We Buy a Boat!

We had expected to spend several months, to a year, looking at potential boats to purchase while we RV’d around the U.S. enjoying our new lifestyle. And then … we had lunch with our friends Jim and Sharon in Fort Lauderdale. Sharon pulled out her phone and showed us pictures of a 41’ sailboat owned by friends of theirs. They had owned the boat for sixteen years and had recently decided to sell and return to a land-based lifestyle.

I wad reluctant as it was a bit larger than I had anticipated purchasing. Jane, on the other hand, was immediately smitten. The next thing I knew – a couple days later – we were on our way to look at the boat anchored just off the ICW in Fort Pierce.

Fast forward a little over a week. We were just completing our ASA sailing instruction on Biscayne Bay and preparing to leave Florida for Louisiana, then Texas, followed by destinations west. We thought it wise to take one more look at the boat before we left Florida. After all, we probably wouldn’t be back here for another several months, maybe a year. We contacted the owners and they agreed to meet us at the boat the next day.

We met, Jane and I toured the boat again, we made an offer to purchase, they countered, we countered, they agreed, and we shook hands.

And like that, we owned a 42′ sailboat!

Now what do we do?

Everything changed! All our plans for Texas and RVing out west suddenly changed. We now owned a boat and had to move aboard. We immediately drove to Shreveport so that Jane could visit her mother, and then back to St. Louis. While Jane organized things in St. Louis, I flew back down to Fort Pierce to complete the purchase transaction and spend time with the previous owner to understand the systems on the boat. After a week, I flew back to St. Louis. We put the truck and RV into long-term storage, rented a van, stuffed it full of our stuff and headed south to Fort Pierce to move aboard.

What followed was a month in Fort Pierce discovering our new home, packing it full of our belongings, spending time on the water learning how to manage a 42’ sailboat, and enjoying the gracious hospitality of the community of retired and current cruisers that were kind enough to lend us a hand.

But more on that in our next blog installment … Our Time in Fort Pierce and the CLODs.