Sold - Diesel Duck 44

I mentioned a while ago that we are in the US with the idea of cruising in a 44 ft Diesel Duck we bought with the idea of fixing up.

We motored her 4 hours down to Rochester NY. The engine went very well and she cruised at just below eight knots. Her JD engine has 1800 hours and is good.
She is in the middle of having her bottom sandblasted. She needs some spots blasted on deck and topsides and a repaint.
I have had a surveyor inspect the bottom because of some pitting and he was OK with it.

Beth and I have found we have bitten off more than we can chew.
The boat is sound but we are finding the process far too stressful and have decided to sell her.
We paid $95000 for her and intend to auction her for what we can get.



Cheers,
Richard

That's unfortunate, I hope things turn out well.

If you are looking for interest from forum members then I'd suggest some photos, and a bit more detail on the boat would be beneficial.

Dont be in such a rush!

An auction may be a big looser Or you might change your mind.

A few months stored in a boat yard is not very expensive , even if you have to move to a different yard.

There are many free sites to advertise the boat , and for offshore it is a desirable vessel.

At the price it should go quickly if paint is the only hassle, most metal boats need a refinishing after heavy cruising.


RELAX !!!

T'is better to have dreamt and lost, than to never have dreamt at all...

Was it the cost to repaint/repair that changed your mind?

Maybe you could get estimates from yards which lean toward commercial fishing boats as opposed to yachts?

Murray,
Dosn’t look like it’s a money issue to me.

D.Duck44 said:

Beth and I have found we have bitten off more than we can chew.
The boat is sound but we are finding the process far too stressful and have decided to sell her.

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I am so sorry it didn't work out as you hoped. I know the emotions of it might be a bit too raw to do this right now, but it would be very helpful if sometime you could start a separate thread of the trials and tribulations and why it didn't work out. Most of the time we never hear or read of the ones that don't work, of those driven from boating or with dreams crushed and, as a result, we sometimes give biased and unbalanced advice on sites like this, especially to newbies. The crowd is enthused and says "go for it". The sailing crowd on other sites is even worse.

We each must evaluate on our own tolerances. If boating was stressful to me, I'd absolutely run or restructure so it wasn't. It started even in childhood as an escape from stress and has remained so with me. Our style of boating or living wouldn't be right for many and I try to be careful not to say it's right for all, but we wouldn't be happy the way many others do it. Some love projects. To me the word "project" always makes me think of "work" and I don't want it. Some love DIY and that's distinctly not me. Alaska is beautiful but far too cold for me to live there just as Florida is too hot for many.

Best of luck in your sale. I know maximizing return isn't your primary objective, but still I'd suggest that an auction and/or selling it in Rochester might not be the best idea. Even when the money gotten from selling seems unimportant, I think again. I don't value money highly on it's own. However, I do value what I can do with it. Maximizing return might allow you to do something you couldn't otherwise for yourself or for others. Perhaps if it's for others, it might help remove the sour taste of this entire adventure from your mouth.

I'd love to see pics and hear more about some current open projects.

Sorry to hear it. I was hoping she would make you a good boat.

Thanks for your support.
I don't feel too upset about it - I was upset before I made the decision. It was basically a miscalculation of how difficult it would be to do this kind of thing so far from home.
It took us four full weeks to get the bottom sandblasted to our standard.

I became really stressed about it and couldn't really objectively work out why, (not sleeping, sick in stomach etc) especially given that we have a 36 ft steel yacht at home which we built years ago. We are very familiar with sandblasting and steel boat stuff.
Possible it is that I am getting older, and also the time constraint of a 3 month visa.

Her bottom was painted today - abrasive blast and paint cost just under $20,000 which is much as we expected.
I am disappointed, but am happy that we gave it a shot.

As time passes I may get a better handle on the whole process.


Cheers,
Richard.

I would not auction it unless you are in desperate need to get rid of it immediately. I would put it with a broker and price it aggressively and it will probably sell very quickly. Whatever you do, good luck.

Richard, sounds like you gave it a good shot, but makes sense to pull out if you are not enjoying it. Life is short.

Thanks Dave,
That is what we have decided to do. Using Peter De'Sousa of World Class Yacht Sales Florida. He is the broker we bought her through.

Again, good luck. Sometimes stuff happens and you just have to make the best of it.

The best business persons are not ones who never make mistakes but those who can quickly admit their mistakes and reverse them before they cause more problems. You introduce a product or a campaign and it fails, you drop it. You don't keep going to prove something.

I think that's true of life in general as well. We think we know how something will be but we can't be sure until we do it. I remember as a teenager I got my cousins all playing golf near the lake on Saturday mornings. I say morning but we didn't get back to the lake until mid afternoon. Then suddenly I stopped and they continued. I realized I'd rather spend all day Saturday on the lake than playing golf. Might be different if I wasn't a horrible golfer. Or I might be a better golfer if I had a passion for it. They all still play regularly. I'll play maybe 3 times a year with friends when cruising just to enjoy the beauty of an island course or something.

I applaud you realizing it wasn't worth the stress and admitting at this time and place it's just not right for you.

Having to travel to the opposite side of the planet to work on a boat must have been beyond stressful. Sorry it didn't work out, and good luck with the sale.

Also, thanks for sharing how things didn't work out. Like BandB said above, we rarely hear from the unsuccessful ventures, and it definitely skews the data and makes it harder to keep perspective.

Thanks for your kind thoughts. A lot of things just did not go in a straight line.
At home I have an excellent workshop with a lathe, mill, various welders, presses, benders etc. I do all of my work myself and am a bit of a perfectionist.
Here I have none of that and am depending on others for the big jobs. I have found that stressful, especially with the time constraint of a three month visa.

Other things are kind of funny though. Walked into Albion NY motor registry to register the boat. "Where's your ID?"
"Well, I have my passport, Australian drivers' licence, Australian Medicare card, credit cards etc. "

"None of that counts, do you have any NY documents?"
"No."
"Then sorry, you can't register your boat."
As a result we had to get Delaware rego.
We have found Americans generally to be lovely and extremely accepting. They are much more considerate on the road than Australians.
Being gluten free, we love Wegman's stores.
So this three months has not been all unpleasant - we have met people and made memories that will be enduring.


Thanks,
Richard

D.Duck44 said:

I have found that stressful, especially with the time constraint of a three month visa.

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It's a shame that nearly every nation makes it so difficult on people who want to visit and spend money. It brings to mind planning an extended European vacation and having to bounce around Schengen. Now, if you'll make a major investment you can buy your way in and spend all the time you want. And all these rules are pretty much the same around the world.

D.Duck44 said:

Thanks for your kind thoughts. A lot of things just did not go in a straight line.
At home I have an excellent workshop with a lathe, mill, various welders, presses, benders etc. I do all of my work myself and am a bit of a perfectionist.
Here I have none of that and am depending on others for the big jobs. I have found that stressful, especially with the time constraint of a three month visa.

Other things are kind of funny though. Walked into Albion NY motor registry to register the boat. "Where's your ID?"
"Well, I have my passport, Australian drivers' licence, Australian Medicare card, credit cards etc. "

"None of that counts, do you have any NY documents?"
"No."
"Then sorry, you can't register your boat."
As a result we had to get Delaware rego.
We have found Americans generally to be lovely and extremely accepting. They are much more considerate on the road than Australians.
Being gluten free, we love Wegman's stores.
So this three months has not been all unpleasant - we have met people and made memories that will be enduring.


Thanks,
Richard

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It sounds like you have made your decision, but here are a couple of thoughts. You can get a B1/B2 visa relatively easily (given you have a boat and may wish to go in/out of USA to Canada) which gives you 6 months per entry. For boat registration, a good option is Australian registration via AMSA. Its a once only fee, and then going between countries is simple and you don't need any State rego in the USA.

I know what you mean about workshop/tools. At home I'm not as well setup as you, but still missed having access to it. I ended up with a lot of Li-battery tools, and some with cords. Its good to have a range of tools on board anyway. I did carry some items from Brisbane to the USA during return trips as you can have two pieces of luggage even in economy. You just need one charger with local voltage. Compared to paying to get stuff done, buying a range of tools is cost-effective.

I'd expect bringing "up to standard" a $9500-hundred, forty-four-foot boat would cost many thousands of dollars. What were you thinking?

Mark,
We inspected her and had her surveyed, she is quite solid, mechanically A1 and the price left room to spend the money.
Its the human element that was the wild card.

Diesel Duck

Hi: Please message me back with info and a way to get pics of your Duck. Thanks, David

Hi Richard, at least she still stays a red boat! Get in the yacht and get up here into FNQ and enjoy the good life.

Richard,

I am joining this thread to see how it all turns out.

Can you link to the ad for your DD44 on World Yacht Sales, please; I cannot find her there. Cheers, KL

Thanks for your interest. We have not yet formalized our contract with Peter but when we do so I will post the link
We used to moor at Wollongong, and my wife's ancestors were pioneers around Gerringong Kiama area.


Regards,
Richard.

If you are talking about a WWII army Duck or something designed like one, get rid of it. They drowned many GIs in WWII before the Army figured it out and recently killed a bunch tourists in the US. We had one in Hawaii but they went broke before they could kill anyone

ProMaritime said:

If you are talking about a WWII army Duck or something designed like one, get rid of it. They drowned many GIs in WWII before the Army figured it out and recently killed a bunch tourists in the US. We had one in Hawaii but they went broke before they could kill anyone

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You are so far off base its not funny.... Diesel duck is a boat, not an amphibious vehicle.... Google Diesel Duck

Sailor of Fortune said:

You are so far off base its not funny...

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I found that funny, especially for a first post

L

ProMaritime said:

If you are talking about a WWII army Duck or something designed like one, get rid of it. They drowned many GIs in WWII before the Army figured it out and recently killed a bunch tourists in the US. We had one in Hawaii but they went broke before they could kill anyone

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Too soon.

If it walks like a duck, and quacks like ...... oh, never mind.

I think I'll duck that comment # 25!!