boat budget
Weeks and months went by without any progress on finding a boat or even saving up money for a boat. I was still at zero dollars for my boat budget. I really liked that 52-foot ferro-cement boat and could not stop thinking about it. Even without mast and sails I could use it to comfortably live on it and, money-permitting, fill up diesel and do some short trips up and down the coast. I had the feeling that “my” boat was out there somewhere and I could not get to it.
Judi had offered me their boat back in March 2008. It was now July and I was still trying to think how to make $5000. I made a list of everything I had of value that I could sell to get that money, but nothing I had was worth that much. Then I accidentally stumbled on a mining claim auction on eBay. I do have a mining claim. Why I had a mining claim is another story, but recent changes in my life will make it impossible for me to use that mining claim any time soon. So I had this brilliant idea of selling the mining claim and buying the boat. In my wild imagination the mining claim would sell for much more than $5000 and I would have some money left over to fix up the boat.
All excited about listing my mining claim on eBay and getting some bids on it, I emailed Judi and asked if she still had the boat. I figured even if she no longer had that boat, a few thousand dollars would give me some budget to work with. Judi answered and they still had the boat. I told her I was trying to sell some real estate to pay for the boat and I did not want to come look at the boat and use up her time unless I was actually in a position to pay for the boat if I decided to buy it.
I have bought real estate and even a small house in Belize un-seen before, but did not want to do that with a boat. I definitely would want to see the boat in person before making any decision.
Things always go slightly different than planned. The auction took off and the mining claim sold for over $7600. Oh I was happy, but did not jump for joy just yet. If you ever sold anything on eBay, you know that the end of the auction is not the same as getting paid. Needless to say the high bidder backed out for whatever reason. I think he just bid more than he could pay and didn’t want to admit it. Sending out second chance offers on real estate is bad. After all, all real estate is unique, so a second chance offer makes it seem like you sell the item more than once. I sent out second chance offers to all bidders who bid over $3000, but no one took it. So I had to re-list the mining claim and start all over. Instead of having a boat budget, I was in the hole for the $35 listing fee for a real estate auction.
It can be a pain in the butt to sell on eBay. Again, the mining claim sold for over $7500. And again the highest bidder backed out. I never heard a word from him, so who knows why. This time I sent a message to the follow-up bidders explaining that the highest bidder was not paying and not responding. There was nothing wrong with the mining claim. I finally contacted a guy who had bid $4000 and he was happy to buy it for that price. I could have tried again and maybe sold it for more, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.
Yes! Mission accomplished. I finally had a $4000 budget for the boat.
Photo credit: Thanks to earl53 on morguefile.com
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