We found a boat!

19. Sep. 2014
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Planning the Trip, The Boat
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Author: Pete

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Short story:

WE FOUND A BOAT!

Long story:

WE FOUND A BOAT!

Coherent story:

Sorry. Still pretty excited. Okay, here goes…

After our 1 AM arrival to Naples, we still intended to make the boat scouting appointments that we had planned with our broker and some private listings the following day. All of the appointments were two hours away in Fort Lauderdale, so we were up at six o’clock and on the road again. Man we were getting sick of driving!

Made it to our appointment on time and met Steve Moore from the Catamaran Company who we had met on our previous mission to Florida. He introduced us to Kenan and his wife Julie, two young Brits who were selling their Lagoon 380 after a year sabbatical in the Bahamas. The boat was in beautiful shape for its age, and was very well equipped. Kenan is a professional captain on massive private yachts (220 feet massive), as well as a pilot. He knew the boat extremely well and kept good care of her. After a run through of the boat and some discussion of possible timeline we walked away with a distinct like of the boat and a good feeling about the owners.

Our second, third, and fourth boats of the day went by in a blur. I don’t think we even got a picture of any of them! Our heads were still in the clouds about the Lagoon and nothing held a candle to it. We didn’t even discuss it much between us. We just drove back to the Catamaran Company, located in a floating office in a marina, and asked Steve to help us make an offer.

It started pouring rain. The boat was listed outside of our comfortable price range. We decided to make an offer that we could afford, and make an itinerary for the hand over of the boat that would be attractive to the sellers. They were trying to fly back to the U.K. in mid-October, and were really hoping to move the boat before then. We crossed our fingers that giving them the option of a quick turn-around could make up for our lower offer.

With Steve’s help we filled in and sent a formal offer on the boat outlining purchase price, conditions, and dates for survey/sea trial, acceptance of vessel, and closing. We hurried a transfer to Cat. Co’s escrow account through some help with Miranda’s friends at her Wisconsin bank, and then sent the offer over to Kenan’s selling broker. Then we waited.

And we waited.

And it felt like forever.

In fact, it was only fifteen minutes, but I felt like the gun was going to go off for the cross country state meet, or I was going to sit a six hour quantum physic exam. This rates right up there in the stress. If I was prone to heart disease, I’d likely be dead.

And then Steve waltzes up the steps, sits and says casually, “Well, they accepted your offer.” I thought we’d fall out of our chairs but it was so nonchalant that I just stared at him. We signed some papers and made a few phone calls to set up sea trials and survey for the very next day.

It was late in the day and we were to be back at the boat at 8:30 the following morning. Instead of driving two hours back to Naples, then retracing our steps the following day in the wee hours of the morning we opted to get a hotel in Fort Lauderdale. After a good night’s sleep we were back on the boat early and really, really excited.

Kenan took us to the haul out, all the while making chit-chat in that British accent that will always make American ladies swoon. We navigated the busy waterways of Fort Lauderdale, avoiding towed yachts, ducking bridges, and jockeying in the respectable current. It was all very exciting.

At the shipyard we docked carefully and waited for the lift, a massive motorized contraption that looked like it had been built out of Legos by some industrious ten-year-old. The workers guided thick straps under the hulls and positioned them carefully to not sit on the keels, rudders, or sail drives.

With the grumble of a motor the boat was lifted slowly from the water, her undersides gleaming. The motorized lift rolled forward, for a second leaving the boat behind before it swung slightly and equalized in its motion.

Once over firm ground the boat was lowered slightly and we gathered around it. Usually things look bigger underwater, like fish or skinny dippers, but this definitely looked much bigger out of the water. I wondered what I was doing.

The rain began to fall, fat and slow, and we all took shelter under the catamaran’s bridge deck. I wondered what people with monohulls did in this situation. Our surveyer Jon, who specialized in catamarans and knew the Lagoon 380 especially well, filled us in on his assessment of the boat so far. We were happy to hear positive news all around.

The boat was put back in the water. I think I heard her audibly sigh. It’s unnatural for a vessel to be hanging from her hulls. We motored out into the Atlantic and put up sails. The wind was slight so we didn’t sail long, but enough to get the feel of the boat, work the sails, and give the surveyor a chance to check them.

On the way back in the sky opened up again on us. I took the helm by request and let the others take shelter in the saloon. Without rain gear my shirt was quickly soaked. We waited twenty minutes for a bridge in the rain, working the twin diesels to keep us close enough to the bridge to shelter from lightning, but far enough to avoid collision.

When we got back to dock I was soaked and chilly, but very much excited. We sat in the saloon and got the rundown from the surveyor. All in good, working shape, a few things that need to be addressed, but nothing major. Green light. We signed the Acceptance of Vessel.

We stayed for an hour or so talking to Julie and Kenan about the boat and each others’ lives. They are a really interesting couple, extremely personable and open and we’re so happy to be accepting the boat from them and carrying on her adventure. Miranda and I drove back to Naples with our heads spinning. We now are left with the task of getting all the paperwork settled and wire transfers lined up. If all goes well, we close in early October and move aboard then. Oh, and one more thing- No name set in stone so far… hmmm…

Boat Hunting in Florida: Day 1

23. Jun. 2014
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Planning the Trip, The Boat
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Author: Miranda

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
[26°8′N 80°9′W]

Arrived in Miami from Santiago at 3:50 am and staggered our way back into our homeland. Being in South Florida is the perfect way to slowly transition from South America back to the United States. Sometimes it’s hard to tell that we actually left, as we often find ourselves chatting with someone in Spanish. I only accidentally blurted out something in Spanish twice. The nice Italian waiter at lunch was sweet, but confused, when I instinctively (but very incorrectly) greeted him with a smiling “Como estas?” Oops.

We found our hotel and immediately started setting up some appointments for this week. We plan to see boats that are both for-sale-by-owner and those being sold through a broker. Our goals for the week are twofold. We’d obviously be very happy if we found “the one” and started the purchasing process, but we are also here to make connections and meet with brokers in the industry who we can keep in contact with- even when we head back to the mid-west.

We were able to make one appointment for right-away in the afternoon, so after watching our poor Chilenos fight hard, but fall to those tall, Dutch bastards in the world cup (I’ll soon love you again my friends from Holland- but now the wounds are too fresh… too fresh…), we went to The Catamaran Company to see Steve Moore. Nothing like some delicious pizza and beautiful multi-hulls to raise your spirits after a tough loss.

Steve took us through two boats for sale: a Lagoon 380 and a Gemini 105 Mc. All parties involved knew we weren’t interested in a Gemini, but Steve was correct in assuming that making comparisons is always helpful and seeing differences in how boats are set-up is great for narrowing down what specs are your must-haves. The Gemini made is realize that beam, not length, is critical in determining a cat’s interior space and seaworthiness. The Gemini was only 4 feet shorter, but it was 8 feet narrower, and this made all the difference between our experiences walking aboard the Gemini, compared to the Lagoon.

The Lagoon was turn-key boat, pretty much having everything we are looking for in a cruiser. We could have bought the boat and began cruising without much work refurbishing and readying the boat. Being a 2006, an owner’s version, and being so well maintained, made it, sadly, a little out of our price range. It also might be a little more boat than we need. It’s not often when a couple gets on a boat and says, “wow, look at all the space.” These cats are just big! So much bigger than the monos (of comparable length) that we have taken lessons on or walked through thus far. We are curious to see how the 35 footers that we are off to see tomorrow will feel.

I’d like to close with a few laughable, yet accurate, observations from an expat without much time in the U.S. of late.

When did we get robots at the customs counters? Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but these guys rocked our world. Did you see that they raise and lower to look you in eye?! Holy crap! Like stepping into star trek movie. Moments like these always remind me of when my expat buddy came back from a trip to the states about two years ago, and said, “Oh my god! They have this box that records television and you can rewind or fast forward live T.V.” His Ti-Vo excitement was about 8 years delayed, but so adorable.

The drivers! They are so kind, courteous, and generally going the speed limit. No idiots cutting you off, weaving through traffic, and stopping where never the hell they please. Oh man- we saw our first use of the blinker, and thought it might be the second coming of Christ. Wow!

I can wear jeans and a T-shirt and not look like a complete and utter slob. This is great! Thanks to good old ‘Merica for setting a low standard on what is acceptable leaving-the-house-attire.

We can understand all the conversations happening around us- this is really distracting when you’re so used to easily being able to turn out the urban white noise equivalent to cicada chirping. This goes the other direction as well. We are often reminding ourselves to talk quieter and watch the swear words. We constantly forget that people can actually understand us here.

When you accidentally use the metric system and a fellow citizen looks at you like you’re a terrorist. Geez. Step down buddy. Calling it a meter stick instead of a yardstick is just as accurate. And we are consistently off by a factor of 1.6 when estimating driving distances. Hmm.

Service! Picture our surprise and child-like excitement when someone actually used a blinker… well, multiply that by a factor of 10 when the waitress actually stopped by after our food arrived to “check in.” Glorious!! And did I mention free refills- I think we’ve died and gone to carbonated-beverage-heaven.

It’s good to be home ladies and gentlemen. Good to be home.

An Introduction to Boat Brokers

04. Apr. 2014
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Planning the Trip
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Author: Miranda
Location: Santiago, Chile

His name is Scott, and I desperately want him to be my new friend.

He is our broker. Our “buyer’s broker,” to be exact.

This is one of those ways in which the boat buying process is actually similar to that of buying a house. Now for those of, you like, me who’ve never purchased a home, this analogy may not work so well, but most of us understand that the process involves an agent working in the best interests of the seller and a separate agent working in the best interests of the buyer.

In the boating world, this is called the listing broker and the buyer’s broker. Some folks who have many years of experience around boats choose to go without using a buyer’s broker when looking to purchase a boat. They know exactly how much the models they are considering should go for. They know when they’re getting a deal and when they’re getting swindled. They are patient and know how to hide their excitement when they are viewing the perfect boat. They can deal with pushy listing brokers and know the buying/selling process well.

We aren’t one of these folks. Yet. Maybe someday we’ll be. But, for now, while we have to hold down our day-jobs, are new to the process, and are still perfecting our poker faces, we’ll use a buyer’s broker. To be honest, I don’t know why people would pass it up. The price is definitely right. Free. Yup, the buyer’s broker will get paid out of the commission made from the sale of the boat, with no fee or payment from the purchaser. It doesn’t change the final price of the boat, and if you’ve got a good broker, they’ll be saving you money in the end by helping you negotiate and make a smart decision. How often, in this world, can you find free, expert advice when you’re up the creek on something totally new? We feel so blessed to have a new friend in Scott, the boat broker.

So, we skyped with Scott today. He works in the South Florida area, and he was a breath of fresh air to someone who’s dug though the depths of the Internet looking for what to expect in the boat buying process, and hasn’t landed anywhere fruitful. He answered all our newbie questions without judgement, nor did he caution us that any piece of our plan was ill-prepared or ignorant of how things work. He was a wealth of knowledge, and he seemed genuinely excited about working with us. After we got of the phone, we both looked at each other and said, “What a nice guy!”

After chatting with Scott, we have much better idea how long the process will take and how we might set up the precious few months we have stateside this summer to ensure we leave at the time we’d like, come fall. We set up a tentative plan for when we’d be spending time in South Florida to scour the market for a boat that will suite our price, our sailing itinerary, and the accommodations we’d like.

Trying to plan such an endeavor while living a continent away from the boat market we’d like to get our hands on can be quite frustrating, at times. Therefore, it feels great to have someone on the ground, working for us in the mecca of ocean-going cruisers for sale!