We are, currently, looking for a boat. It's a search that is compounded by this whole COVID thing, which restricts our ability to travel to vist boats. Much like buying a house, buying a boat unseen is cause for a lot of anxiety. Sure, you'll have the boat checked by professionals, what is known as a "Marine Survey". However, there are things that are not easily defined and don't show up on a Marine Survey. Do the faucets work? What condition are the sails? Marine Surveys cover those sorts of things. "Can I live in here for a couple of weeks at sea with 3 other people?" That's not something the Marine Survey can tell you.
So we are limited to either buying a boat unseen, or else buying a boat that is in our geographical area. Even that isn't quite the entire picture. Boats that are close enough that I can (almost) see them from here might not be accessible since they may be across the border in the United States. Sometimes we might be able to buy one without being on it, as I've been on Juneau, Beneteau, Leopard, and Hallber-Rassys enough to know what they are like, mostly. However, each boat also has it's individual personality that has grown and evolved through its lifetime. In essence, each one is a custom boat after 20 or 30 years, so it's still a gamble.
We've looked at several boats. We were ready to make an offer on one, but then discovered some things in its structure that we didn't like, so cancelled that. Another boat was sold while we were dealing with that first boat, etc.
Fortunately, we're not in a rush. It would be nice, of course in thiese COVID times to settle in on a sailboat and wander off, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.
We are off, this weekend to look at another vessel. It represents a difference from our original vision, but that's life, isn't it - things change and evolve. We'll see what comes of this week's adventure!
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