Final thoughts and one more embarrassing problem story from the trip.
Looking back on this with the benefit of hind sight I would not buy this boat again in the way, or for the price I bought it. It is a really cool boat, but I feel that its condition was badly misrepresented by the seller and the broker. It is a way bigger project than I thought I was buying, to make it the way I want it. I knew buying sight unseen was a big risk, but I made the conscious decision to just take the leap, and really put my faith in the goodwill of the seller and broker, both of whom seemed really well intentioned during the sales process. I feel like my trust was betrayed, and not great about the whole thing.
On the other hand, the captain (Ronnie Simpson, Look up his professional media work in cruising world, and many other sailing publications), and the Engineer, Graham I hired also sight unseen, and were the one and only choice available due to covid travel restrictions, turned out be be amazing. They were both super competent at keeping the boat safe and running, super honest and fair, extremely helpful in connecting me with the right people to arrange moorage in Hawaii, helped with major repairs in Hawaii, connected me to their network of friends in Hawaii that was super helpful in tons of ways, and were both also just fun guys to hang out and become friends with. That part of this journey could not have gone better.
As for the boat, while I was not looking to take on this big of a project, I do have the skills, the time, and the checkbook to make this boat right, and that is the plan going forward. It is going to be a really cool boat, it is just going to take a lot more time and money to get it there than I thought it would when I bought it.
My advice after going through this to others thinking about a similar purchase.
1.Don't buy anything sight unseen! I never would have done it except that Fiji was completely closed down due to Covid, and there was no possible way I could get in to see the boat. I was also a little out of my mind from being shut in with Covid lockdown for over a year. I will never buy another boat without seeing it in person first.
2. It would be so much better if you could cruise the boat locally in the area you bought it for awhile to shake out and fix some of the problems, before taking off across a huge ocean. Most of the problems we had could have been easily caught and fixed with a few weekend cruises locally.
3. Insurance for offshore passages in a boat like this is horrible. Budget a large chunk of cash, and a large chunk of mental energy for it.
4. A good delivery skipper is a great option, and should definitely be considered if you can't do the delivery yourself.
5. Even when things go sideways, there are some unexpected upsides. I certainly did not have "Cross the Pacific in your own trawler" on my 2021 bingo card going into 2020. I made some new friends, had some great adventures, took 4 trips to Hawaii, including one with my family that was pretty great.
One more embarrassing story of things gone wrong. Coming into Anacortes my plan was to drive my new boat, into my new slip like a boss. I knew there was a shallow spot out in front of the slip at low tide, but I thought I had enough room. I have had very little practice parking this boat, and it is very different from my last boat, it has a huge full keel, is huge in general, a single rudder in the middle with twin engines so it Does not get any prop wash over the rudder, rendering it useless at low speed. It has a stern thruster that helps, but does not generate close to its potential 15hp since the hydraulic pumps run off v belts off the main engine, and will slip like crazy if you try and take 15+ hp off at idle speeds. The pressure is turned way down on the hydraulic system to keep the belts from slipping. My plan was to come in and execute a smart turn to Starboard and head in to my slip. Instead of the smart turn I was planning, the boat drifted ahead and slightly to port caught by the wind and current as I fumbled ineffectually. I ran us aground in the mud 50ft in front of my new slip. There was current setting us into an old abandoned pier so I was afraid to try and back off since it would put us very close to the pier if successful. Fortunately the tide was rising. We got the harbor master of the marina to come out in the marina skiff and help us get a heavy line over to my slip, then we used the warping drum on the windlass to easily pull ourselves out of the mud and into the slip. No damage done except to my pride.
