How Do You Let Go?

[Sandero]

hahahaha... Tom Morris is a great guy and builds wonderful boats. Steer clear of major project boats... every boat is full of projects... get one you can use and work on at the same time... Emotion... listen a bit more to logic... ;-)

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

By the way, you are very sensible keeping your cards close to your chest regarding details about the boat . Ignore all these sneaky members pushing for details, who are possibly poised with their cheque books ready to snap up a 'dream boat' .

SWL x

With no disrespect to Lassey-chan, I have to agree with Sandero on this one. Your comment about members poised with checkbooks to snatch the "budding writer's" mystery minnow is completely ridiculous.

Personally, I suspected that this thread was complete nonsense from the beginning, and the OPs continued attempts to wow us with her pseudo wit only serves to confirm my belief. Regardless, and just judging by her(?) meta-sketching, there is very very little chance that I would ever be interested in any boat that she(?) is fawning over with mental anguish.

Not that this thread is real, mind you.

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by Sandero

hahahaha... Tom Morris is a great guy and builds wonderful boats. Steer clear of major project boats... every boat is full of projects... get one you can use and work on at the same time... Emotion... listen a bit more to logic... ;-)

Morris just wants to be Hinckley, and the son gives boring video presentations. I wonder when the Morris jet-drive 42' party launch will be introduced. Yawn.

I'll stick with Hinckley and Little Harbor, thank you very much.

[Jon Eisberg]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

Personally, I suspected that this thread was complete nonsense from the beginning, and the OPs continued attempts to wow us with her pseudo wit only serves to confirm my belief. Regardless, and just judging by her(?) meta-sketching, there is very very little chance that I would ever be interested in any boat that she(?) is fawning over with mental anguish.

Not that this thread is real, mind you.

What, you mean you're not buying into the notion that a possible deal on that Dream Boat was only taken off the table in the few days since this thread was begun?

:-)

This wasn't the first time, and I'm guessing it won't be the last...

[Jon Eisberg]

Originally Posted by Sandero

hahahaha... Tom Morris is a great guy and builds wonderful boats. Steer clear of major project boats... every boat is full of projects... get one you can use and work on at the same time... Emotion... listen a bit more to logic... ;-)

Sadly, Tom Morris is no longer with us, he passed away a few years ago after a valiant fight against cancer...

I had the pleasure of meeting Tom way back when Morris Yachts was just getting started... A true gentleman in every sense of the word...

[PortClydeMe]

[QUOTE=Jon Eisberg;1771429]What, you mean you're not buying into the notion that a possible deal on that Dream Boat was only taken off the table in the few days since this thread was begun?

:-)

This wasn't the first time, and I'm guessing it won't be the last...


Thanks for the link!

So, it means that more than a year ago...
...or, that 5 pages is not...
...or, that idle time is the devil's...
...or, that it was a Swan 44'...
...or, Introduction to Novel Writing 101...
...or, ...., ...., ....

What was this thread about?

Now I can readjust my posting schedule, at least for the next 1,479 minutes, or thereabouts.

By the way, I recently eyed a 39' Cape Dory with davits and dinghy attached. Not that that is the least bit important to anyone.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

By the way, I recently eyed a 39' Cape Dory with davits and dinghy attached. Not that that is the least bit important to anyone.

Following the theme of not being the least bit important to anyone, I rediscovered the delights of cafe cortado and a shot of brandy.

jes sayin'.

[TheThunderbird]

I sensed since long that the thread is a total fantasy.

Not illegal, yet quite pointless, and sterile. Best regards to all :-)

It was the same, anout a previous groundless thread about unspecific SEAWORTHINESS (to nowhere?)

Enjoy...if you can

[Ex-Calif]

How Do You Let Go?

Finally figured it out - The unsubscribe button...

This thread is way past it's "sell by:" date and I am still eating the stale stuff...

c'ya...

[Julie Mor]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

Personally, I suspected that this thread was complete nonsense from the beginning, and the OPs continued attempts to wow us with her pseudo wit only serves to confirm my belief. Regardless, and just judging by her(?) meta-sketching, there is very very little chance that I would ever be interested in any boat that she(?) is fawning over with mental anguish.

Not that this thread is real, mind you.

Quite the contrary. I was absolutely and illogically smitten by this boat. When my partner said, "Let's put in an offer", all common sense went out the window.

I had never even considered Oyster on the list of possible candidates, not that I don't have champagne taste, mind you. I just couldn't see how we could afford any Oyster. But last November, when visiting my partner in West Palm Beach, I was told we had an appointment with a broker to see a boat in Ft. Lauderdale. I had no idea what the boat was and really, had no desire to see it. I knew if we bought a liveaboard boat, we had to sell the house first and we were a few months away from listing it. (FWIW, my partner had just landed a job in WPB and at the time I thought we were going to buy a house down there, not a boat.)

I reluctantly went and as I approached the boat it looked too big, too worn and too much a project to even consider it. There were big scratches in the hull paint and the decks were totally shot. It was sunny and close to 90 that day and all I could think of was how this thing had been sitting here baking away. The only thing I could see was me toiling in the boat yard in the sweltering heat of Florida cussing away.

The broker opened the boat up and I expected a blast of heat from below. As I stepped down into the cabin I found it cooler than outside and all that was running was a dehumidifier in the galley and a box fan, back in the aft cabin. The cherry interior was gorgeous and outside of a few spots, in great condition. Then I realized there was no diesel smell. And no musty smell. I was beginning to fall for it.

We opened up several floorboards and all the doors and drawers. What I saw was one of the best built boats I had ever seen. Heavy floors, thick framing members, insulation lining the hull, a nicely designed 24v system, a spotless engine compartment with easy access and on and on. The cosmetic issues above, though costly to repair, didn't seem so bad anymore.

I couldn't get this boat out of my mind. For all the boats we've seen, nothing got me like this boat. But logically, I knew it wasn't the right boat for us, no matter how amazing my dreams of cruising on it were nor how much I ignored the obvious costs to repair it.

In an attempt to convince myself I needed to forget about the boat, we went back in December to look at her again. This time I was armed with camera, moisture meter, temperature meter, and anything else I could think of to help me find something major before we set into motion the offer process. I could find nothing else wrong.

I loaded the pictures and videos on my computer after I got back home and looked at them over and over. I found a few other problems that didn't register when on board but overall the pics and vids only drew me further into the black hole.

I called yards to get prices on replacing the decks and painting the hull. The decks looked to be around $200 sq/ft with estimates of 350-400 sq/ft of teak on the decks. The hull paint jobs added at least another $20K but I reasoned I could just repair the scratches if we could match the paint. But I knew nothing about the operation of the engine and generator or the working status of the electronics.

The owner provided answers to all my questions and too often the answer was, "I don't know." No maintenance records were transferred from the first owner to him and he kept no records himself. Anything he did answer had to be taken on faith. He bought it in 2010, sailed it in the islands for a year, then brought it back to Ft. Lauderdale and listed it for sale. Then he went back home and left the boat tied to a seawall about 5 miles upriver from the ICW.

The potential costs of taking ownership were rising.

The first time we saw it, the broker said the owner had one offer at $265K and turned it down without a counter. The two sold Oyster 485s the broker could find were sold in the upper $200s in 2013. To the best of anyone's knowledge, neither of them needed new decks. Both were winter stored. This boat had been a Florida boat most of her 19 years.

But despite all signs pointing to "Run away!" I couldn't get this boat out of my mind. So I began working very hard on forgetting it by telling myself over and over this could be a huge mistake. And it was beginning to work.

Then my partner tells me the price dropped $25K to $274K. I called the broker. She checked with the listing broker and he said the owner was firm at asking price. So again, I began the process of forgetting. It's like an addict. Every time they cave, they have to start the process of getting clean all over again. So I did.

A few weeks later, I hear the price dropped to $265K. For anyone who has been through this, I think you probably felt about the same as me. Hope ran high. We still hadn't listed the house but we only had a few little things to do. April 1 was our deadline. I saw myself sailing again!

As I once again started getting serious, I discovered my partner wasn't totally on board with moving onto a boat. No need to go into all the reasons why but because it was my partner driving this boat search, I took that to mean we were going to become liveaboards. My plan for the last 30 years has been to retire, buy a boat and sail off into the sunset. I was ready but my partner wasn't.

And that's why I created this thread. Emotions were driving me crazy and I needed some firm logic to help me once and for all forget about this boat. I needed an Intervention.

I refused to mention what boat is is because what boat is right for you is a personal choice and any discussion about the boat would be about one person's opinion, based on their knowledge, personality, upbringing, life experiences, etc. I believe asking anyone who doesn't know you very well, "Should I buy this boat", is masochistic and an exercise in futility.

I was hoping this thread would be about ways to walk away from something your heart really wanted but your brain said is foolish. That's all.

Yes, I did make it lighthearted but that was because men don't usually like talking about emotions and I knew most replying to this thread would be men. But maybe adding a little humor would help break the ice, if any, and allow the discussion about how emotional a boat purchase can be.

As to the broker getting back to me telling me our offer was shot down - it happened in real time, just like I posted. After the "Please Stand By" post, I was preparing the final chapter in the struggle based on how things were going here at home. We sat down and discussed the purchase very seriously and honestly. The final chapter was going to be Emotional winning the fight and we were going to proceed with the purchase if the owner came back with a counter. I was so happy we had finally settled what we were doing. I was high on emotions.

The next day, before I posted the final chapter, I talked to the broker and she said the asking price was it. Nothing less would be accepted. Two other people had offered almost the same price as us and they were also refused without a counter. There is a loan on the boat still and the owner doesn't want to come to closing having to write a check.

In the boxing match, Logical had to be the winner.

To add to the craziness of this whole thing, my partner sends me an email today with a link to another Oyster 485, somewhere in Spain. It took CSI Boats to find this because it's not on any Internet listing I have ever heard of.

What am I going to do about it? I'm going to walk away and work on finishing the loose ends around the house. The only thing for certain around here is the house will be listed very soon. After that, I don't care.

You can't make this stuff up. If you want to believe I did, the only thing I can do is accept that. Ciao.

[PortClydeMe]

Thanks for the detailed update. Providing this information much sooner in the thread would have been a little more prudent. I hope your dream vessel soon sails into harbor.

[Sandero]

This is quite a story... and makes more sense than the poetic version... at least to this XY salt.

My concern is not that a 48 foot boat wouldn't be a dream to live and probably sail... and assuming the purchase price doesn't break the bank... that's a helluva lot of boat to care for in ANY condition... let alone one which needs a lot of TLC. Messing about on boats is wonderful, but more wonderful is sailing... and I wonder if the proper mix would be there for such a big boat for any couple.... on a 20 yr old boat.

My own addiction began when friend hauled me up to look at a 48 foot yacht with a drop dead gorgeous teak interior. I feel hard so I know the pull. We didn't buy the boat and I ended up rather shortly with the 36' I have now and that's a handful. I can't even imagine now... having been with Shiva since her "birth" what I would have been doing if she had another 12' to her. YIKES.

Now you know this boat a bit and if the price is right... the dollar is now equal to the Euro... I can see you taking the plunge.

When she's ready... call me to crew from the Canaries to the Caribe ;-)

[Julie Mor]

Originally Posted by Jon Eisberg

What, you mean you're not buying into the notion that a possible deal on that Dream Boat was only taken off the table in the few days since this thread was begun?

:-)

This wasn't the first time, and I'm guessing it won't be the last...

Hey, Jon! I got an idea! Why don't you call the broker and inquire about the boat and see what he says. Toll-free 855-824-8544, ask for Scott. Then come back here with your report. At least you'll have something more than supposition, speculation and mindless gossip to go on to support your allegations.

[weavis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MK7qz13bU

[Julie Mor]

Yeah, Weavis, I need to let go. But part of me now wants Jon to call the listing broker and come back here saying our broker never contacted him. Then I'd throw myself right back into the quandary. How messed up is that?