Back to Rob's purpose of this thread though...
We've been looking hard at trying to determine what boat we want, what features, what is "must have", what is "nice to have", etc... All the due diligence that all of you went through when you finally purchased "The One".
My wife and I have driven all over the state of Florida looking at boats. We're working with a buyer's broker who - beyond being a professional - has become a friend. He's been very helpful in "steering" us in the right direction, but purposely giving us a wide enough vector to discover for ourselves what it is we're really looking for. He's filtered most of the junk out of the way, but has also said "I think you should take a look at this boat near you, because this is what I want you to learn to AVOID". It's been very helpful in that sense. There really is no substitute for experience, and our broker knows I'm not going to make an impulse purchase.
I've quickly learned that when an advertisement lists the "this one will go quickly", or "this is a turnkey boat", etc. that it's most likely a piece of junk - or at the minimum has some significant problems.
My point to this is that you need multiple sources of information when you're making a decision of this magnitude. My wife and I will be taking a huge gamble - basically selling it all to try this for a few years (we're both in our 60's) - so we only have one chance to get it right. I feel much more informed than I did a year ago. From my perspective, if the boat is a mess, there's a good chance the maintenance, care & feeding wasn't done. I want to see a clean boat; I want to see a tidy engine room, (are display screens clean in the corners?); I'll know if it's just "lipstick & rouge" by all these peripheral indicators (if EVERYTHING is in order, you can't fake it all).
When I was in boot camp, we had to fold our underwear and towels exactly 6". The Drill Instructors were real PITAs about it. Finally they explained it to us: "if we can't trust you to fold a simple pair of underwear to be 6" wide, how can we trust you with a multi-million dollar aircraft?" From that day on, I've always paid attention to details, and know how to look for it. That attitude is readily apparent when you look in a bilge, or in an anchor locker, or in the head.
Continuing to lurk here (and other places) as we learn from all of you.
EDIT: Geez, sorry for the long ramble!
We've been looking hard at trying to determine what boat we want, what features, what is "must have", what is "nice to have", etc... All the due diligence that all of you went through when you finally purchased "The One".
My wife and I have driven all over the state of Florida looking at boats. We're working with a buyer's broker who - beyond being a professional - has become a friend. He's been very helpful in "steering" us in the right direction, but purposely giving us a wide enough vector to discover for ourselves what it is we're really looking for. He's filtered most of the junk out of the way, but has also said "I think you should take a look at this boat near you, because this is what I want you to learn to AVOID". It's been very helpful in that sense. There really is no substitute for experience, and our broker knows I'm not going to make an impulse purchase.
I've quickly learned that when an advertisement lists the "this one will go quickly", or "this is a turnkey boat", etc. that it's most likely a piece of junk - or at the minimum has some significant problems.
My point to this is that you need multiple sources of information when you're making a decision of this magnitude. My wife and I will be taking a huge gamble - basically selling it all to try this for a few years (we're both in our 60's) - so we only have one chance to get it right. I feel much more informed than I did a year ago. From my perspective, if the boat is a mess, there's a good chance the maintenance, care & feeding wasn't done. I want to see a clean boat; I want to see a tidy engine room, (are display screens clean in the corners?); I'll know if it's just "lipstick & rouge" by all these peripheral indicators (if EVERYTHING is in order, you can't fake it all).
When I was in boot camp, we had to fold our underwear and towels exactly 6". The Drill Instructors were real PITAs about it. Finally they explained it to us: "if we can't trust you to fold a simple pair of underwear to be 6" wide, how can we trust you with a multi-million dollar aircraft?" From that day on, I've always paid attention to details, and know how to look for it. That attitude is readily apparent when you look in a bilge, or in an anchor locker, or in the head.
Continuing to lurk here (and other places) as we learn from all of you.
EDIT: Geez, sorry for the long ramble!
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