Getting on with things

We're still seeing good interest in the boat, but it's hard to gauge how serious people are so we're prepared for the long haul when it comes to selling. In the meantime, I've got my eye out for possible interim apartments, and we're continuing to look at possible replacement vessels regularly.

Last weekend, we went up to Everett to check out an Ericson 38-200. I have been wanting to get a look at one for quite a while now; on paper, they have much of what I think I am looking for in a boat. It's not a huge size, which keeps costs and control manageable; the build and sailing qualities are reputed to be good, and the longevity of the basic design seems to attest to it... two different companies have been building them for over thirty years. That also means they are generally available on the market, and a relatively new model can be had very nearly within our price range. Finally, the dash 200 version has a separate aft cabin (very popular with the peanut gallery) and the head roughly amidships, an unusual characteristic on American-made vessels of that era, but one that we find extremely attractive.

The particular boat we looked at was in sad shape and in no way worth the asking price, nor probably even half the asking price. But that was okay, there are others around the country available. In general, it was what we hoped it would be: sensible layout, decent tankage, and scads of storage. Way more storage than I had imagined, actually. We have been surprised how rare that is on putative cruising boats we have looked at, and it's a strong plus on the Ericson. Lots of hanging lockers make Mandy happy.

The layout is a little constrained compared to what we are used to on Insegrevious. The table drops down to form a berth, which is common, but it doesn't fold away, and the U-shaped layout of settees in the main cabin prevents you from using that space for anything else. Worse, the nav desk is pathetically small, and there is no where else aboard where a strapping fellow such as myself could easily lay out an office space. Since office space is one of the major factors driving our boat search, that may be a fatal flaw.

Mandy and Maxx have been trying to convince me that such space could be manufactured without too much difficulty but I suspect their judgement is clouded, respectively, by hanging lockers and the existence of a separate "Maxx Cabin."

In any event, I find that I wish we could simply get on with things; sell what we have, buy what we can, make it as close as possible to what we want, and go sailing and living. Instead, it seems we're stuck in a holding pattern for as long as the market requires, both on the selling and buying side of things.

Intellectually I am not only aware that this might take a while, but indeed have been planning on it taking a while... I have told myself to be happy if we sell Insegrevious by next summer, and that it could be six to nine months after that before we find a replacement we both like, can afford, and which is in suitable condition. And after that, it could be another six months or more of refitting even on a good candidate before we could actually go anywhere.

While my brain is on board with all this, my heart is not. Maybe it's a mid-life crisis sort of thing, but I want to get on with things, and am having trouble reconciling the idea that things are not likely to be gotten on with at anywhere near the clip with which I would like to get on with them. There's really nothing I can do to speed it up, but the waiting is interminable.

Boat for sale!

So, I've listed the boat finally... she's on Craigslist for $18,500 currently. I've gotten a gratifying amount of interest so far, averaging out to one call or e-mail about her a day, but I'm trying not to let that make me overly optimistic. There is a lot of tire-kicking that goes on in the used boat market, and I won't be at all surprised if we don't get a serious offer until next spring (the height of the boat selling season; sailing is a harder sell around here with pouring rain and raging winds in the fall and winter). Still, I hadn't really expected anything for a few weeks, so it's good that there is a level of interest.

It's had me thinking much more about what exactly will happen if we do manage to sell her in the near-term. We're already planning out Mandy's conference schedule for next year, and we're both focusing on expanding business this winter. The ideal situation might be to sell Insegrevious, throw our stuff into storage, and go hopping around the West Coast looking for a replacement, but that might be difficult to pull off. So I have been looking at small, cheap apartments here in town to serve as a sort of homebase during the looking/buying process.

There are a fair number in a reasonable price range (although I haven't actually gone to look at them; maybe they are disgusting) but the big problem is that almost all of them want a one-year term. I certainly don't want to still be stuck up here in a lease next fall... if we are actively searching with cash in hand, I would expect to buy something next summer and have time to get it up here (if it's not already in the area) or to move to wherever it is, before bad weather sets in.

It's very hard to pre-determine what the right solution will be, because different things make sense in different time frames. If in fact we don't manage to sell until next spring or summer, a one-year lease might not be a bad thing... we could keep working through next winter here and be all ready to go out and get the replacement the following spring, coinciding with the lease expiring. But for a shorter-term solution, I am still at a loss, and I dislike being without a plan of some sort.

Kinetic Weekend

I've already did a post about this on Three Sheets, but I've been meaning to put up links to a bunch of the photos that didn't make it in the article. Also, for your viewing pleasure, the race start:

And here is a link to the album. Note Governor Gregoire in the crowd.