a range of choices, we also elected to drop the
last leg of this search, eliminating the Gulf coast from north of St.
Petersburg to Corpus. Further review led us to drop all the others and
focus on the M46. Whew. Only about a year of searching, over 3000 boats
researched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded, more than doubling our
original budget, but we now have something which works on all levels.

So, off we go, again, over the New Year's break. We started on the west
coast, looking at one which needed some rehab/upgrades, but at a bargain
price. We took along a recommended craftsman to look at what needed doing,
and were pleasantly surprised at the initial non-binding, verbal, estimate.
That boat was very highly equipped for cruising, including solar, wind and
towed generators, watermaker, and even a washer and dryer. Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

In my research, I'd talked/internetted to as many M46 owners as possible,
and set my mind at ease as to their suitability for our purpose. I also
heard from a couple of FL owners who proved to be invaluable resources.

One offered to have us out sailing with them, and stay overnight. After a
bit of workarounds, we did just that, and got to hang out at their dock,
too, which was another marvelous confirmation of the camaraderie of the
cruising and liveaboard community. Suffice it to say, we enjoyed the sail
and the opportunity to experience a slice of liveaboard with another couple
taking up space. They went with us to the boat which had caused the scales
to fall from my eyes.

The other was an original owner of 23 years who'd just finished over 70k in
work on his boat. Before you get palpitations as I did, it turns out that
he's a (now) retired pilot with no kids, so his boat is his life, and gets
anything he thinks is neat, along with intensive maintenance, so he's put
about a quarter-mil into it since he's owned it. Having owned it from new,
and having all that work/upgrades/maintenance on it, he knew virtually
anything there was to know about them. Anyway, he went with us on two of
the boats, and was able to point out things I'd known about from my
research, but didn't know exactly how to pinpoint. Aside from running all
the gear and banging every square inch of the hull and deck, it was pretty
much like a survey to do these boats with him. Much to my pleasure, the
boat I'd told Lydia was "our boat" had only one (common) item that he
recommended attention on. This boat had received major upgrades to make
suitable for singlehanding, all of which were appropriate expenditures,
though I would not have made them. There's too many to list here; suffice
it to say one's not likely to fall overboard, and everything can be done
from the cockpit other than handing the lines to the dock - but the boat can
be put, stationary, at any position, for long enough to go do the lines,
singlehanded. The owner died shortly after making the upgrades, and it was
listed as an 'estate sale' about 6 months ago. It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased. We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate, if it
ever was. Which or whatever, the boat has had no evident attention since it
was put at the dock, with various indicators of a hurried departure, so I
don't think the current owner visits it. That's probably to our benefit,
and, being an attorney (you know, the kind who makes mincemeat out of his
opponent in court and then goes to lunch with him), we expect that future
relationships will be businesslike without personal feelings intruding.

So, the liveaboard couple and we went off to the pub and hashed out the
realities of the 3 in FTL. They resulted in pictures and video of my
calling my broker, getting confirmation that what I had in mind (which was
15k short of what Lydia wanted to offer) was appropriate and not likely to
jinx our chances should it not be accepted, on the rehabbed singlehander.
So, at about 4:30 PM on 2 January, we made our third boat offer (the first
died on the vine, the second was the subject of a post about buying a boat
but giving it back).

The owner, apparently, is currently out of town, so we have no word yet on
our offer. Like every other offer, much can happen between offer and
closing, so we're not yet getting our hopes up - but from what we've heard
from the listing broker, this certainly looks like it will be our boat...

So, over 3000 boats searched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded
later, we believe we have our type (make and model) as well as the
particular example we want. There's backups to that particular one; our VI
broker is researching the 3 over there in case this doesn't fly and the
other FL boats don't work, and, failing that, we don't have to have the boat
immediately, and the broker through whom we offered, my first choice back
when all this started, I'm sure, can find other examples.

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

L8R

Skip and Lydia


--
Dan Best - (707) 431-1662, Healdsburg, CA 95448
B-2/75 1977-1979
Tayana 37 #192, "Tricia Jean"
http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/TriciaJean.JPG

Skip Gundlach wrote:

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the
research and travel I've done ...

I must say you have a lot more patience for this venture than I either have,
or am willing to develop. I hope your results are commensurate with your
efforts, old salt.

Anyway. I'm in the market for a late model Buick and I was kinda wonderin'
if you'd maybe look around a bit for me ...

Jus' kidding.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com

Skip Gundlach wrote:

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the
research and travel I've done ...

I must say you have a lot more patience for this venture than I either have,
or am willing to develop. I hope your results are commensurate with your
efforts, old salt.

Anyway. I'm in the market for a late model Buick and I was kinda wonderin'
if you'd maybe look around a bit for me ...

Jus' kidding.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com

Skip Gundlach wrote:

....offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

Just as well. The times we tried to open negotiations with owner/sellers that
wanted too much money, it turned out for the best.

...... Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

You pay extra for 'curb appeal' and if all the boat needs is clean & polish,
then it ould be a better deal. Hard to tell about it's condition & equipment
from th web page though.


..... It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased. We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate, if it
ever was.

AA-OO-GA warning warning
This sounds like a burn deal in the making. Prudence would suggest putting this
boat at the bottom of the priority list, unless it's significantly cheaper *and*
you get your own big-gun lawyer to deal with the selling lawyer. Unless you want
him to pocket a lot of your money and then take you to lunch after your court
appearance....




It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

Easy- most people pick a boat far more casually with a lot less data & logic
input. Which makes sense, because the more logicallly you look at it, the less
reason to buy a boat in the first place. However it sounds like you have covered
all the bases and are going to have a great boat (whichever one it ends up
being).

Fresh Breezes-
Doug King

Skip Gundlach wrote:

....offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

Just as well. The times we tried to open negotiations with owner/sellers that
wanted too much money, it turned out for the best.

...... Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

You pay extra for 'curb appeal' and if all the boat needs is clean & polish,
then it ould be a better deal. Hard to tell about it's condition & equipment
from th web page though.


..... It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased. We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate, if it
ever was.

AA-OO-GA warning warning
This sounds like a burn deal in the making. Prudence would suggest putting this
boat at the bottom of the priority list, unless it's significantly cheaper *and*
you get your own big-gun lawyer to deal with the selling lawyer. Unless you want
him to pocket a lot of your money and then take you to lunch after your court
appearance....




It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

Easy- most people pick a boat far more casually with a lot less data & logic
input. Which makes sense, because the more logicallly you look at it, the less
reason to buy a boat in the first place. However it sounds like you have covered
all the bases and are going to have a great boat (whichever one it ends up
being).

Fresh Breezes-
Doug King

"DSK" wrote in message
...
Skip Gundlach wrote:

....offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal
never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

Just as well. The times we tried to open negotiations with owner/sellers
that
wanted too much money, it turned out for the best.

In the interests of brevity (who, me?!?), I didn't mention that the type is
off our list, now, because I hit (soft top, though) everywhere on the boat,
and can't stand in the separate shower, even in the little cubby space of
the caprail, in the master, at all. That aside, that's a well-equipped
example, at a reasonable price, of that type. Since there were some
compromises on the type, we didn't pursue it in order to let the listing
marinate for a while. Things have a way of working out...

...... Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have
been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those
interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb
appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

You pay extra for 'curb appeal' and if all the boat needs is clean &
polish,
then it ould be a better deal. Hard to tell about it's condition &
equipment
from th web page though.

Here's the YW listing:
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...92&slim=ywpbs&

That one is clearly my favorite, as it shouldn't take nearly as much to
bring it up to snuff as the difference between list and the other boat's
list. However, we're hopeful of getting the other rehabbed one
substantially under list, and the seller of the first isn't budging, it
seems, so the difference level might be shorter in reality. Point of
reference is that the GS was at 55% of list, and this one is at 72.6% of
list. Lot better chance of making this one happen, I think, and from what
we see on the market, this is - while in the high end - substantially more
boat than any we've seen, of any type, let alone the M46s. Still, the
'cruising boat' - as we call it - is a good candidate for upgrade, as it,
too, is in relatively good nick and very reasonably priced relative to the
others available.


..... It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased.
We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate,
if it
ever was.

AA-OO-GA warning warning
This sounds like a burn deal in the making. Prudence would suggest putting
this

She's not part of the team yet, but I'd like to meet her :{))

boat at the bottom of the priority list, unless it's significantly cheaper
*and*
you get your own big-gun lawyer to deal with the selling lawyer. Unless
you want
him to pocket a lot of your money and then take you to lunch after your
court
appearance....

Heh. That was a metaphor (what's a metaphor? It's for...) - we'll be
dealing with the broker. It's one of the earlier posts' referenced 'high
priced spread' - but even that's relative. The M46 original-owner-from-new
and my (buyer's) broker agreed that you could take this boat to the flea
market and part it out and get most of your money back. That was being
facetious, of course, but it's a *very* unusual boat, particularly for 1980.

I've got the prior Morgan Yachts Service Manager for the entire production
run and several years beyond (and also QC manager for a goodly part of it)
lined up as surveyor. Not only does he know how they were made, and has
surveyed umpteen of them, he also climbs the mast and inspects the head
rigging with a magnifiying glass. No deal until that survey and suitable
wringing out in sea trial. My broker's also the owner of a dive and
cleaning service, and I'll have him dive the boat before we agree to a
survey, so as to have a heads-up about the condition of the bottom, though
all we've heard about suggest these boats are very resistant to blistering.
Everything so far suggests just a stroke of bad fortune for the owner, who
did much more than I would have in prep to leave.

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the
research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you
know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that
my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

Easy- most people pick a boat far more casually with a lot less data &
logic
input. Which makes sense, because the more logicallly you look at it, the
less
reason to buy a boat in the first place. However it sounds like you have
covered
all the bases and are going to have a great boat (whichever one it ends up
being).

Heh. It won't be for lack of looking and being reasonably picky :{))

L8R

Skip and Lydia, changing sigs below, as we seem to have figuratively cast
off the bowlines....

--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

"DSK" wrote in message
...
Skip Gundlach wrote:

....offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal
never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

Just as well. The times we tried to open negotiations with owner/sellers
that
wanted too much money, it turned out for the best.

In the interests of brevity (who, me?!?), I didn't mention that the type is
off our list, now, because I hit (soft top, though) everywhere on the boat,
and can't stand in the separate shower, even in the little cubby space of
the caprail, in the master, at all. That aside, that's a well-equipped
example, at a reasonable price, of that type. Since there were some
compromises on the type, we didn't pursue it in order to let the listing
marinate for a while. Things have a way of working out...

...... Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have
been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those
interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb
appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

You pay extra for 'curb appeal' and if all the boat needs is clean &
polish,
then it ould be a better deal. Hard to tell about it's condition &
equipment
from th web page though.

Here's the YW listing:
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...92&slim=ywpbs&

That one is clearly my favorite, as it shouldn't take nearly as much to
bring it up to snuff as the difference between list and the other boat's
list. However, we're hopeful of getting the other rehabbed one
substantially under list, and the seller of the first isn't budging, it
seems, so the difference level might be shorter in reality. Point of
reference is that the GS was at 55% of list, and this one is at 72.6% of
list. Lot better chance of making this one happen, I think, and from what
we see on the market, this is - while in the high end - substantially more
boat than any we've seen, of any type, let alone the M46s. Still, the
'cruising boat' - as we call it - is a good candidate for upgrade, as it,
too, is in relatively good nick and very reasonably priced relative to the
others available.


..... It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased.
We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate,
if it
ever was.

AA-OO-GA warning warning
This sounds like a burn deal in the making. Prudence would suggest putting
this

She's not part of the team yet, but I'd like to meet her :{))

boat at the bottom of the priority list, unless it's significantly cheaper
*and*
you get your own big-gun lawyer to deal with the selling lawyer. Unless
you want
him to pocket a lot of your money and then take you to lunch after your
court
appearance....

Heh. That was a metaphor (what's a metaphor? It's for...) - we'll be
dealing with the broker. It's one of the earlier posts' referenced 'high
priced spread' - but even that's relative. The M46 original-owner-from-new
and my (buyer's) broker agreed that you could take this boat to the flea
market and part it out and get most of your money back. That was being
facetious, of course, but it's a *very* unusual boat, particularly for 1980.

I've got the prior Morgan Yachts Service Manager for the entire production
run and several years beyond (and also QC manager for a goodly part of it)
lined up as surveyor. Not only does he know how they were made, and has
surveyed umpteen of them, he also climbs the mast and inspects the head
rigging with a magnifiying glass. No deal until that survey and suitable
wringing out in sea trial. My broker's also the owner of a dive and
cleaning service, and I'll have him dive the boat before we agree to a
survey, so as to have a heads-up about the condition of the bottom, though
all we've heard about suggest these boats are very resistant to blistering.
Everything so far suggests just a stroke of bad fortune for the owner, who
did much more than I would have in prep to leave.

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the
research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you
know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that
my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

Easy- most people pick a boat far more casually with a lot less data &
logic
input. Which makes sense, because the more logicallly you look at it, the
less
reason to buy a boat in the first place. However it sounds like you have
covered
all the bases and are going to have a great boat (whichever one it ends up
being).

Heh. It won't be for lack of looking and being reasonably picky :{))

L8R

Skip and Lydia, changing sigs below, as we seem to have figuratively cast
off the bowlines....

--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

x-no-archive:yes

"Skip Gundlach"
wrote:
snip This boat had received major upgrades to make
suitable for singlehanding, all of which were appropriate expenditures,
though I would not have made them. There's too many to list here; suffice
it to say one's not likely to fall overboard, and everything can be done
from the cockpit other than handing the lines to the dock - but the boat can
be put, stationary, at any position, for long enough to go do the lines,
singlehanded.

We want to be able to do everything from the cockpit even though there
are 2 of us. I can't tell you how many times I've blessed the fact
that no one has to go out on the deck in rough weather.

And the once that Bob had to go out there before we had jacklines was
scary for me even though we were only in the Chesapeake and he had an
autoinflat PFD on. I didn't think I could possibly get back to pick
him up if he fell off.

snip
It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

We were lucky in that we chartered a boat that Bob promptly fell in
love with. We looked at other boats, but it only confirmed that we
wanted this particular make, although Bob and I had a disagreement
about the model we should get.

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id2.html