A New Boat?

We have been looking for the next boat almost since the closing of Sea Trek. As a former Broker for many years and 35 years in the marine industry I should not be surprised by what we have seen but I still am. Boat owners trying to sell their boats yet they have pretty much abandoned them and they are for the most part in deplorable condition. The outsides are filthy and the interiors are dirty, moldy and smelly. And they really think someone is going to come along and pay tens of thousands of dollars for these disasters. Sometimes the photos on the listings look pretty good but the reality in person is quite the opposite. Over and over we ask ourselves "what are they thinking?" maybe the answer is, they are not.


But there is always the exception to the rule and we actually found it on about the second boat we looked at. It is also right at our back door here in Beaufort so the logistics will be easy. We have been to Charleston a couple of times and have just returned from a few days in Florida and in the end decided to put in an offer on a well kept Marine Trader that the owners bought to cruise but health reason changed those plans as it does in all too often cases. The offer has been accepted and we will next have to get through the survey process and do a sea trial. If all goes well we will close and begin moving on board by the end of the month.

We had planned to wait a few months before buying another boat and take a vacation from the lifestyle but once again our plans changed 180 degrees. It isn't the first time and it won't be the last for those of you following our adventures. But this will most assuredly be different and we look forward to a change of style and pace. Of course the necessarily upgrades and outfitting will begin in earnest after we get aboard. We feel it only respectful of Sea Trek to begin a new site dedicated to the new boat once all of the formalities are over. We know from past experience that anything can happen during the survey process, but we are hopeful, especially since there is a survey on the boat only two years old.

In the mean time we have a boat to deliver from Beaufort,SC to Beaufort, NC and we will be heading north this weekend. The boat needs to be in Beaufort by the 13th to be hauled out and placed in storage until it is sold. It is interesting that this boat, which is a Caliber 38 belonged to our long time friends, who sold it and bought a trawler and the now, new owners, became friends and we are doing the delivery for them since they are now selling the boat. Confusing isn't it? We will post as we move north to keep everyone up to date on out progress and when we return to Beaufort, SC we will have the survey and sea trial done on the new boat.