Me Destruye la Incertidumbre Que Estoy Pasando

Alright... SO we had found a boat we were super excited to go see! On September 12 we headed to Manitowoc, WI on a drizzly morning, brimming with excitement yet trying to keep reasonable expectations about what we'd find. It was definitely at the low end of the cost spectrum of boats we'd been looking at, but we were ready to fall in love. 

At first sight... we were not incredibly impressed. In fact, Ernesto was downright disappointed. After just a few minutes, he stopped taking photos, a clear sign that he had decided this was not it. The boat was dripping in spider webs, more outdated than we had realized, with a chaulky hull, and loaded with some rather vintage equipment. It was abundantly clear it hadn't been used much at all in recent memory. There were many signs of water intrusion, duct tape sealing sanitation hose connections, missing screws and snaps, a worn-out ill fitting canvas, etc... 

My impression was slightly different, however, so I suggested we keep taking photos and at least take the time to see all the things. We had driven almost five hours, so we should at least entertain the idea. Upon entering the cabin, I daresay I was inclined to give it a real chance. The layout and the woodwork won me over. 

Even so, on the drive home we all but decided against pursuing it. As a fairly meticulous boat owner, Ernesto was just not impressed by the shape the boat was in and daunted by what it would mean to revive it. I started feeling somewhat sad and disappointed that another long drive had likely resulted in nothing. 

However, for the next several days, we couldn't quite let it go and kept discussing how much of a project we'd be willing to take on. Ultimately, we realized the project could be exciting and good for us. As long as we could get the boat for the right price, we figured the risk would be worth the possible reward. On September 17, we decided to make a low offer - from a hot spot connection in a parking lot in Ashland... Ernesto, below, is about to press the send button:

This moment felt like officially opening the door to a new chapter, even though we knew the sellers were likely to reject our offer and make the decision for us. As it turned out, after a couple of counter offers back and forth, we struck a deal! Now, the boat had to pass a survey and sea trial... 

We couldn't get the sea trial scheduled until October 8th, which was an agonizing wait. We spent many hours hypothesizing what would happen, what projects we'd want to take on, what we'd name the boat, etc. But eventually the day arrived and we made our way back across the scenic state of Wisconsin. Here is my excitement manifesting in silly voices over coffee that morning: 

While the surveyor worked through every corner of the boat, we hung around the marina and got some more photos. Here are some! (Admittedly, we are sharing pictures that showcase the best of the boat and make us seem really dramatic when we say it's in rough shape, but this blog is all about the transformation, so stay tuned!)

The idea of the survey is to inspect the whole boat which, of course, includes the bottom. We got a kick out of watching it get hauled out. For some of us (me mainly) it was a whole new thing!

Then we got to join in on the sea trial - just a quick spin around the bay, but it was great to see the boat moving! Out on the water it felt quite a bit bigger than we expected, the flybridge being much higher off the water makes it a rather different experience than what we are used to. The main concern discovered during the run was that the engines weren't reaching the right RPMs... a problem for another day. But, importantly, it ran! Being on the boat out in the water made us like it more. 

Mid-day, we were feeling optimistic. It seemed like the survey was going OK, and we hadn't seen anything new to scare us. Ernesto was looking at the boat from afar and remarking that "it really is a CUTE boat" which felt like bonding. 

The other shoe kind of dropped at the end of they day when the surveyor broke the gloomy news that he found some larger, possibly structural concerns in a couple of bulkheads. Our drive back felt long and and a little sad once again, as we were beginning to feel like we would have to walk away. We had promised ourselves we'd pull our offer if something serious came up in the survey.

But, we couldn't just pull the plug without knowing more. Clearly, we kind of wanted this boat in the end, with the knowledge that it would need some significant work. We had the surveyor go back to do a more detailed inspection of the concern areas, and, with this additional information, adjusted our offer accordingly, in a final attempt to close the deal. At this point, we thought it more than likely that it would not work out since the seller had countered our original offer. 

But in the end, it did! A couple hours later we heard from the broker - the seller was accepting our adjusted offer, with the simple request that we close quickly. And, "just like that," we got ourselves our next boat!