Current Position: 47°
2' 51" N 122° 52' 35" W
The process of buying a boat is long and involved, exciting
and scary, tiring and exhilarating. As
we move closer to actually buying our boat (more on that in the next post) I
have thought back over the many years it has taken to get us to this
point. We have dreamed, talked,
researched, shopped, taken classes, and dreamed some more.
Here are some of the steps we climbed to get to our dream.
1.
Dream – Before Bob & I married 42 years ago,
we dreamed of living on a sailboat and raising two kids tethered to the lines.
Joining the Navy and having quadruplets changed those plans dramatically but
the dream never disappeared.
As retirement approached the dream
resurfaced. We took several cruises over
the years which were wonderful but always left us longing to stay and visit
longer than the few hours allotted at each stop. We took sailing lessons and chartered a 36
ft. sailboat through the San Juan’s for a week.
We were in love.
2.
Educate – We took courses, went to boat shows;
talked to other boaters, boat brokers, and insurance brokers; read books, and
watched videos.
3.
Plan – We set up a plan for paying off the house
and saving for the boat we wanted. We
had our time table in place.
4.
Upset plans – As life happens, changes are
inevitable. When my health dictated an
early retirement for me we re-evaluated our time table and moved it
forward. It put a crimp in our plans but
all things are adjustable.
5.
Moving forward – We put the house on the market
and sold it in a short space of time. We hired a buyers’ broker to walk us
through the boat buying process. Bob retired, we moved to Olympia with Bob’s
mom and boat shopped until we’re cross-eyed.
Giving up on the boat of our dreams, we have learned to compromise as
all boaters must.
We pray this last stage of purchasing our boat will move a
little faster than it has, but we know it is dangerous to rush into such an
important purchase. We appreciate all
the support of our family, friends and our boat broker! Bear with us as we struggle through this next
step of finding “the boat”.
Next up – “The Boat NAME”
