So it begins...

[Sheri]

We decided to not wait to find the perfect boat and then put the house on the market. We listed the house on the 25th, 10 showings the 26th, and contract on the 27th...…. Well that happened a little quicker than expected so we are now getting rid of everything and getting close to the closing date. (26th) so guess who is not hosting Thanksgiving?? Oh my goodness. In a few weeks we will begin the search for the right vessel. Fingers crossed we make the right choice.
The questions will be coming in a few weeks and I look forward to all of your help/suggestions/criticisms and good hearted ribbing.

 

[Comodave]

Good luck in your search. If necessary you can always check into one of the extended stay hotels while you look. I would start now making a list of must haves, want to haves and don’t want to haves. You may look at Powerboat Guide. It has line drawings and brief descriptions of hundreds of boats. When you are looking online you can look the boat up in PBG and see what the layout looks like.

 

[Pau Hana]

We decided to not wait to find the perfect boat and then put the house on the market. We listed the house on the 25th, 10 showings the 26th, and contract on the 27th...…. Well that happened a little quicker than expected so we are now getting rid of everything and getting close to the closing date. (26th) so guess who is not hosting Thanksgiving?? Oh my goodness. In a few weeks we will begin the search for the right vessel. Fingers crossed we make the right choice.
The questions will be coming in a few weeks and I look forward to all of your help/suggestions/criticisms and good hearted ribbing.

The St. Pete boat show is only a couple of weeks away- I recommend you consider getting a buyer's broker and scour the show for the different types of vessels available (convertible, sedan, trawler, pilothouse, aft cabin, etc.) and see which type best meets your needs.

 

[firehoser75]

Great advice from both Dave and Pete!
Despite having sold your house, don't rush out and buy the first boat that "looks nice". Make your lists (as Dave said), figure out "what you expect your uses of the boat will be like" and go aboard as many different types as you can so that you can narrow your search down as to your preferred makes/models. Then, find one that has been loved!
Also, keep aside a reasonably large budget for repairs, updates, upgrades, and additions. Those will probably cost more than you might now expect, to say nothing as to the costs if you buy a "project (unless you can do most of the labour yourself or really like that type of thing).
Good luck in your hunt,

 

[Sheri]

Thanks to all of you, Good advise. we had started looking and have been on a few that were great boats but not "the one". we will be going to the St Pete boat show. we wasted our time going to the Tampa one but still had fun, just more fishing and bay boats. Captain has a broker looking for us but sometimes you just stumble on the right one. Hope that happens again for us. We will be living in the RV until we find the boat so I will be accustomed to tight quarters in no time and once we find the boat we will actually have more room!!! But it still feels like we are going way outside of the box here on traditional living... but its also kind of fun to not be a part of the "norm".

 

[Lewispar]

Congrats on pulling the trigger, Sheri. Exciting times! Looking forward to hearing about your next move. haha

 

[Slowmo]

Congratulations! As others say, don't rush the purchase. Also make sure you understand where you might berth your new home and what the costs are. In our area the cost per foot actually increases at certain break points (40', 50') so not only is the boat longer, you pay more per foot. Depending on how sensitive you are to monthly 'load' that could be something to be aware of. Also, one boat yard told me that their 'rule of thumb' is that maintenance costs double with each 5 feet of length. I can't verify that but it makes some sense of you look at square feet of surface area.