bobfnbw saying ahoy.

[bobfnbw]

Hi all.
long time small boat sailor, boatless for 8 years, now getting back into it.
Once long time ago I convinced my wife while living in a log cabin in North Bend Washington (hence the name.. bobfNorthBendWashington... it stuck what can i say... ) to sell everything and move aboard a sailboat. After only 3 months of prodding she said YES! So we sold everything, and began the life of... banging our heads against the wall. You see we could afford a 300,000 home, but try to finance a 175,000 liveaboard sailboat... forget about it. So we settled on a beautiful nor'sea 27, aft cockpit and drove it from Anacortes Wa, to Bradenton Florida, where we were sometimes liveaboard, sometimes not. Both of us are nurses, and can pretty much live and work anywhere, and our company would pay enough to cover a boat loan, slip fees, and insurance. So we were in heaven, we thought, ..... except I am 6'1", and we had 2 dogs at the time and a 6 year old that we home schooled. Wasn't working out much.. shout out to bradenton Marina.. was/is a great place to call home for a while with great liveaboards there.... anyway I digress... So we sold the nor'sea, by owner.. thought it would take 1 year, but it sold in 6 weeks. Off to find a bigger boat... then we got taken by bad brokers and lost most of our depost on a FD12. Both selling agent, the sellers and our agent were out to get us, and they got most of our depost, when we tried to renegotiate after the survey brought up lots of discrepencies.... then a baby came along to compicate matters.. So I figured the dream was dead till retirement... when ever that would be.
But now, with my youngest son 6 and able to swim reasonably well, and my oldest 12, I feel its time to do what I always wanted to do and get that boat again.
This time my expectations are far different than before. With over 10 years of planning, reading, research, classes, and with help from people like those on these forums, and others, we are going to make it work.

I am 50, and plan on retireing in 12 years, when both kids are out of the house. But in the mean time I need a good sailboat for coastal cruising that has bluewater potential. Over the next few years most of our trips will be local, and to mexico and over to Florida. I used to search mostly Florida for boats I liked, then one day decided to look local, and found something I never thought I would go for, but then my needs have changed, my financial commitments, and with the economy going down a bit.....

Anyway I have a contract out on a Endeavour 40. Survey is in 2 weeks. I expect it will survey as expected. The boat is reasonably well equipped, but I would change a lot to make it mine, and will expect to spend a long time doing it. I am very good with tools, and what I don't know, can learn.
My wife is a bit reluctant to tackle this right now, but I feel now is the time to do it before my kids are completely into something else.

The Corpus Christi marina is a good one, and reasonable. And its a short sail to the Gulf. What more could I want ?
Bob

[Hud3]

Hi, Bob.

Welcome to Cruisers Forum. You're one determined guy, I'll say! Good luck on getting the Endeavor. Cruise on down to the Caribbean at some point--you'd enjoy it.

[bobfnbw]

Many thanks hud.
Looking foreward to closing on this boat and getting started what I am sure is to be a long love-hate relationship.. lol.
Lots of good info on these forums. Hope to contribute as well.
I'll keep you updated.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Bob,
Welcome back to the wonderful world of boating, fixing, changing, etc..
Kind regards,
JohnL