Blind Owl is back

[Blind Owl]

No one had reason to miss me, but here I am again. My wife and I have made / are making our new home in BC's Southern Gulf islands. Lots of work, a long streak of bad luck, greatly reduced ambitions, abilities, and budget.

But holy crap! We're coming out of that long dark tunnel with what we think is the boat deal of the year. The selling broker said I was stealing it, but he's an old hand and a long-time friend of Jeff Merrill, so I have no doubt he was smiling as he wrote that email.

Here's our find, which we stumbled on purely by chance from a friend who's the owner's brother:

1984 Roughwater Express Cruiser - 37ft - Bayview Yachts

Roughwater Express Cruiser Flybridge Diesel Fiberglass

www.bayviewyachts.com

The owner was an airline pilot who lived long enough to retire early, and meticulous and thorough in choosing and improving the boat. Believe it or not, we got it for half the listed price, and we have enough coins to jingle to pick up a daysayler we have our eye on. plus enough to upgrade and improve, where necessary, our very first boat bigger than a canoe.

So I'll be seeking helpful advice, as I received before I dropped off the radar, and offering opinions and—who knows?—maybe even advice once I feel qualified to give it, which may be never.

God, it's great to be back! Cheers to all,

Blind Owl

 

[Blind Owl]

Oops, I didn't realize the broker stole a march on me and changed the price to what we paid. False alarm, folks, and enough gloating from me.

 

[Comodave]

Congrats on your new boat, enjoy.

 

[Blind Owl]

Thanks for the warm welcome that we knew we'd get (my wife and I, since she follows this forum but lets me do all the quacking).

To anyone who's interested in what made us reach for our wallet, here's a more detailed description of the boat we bought: Roughwater 37 1984 giving the price in USD, more photos, and more details. A couple of things: to judge by the photos, the add-on flybridge extension looks factory, and it's obvious that the upper 2 solar panels were professionally installed. There are 4, which should allow us for forgo shore power in good weather. I'm sure that's very satisfying, as Jeff Coté said in one of his many boat show presentations.

When I sent Jeff Merrill a bare summary of the details, he wrote back 'At that price, I don't see how you can go wrong.' To us it was such a no-brainer that we've bought it sight unseen, and won't see it until tomorrow when we drop off the bank draft and go over the boat. Hell, the used Toyota Tundra we bought three years ago cost a thousand more. Given who and what the owner was (was!), we expect every surprise to be a pleasant one. Can't wait.

 

[kthoennes]

Welcome back, and congratulations. Your story sounds very similar to ours. We got ours for a steal too, the previous owner just wanted to be done. Such a low price that we offered to let him out of the deal, we'd all walk away happy because I didn't want to take advantage of him), but he insisted. And he was a robotics engineer so his maintenance was outstanding. Boats can hammer you in the head financially so many ways that it feels really good to get a great deal once in a while. Hope it goes well.

 

[Blind Owl]

Thanks, kthoennes.

The former owner is in his 80s and the boat was named after his recently deceased wife, which suggests why he wants to be done with it. You can believe we're still pinching ourselves. The world has had a long streak of bad news and so have my wife and I, so at least for us, things are looking up. We can only hope the world takes a turn for the better.

Hearty congrats on your own screamin'deal!

Best,

Blind Owl & Mrs. Owl ;-)

 

[SteveK]

May Saturday be a great day for you.