my boat to be
Before driving home Judi said to not be afraid to say no. They would not be insulted if it wasn’t what I wanted. Apparently they tried to sell it before and that sale did not go through. They told me why, but I don’t remember. I had two and a half hours to drive home and could think of nothing else but the boat.
Part of me was saying yes, the other part of me was trying to be realistic. Do you know what you’re getting yourself into? Yes I do, a lot of clean-up, some more fixing up and a lot of work building a mast . That will take a long time. I saw myself anchored in a protected bay, fishing of the back of the boat. I don’t care how long it takes. I spent the last 10 years living in a mobile home fixing it up. I might as well spent the next 10 years on a boat fixing it up. Sounds good to me.
Then I tried to think of what kind of fixing up I would have to do. Replace a board here, put up new siding there, maybe change or add something else. Nothing I haven’t done before. I never had a diesel engine. But I have repaired my lawn mowers, trucks and cars so far. I’ll get me a repair manual for the engine and learn as I go. Besides, it’s working now. That’s a good start. And then there’s the Internet to find all the info one needs.
The boat has some sails. I will just assume they can be used for that boat. I don’t know how to build a mast, but do have good wood working skills. I might find someone to help me with that. I am thinking people built sail boats hundreds and thousands of years ago without all the fancy and expensive stuff. If I can get something simple I can sail. And if I never sail, I still have a nice big motor boat.
So by the time I got back home I was convinced I really wanted the boat. I might have been convinced a long time ago. After all, I have known about this boat for several months now. I just kept trying to talk some sense into me to make sure I think this through and don’t just do some quick impulse purchase.
I could wait till tomorrow or I could go ahead and call Judi right away. She mentioned it’s better to call in the evenings. Oh yeah, there was one little problem. It was $5000 OBO, but I only had $4000. Well, OBO means “or best offer”. There are two things I don’t like, it’s using a phone and negotiating a price. If I had had $5000 I would have just called and said OK I’ll take it. Please wrap it up nicely. Just kidding. I called and said I realize it’s a project, but I am interested. And I asked her what the lowest was she would accept. Judi asked what I would be willing to pay for the boat. Oh, I hate negotiating. Judi and Murray are great people and were very friendly and nice to talk to which made it a bit easier. So I said I would pay $4000. She checked with Murray and accepted.
Yes! I just bought a boat! Well, I committed to buying it. I needed a day to go to town and get the money from the bank. So we arranged to meet again the following weekend. I will pay for the boat and she’ll be mine!
Photo credit: photo by me, Daniel
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