Adventure #1: Getting her home

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My wife already has her eyes on an "already pretty" boat that we will end up buying, and I'd prefer not to be admiral. Therefore, I've already got the Matthews up for sale on the local craigslist.
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Surprising turn of events. I imagine you've learned a lot during this adventure and will apply that to your next. Looking forward to hearing how it all works out.
 
Interesting. I get the feeling a lot of you feel like i got the deal of a lifetime and should keep it.

Are there places in Olympia I can anchor long term so I'm not paying double moorage?
 
I get the feeling a lot of you feel like i got the deal of a lifetime and should keep it.
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That's not me. I wouldn't wish a wooden hulled boat on anyone but a collector with deep pockets and little else to do.
 
jovial_cynic said:
Interesting. I get the feeling a lot of you feel like i got the deal of a lifetime and should keep it.

Are there places in Olympia I can anchor long term so I'm not paying double moorage?
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I love see folks buy, restore, and use older wooden boats. I however am much too smart to ever try. ;-). A boat, any boat, is a lot of work, money, and maintenance. A woody is even more so. Sell that boat before you buy another. I have owned two boats simultaneously while I have been waiting for one to sell. It is hell. Since I'm still working there isn't enough time to simply keep both boat clean, let alone anything else.

Do not ever consider simply anchoring the boat thinking you will keep it while you use another boat. It will deteriorate rapidly and likely just sink at anchor.

Clean it up and sell it. It will count as a great learning experience and you were able to get it cheap enough that it isn't a hugely expensive education.
 
jovial_cynic said:
Interesting. I get the feeling a lot of you feel like i got the deal of a lifetime and should keep it.

Are there places in Olympia I can anchor long term so I'm not paying double moorage?
Click to expand...



I think it is more that a lot feel like you will have some hard time to sell it.

L
 
How long was the boat for sale before you bought it? Keep that in mind as you try to sell. Yes you put some money into it, but each month you pour more in. Dock fees, insurance, parts break or new discoveries of broken parts. You will never recoup what you put in.
Best thing is to not be emotionally tied to what you have already done and take the 1st real offer you get. Wood boats have a smaller demand/want. Some marinas here in Washington will not even let one in. Sell it for a loss and move on.
 
GregBrannon said:
That's not me. I wouldn't wish a wooden hulled boat on anyone but a collector with deep pockets and little else to do.
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Wifey B: And owning their own boat yard to constantly work on them. I don't want wooden boats or wooden houses. The wooden boat part is a long time not want. The wooden houses is more recent, as in the past week. :)
 
I think it's just buyers remorse and learning how much work is required for wood boat, it's good that he learns now while the cost has not been too high.
 
Bamboozled: fooled or cheated. How were you fooled or cheated?
 
Mach_cat said:
I think it's just buyers remorse and learning how much work is required for wood boat, it's good that he learns now while the cost has not been too high.
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Not at all! I'm quite sad about it; my wife and I are at an impasse on the layout, the narrow walk-around, and (amusingly) the fact that the aft bedroom has separate beds instead of a single bed - she doesn't like that she wouldn't be in the same bed as me.

I really thought about owning two boats. I would bring my Matthews back to life, and she could enjoy the sparkly shiny other boat she wants. But I'm afraid that I'll end up neglecting my boat to spend time on her boat with the family (I have three young children). In the end, I think I'll have to wait until the kids are grown before I can have a project boat to wrench on.

It's not buyer's remorse, though. There's so little wrong with this boat! If my wife didn't have such strong feelings about her preference for a different boat, I'd keep it.

Not sure what other option I have. :ermm:
 
dhays said:
Clean it up and sell it. It will count as a great learning experience and you were able to get it cheap enough that it isn't a hugely expensive education.
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This is exactly how I feel about it. For the price I paid, I was willing to learn how boats work, and willing to take the 8.5 hour adventure from Bremerton to Olympia. The boat came with a full tank of diesel, so it didn't even cost me anything to pilot it down. My wife and I had so much fun, and we were sad that we didn't bring the kids. However, since this was our first trip on a questionable boat, we felt it wisest to leave the kids off this adventure.

And even if I lose a little bit of money on the sale, I think it was worth the learning experience and enjoyment! Based on my selling price, this adventure will have cost me less than the vacation I took with my wife on the sea-plane up to Friday Harbor to go whale watching, only this trip was more fun!
 
dhays said:
There is a reason I don't make any major purchase decisions without FIRST getting agreement from my wife.
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Oh, we made this initial purchase together. She had just never been on another boat before, so she didn't know what she didn't know. We checked out a few other boats, and the layout we saw on some other boats appealed to her more.
 
Sounds like this boat was about as badly presented as it could be, cleaned up with the obvious fixed it might resell just fine. And if the Admiral wants it sold, well...what options are there?
Our marina mechanic was offered the Detroit 4s out of an unmolested but underwater 1965 Halvorsen 36 Special, he bought the boat,it`s on the slip(means hauled out here) now. Not so bad, both motors run, one didn`t need an oil change. It will get sold to a Halvo enthusiast and make a very pretty boat. Interesting, the hull is made of ply planks,clinker style, the exposed plank edges don`t do so well.
 
and... SOLD!

Well, I took a 10% non-refundable deposit, anyway. The buyer has one week to finalize payments. If nothing else, I've got moorage covered, and then some. ha!
 
jovial_cynic said:
and... SOLD!

Well, I took a 10% non-refundable deposit, anyway. The buyer has one week to finalize payments. If nothing else, I've got moorage covered, and then some. ha!
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Do what now?

Where are the Candid cameras?
 
ha. I'm not sure why you folks all thought it would be hard to sell. I've had nonstop e-mails about it since I listed it.

I could have charged more for it, but I just want my money back so I can buy the "nice" boat for my wife and kids.
 
Congratulations, not always so easy.
 
jovial_cynic said:
ha. I'm not sure why you folks all thought it would be hard to sell. I've had nonstop e-mails about it since I listed it.

I could have charged more for it, but I just want my money back so I can buy the "nice" boat for my wife and kids.
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From Craigslist?

Careful.
 
jovial_cynic said:
and... SOLD!

Well, I took a 10% non-refundable deposit, anyway. The buyer has one week to finalize payments. If nothing else, I've got moorage covered, and then some. ha!
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Well, it seems double congratulations are in order, for the purchase and the sale.

Seems like you have a great attitude and that's 90% boating enjoyment.
Have a survey done BEFORE you buy the next boat.

Richard
 
Wxx3 said:
Seems like you have a great attitude and that's 90% boating enjoyment.
Have a survey done BEFORE you buy the next boat.
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Yup. Having this new boat hauled out Thursday to be sprayed down, painted, and surveyed. Sale is contingent on the findings.

This new boat is fiberglass, twin diesels, and has the layout we want. I think we all found a boat we can agree on!
 
Well, the good news is that I'm up $475 because some guy made a rash decision to put down money for me to hold it, and then got cold feet. Non-refundable deposits being what they are, I'm ahead.

The bad news is that I didn't sell the boat yet, and in a week and a half, I'm going to be an admiral: I'm going to be the proud owner of a 1972 Tollycraft with twin diesel (cats) that just passed a marine survey with flying colors. My wife is happy, the daughters are happy, and of course, that makes me happy. But hopefully I sell the Matthews.

Oh, speaking of the Matthews, to everybody that said that I'm likely getting water in through the packing gland, yes. This was the case - I had quite a steady stream of water coming in that literally brought in 8" of water in 3 hours. I got the gland nut tightened up, and bingo: no more sinking boat. Hooray!
 
Officially sold! Now onto the next boat!
 
Every now and then, my wife and I talk about this adventure with the Matthews, and to this day, that first journey down from Bremerton down to Olympia was the best date we've had in our 17 years together.

I went through and re-read this thread, and I want to just give a big thanks to everyone who was so helpful here. I learned so much, and as a result, my wife and I are now life-time boaters. Yes, we sold off the Matthews after owning it for just a short time, but we moved over to boat #2 (the 72 Tolly), and now we're looking at adventure #3 - the liveaboard. We haven't settled in on what we're going to buy yet, but it'll continue to take us up and down the Puget Sound, but be big enough to house the family.

I've gotten so used to piloting a 40' around, it's a bit strange thinking about a 50'+, but I'm sure I'll get used to that, too.

Anyhow, thanks again, everybody. Sorry to revive such an old thread, but it was worth it for me to sit through and re-read it. And maybe some new boater can get inspired by going through it as well. :D
 
The 40 foot to 50 foot will most likely be a easy transition. Try your best to get use to the new boat in calm weather. With the bigger boat you may have a bit more area for the wind to push you around.

Drop the anchor at the dock while the boat is tied up to see what issues you may have with a larger anchor. How will you deal with it if the windless stops working?

The tonnage difference of the two boats most likely will not change enough to seriously alter the handling.

Just remember "slow is pro".

My over 50 years of boating is coming to an end. Health issues. I have enjoyed every second of it from the rafts I made as a little kid to the 500 ton supply ships. If I am lucky perhaps I will catch one more swordfish on my 28 Contender. My advice, don't ever get old...lol

Cheers,

Billy
 
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