Existential crisis-32 foot downsizing of the fleet?

My history as a boater might suggest that I know how to buy boats but also that I am notoriously bad at selling boats. I have never actually sold a boat, having purchased many, and have discovered that I may be quite poorly adapted to the idea of selling boats I really like.
I should stay off the internet but I don't, and find that I have been smitten by another boat. Now I can rationalize many things when it comes to boating but owning three large boats is not in the cards. And really, the rationale for owning two which was tending to a startup company remote to my other boat, is no longer in play as that company is up and running and does fine without me.
So, here I am considering selling two and buying one, dropping from a total of 100+ feet of hull to 68 feet.
Any advice from those good at letting go? Anyone need a great boat (or two)?

I must first say that I have admired your Noordzee in your avatar for a while. Probably way out of my price range unfortunately.

Secondly: existential crises tend to pass rather quickly Every boat I've sold was forced by external circumstance such as a job transfer.

I have sold about 6 or 7 boats over the years. I really don’t like doing it so I tend to trade them in. However there is a cost in doing that. But in the case of your boats that probably isn’t an option. So when I sell a boat I have had good luck with Boattrader.com. Not sure if that is the place for your boats or not. It is probably more smaller boats. But first thing is I price them to sell not to my emotional value on the boat. Then I take absolutely good quality photos. And I take a ton of them, every nook and cranny. Well lit photos are a must. But before the photos I clean and declutter the boat so it removes our personality from the boat. You want buyers to imagine the boat with their stuff and personality not yours. Clean out all the cabinets and lockers except for things that will go with the boat. You want the lockers to look huge, not jammed full. Then I make a comprehensive list of all the equipment and make copies to give to buyers. Then I put the boat on Boattrader and wait. The last 2 boats sold to the first person to look at them. But with the photos and list of equipment they have a good feel of the boat before they even come look. However your boats are a niche boat so Boattrader may not be the best place to list it. Maybe PMM or some other magazines. Maybe make a web site to have all the info on so your ads don’t have to be a half page long and expensive. But rather the high lights and a link to the site.

Those pics look like the Lowland 48 and Noordzee Kotter 52. What is the 68 footer you're considering replacing these with??

What better meets your needs??

Shrew said:

Those pics look like the Lowland 48 and Noordzee Kotter 52. What is the 68 footer you're considering replacing these with??

What better meets your needs??

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You are not expecting this to make sense........are you? Yours is certainly a reasonable question.

Okay. I'll come at this from another angle.

You're thinking too much. Your brain needs to decompress and find some space to wander freely without coalescing a myriad of disparate facts into forward marching plans toward shifting goals.

My suggestion?

Get all your businesses to the 'up and running and doing fine without me' stage, then take one of your boats to some isolated anchorage on BC or Alaska's exposed west coast, anchor, then sit there for at least three weeks. Walk the beaches, climb to the surrounding heights of land, sit for hours in the forest or spend hours exploring tidal pools.

I've found it takes about three weeks in wilderness for the internal noise of the modern world to fade away, at which point, my eyes and mind would truly open up to what's going on around me.

Maybe, if given a chance, the answer will come. Swami has spoken

If we were to take the position of what makes sense as far as buying a boat, none of us would have boats. I have to do what I have to do. My wife has told me in the past when I was sorta between boats to just go buy a boat because she was tired of living with me...

Comodave said:

My wife has told me in the past when I was sorta between boats to just go buy a boat because she was tired of living with me...

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My wife has told me if I buy one more boat I'd better plan on living on it

Jean Paul Sartre might disagree with "existential" crisis.

SoWhat said:

My wife has told me if I buy one more boat I'd better plan on living on it

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And that is a problem because...

SoWhat said:

My wife has told me if I buy one more boat I'd better plan on living on it

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I would like to get a 58’ so living aboard wouldn’t be a problem for me. My mom lives with us and just turned 100 so it might be a bit of an issue for her.

If you have a good broker, I think it's cheaper than all the hassle of selling the boat yourself. About 90% of the lookers don't have any money, they're just dreamers. They don't mean any harm, but they take a lot of time.

Hopefully a broker will eliminate most of the lookers. If you're not a liveaboard, he makes all the trips to the boat. You don't have to be involved until the haulout or sea trial.

BruceK said:

Jean Paul Sartre might disagree with "existential" crisis.

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Yes, in his mind, I am free to do this I am sure.

Well....good then I suppose.

Lepke said:

If you have a good broker, I think it's cheaper than all the hassle of selling the boat yourself. About 90% of the lookers don't have any money, they're just dreamers. They don't mean any harm, but they take a lot of time.

Hopefully a broker will eliminate most of the lookers. If you're not a liveaboard, he makes all the trips to the boat. You don't have to be involved until the haulout or sea trial.

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Yes, I am a broker guy, not interested in selling myself or finding the last dollar out there for these boats. If I am moving on, then I am moving on.
The rub is that I am certain I really like these boats. No way to be certain about the next one, though it seems highly likely.

And,apparently, a parking spot for a 70 footer is quite uncertain around here.

Re the owner sale I’d be concerned about all the virus shredders you’d haft to have on the boat underway in closed quarters. That element moves me toward the broker.

But I like what I heard about Boattrader.com.

After extensive research, I've found that buying a new dinghy every year or so is a lot less emotional and easier on the wallet compared to a trawler. Occasionally I even sell the old one.

Ted

O C Diver said:

After extensive research, I've found that buying a new dinghy every year or so is a lot less emotional and easier on the wallet compared to a trawler. Occasionally I even sell the old one.

Ted

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Well after all the work you have done on yours I don’t see how you could ever part with it. It sure is pretty.

Some would say that you have a wonderful issue there.

L

Comodave said:

Well after all the work you have done on yours I don’t see how you could ever part with it. It sure is pretty.

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Lou_tribal said:

Some would say that you have a wonderful issue there.

L

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Thank you! Yes, I'm still very happy with it.

More than once I've seen a boat I would like to have (why are they never less expensive than the one you own?). When you consider what you will loose in broker fees and what you will spend outfitting the new boat, it's a lot cheaper to throw a few thousand in upgrades at the current boat.

Ted

Hi Bill; we are in the market for another boat. Would like to get more details on the Lowland 48. How do we connect?
Barrie

Barrie said:

Hi Bill; we are in the market for another boat. Would like to get more details on the Lowland 48. How do we connect?
Barrie

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PM sent.

Libra is tied up in Bellingham near my boat. Every time I walk by, I say to myself, 'That boat is salty!'

How many berths does Libra have?

I loved my house. I owned it for 12 years. I lived there longer than I've lived anywhere else. I put a lot of money into it, and really made it my own. I didn't want to get rid of it, and I was far from certain that living on a boat was a better plan.

But... I was ready to try something new. I'd gotten everything I needed from the house. I wanted to grow in a new direction. It was a necessary step. It had to go.

I think you're ready to try something new.

Bill: I would love to be a big player in your existential crisis. I’d love to resolve my own existential crisis by treating myself to Klee Wick, or at least by living aboard something as desirous as you already have. I can hardly imagine the 68 footer that you have become smitten by.

No matter the severity of the cognitive dissonance, all indications are that you have passed much greater tests and you’re more than up to the challenge.

Treat the challenge like it is, a thing, and if you still want it after your three weeks of contemplation in the wilderness, treat yourself to It.

As an update, we feel like the crisis has passed and we are ready to move on.
We have placed the listing agreements will a local broker and the ads should appear by the end of the week. We will find a price that moves them to their new custodians in a short window and get on with a new adventure.
They will both make someone very happy I expect.

SoWhat said:

My wife has told me if I buy one more boat I'd better plan on living on it

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Awesome woman you have there!
HOLLYWOOD

SoWhat said:

My wife has told me if I buy one more boat I'd better plan on living on it

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Not only did I/we do that but my wife paid for it as well.

klee wyck said:

As an update, we feel like the crisis has passed and we are ready to move on.
We have placed the listing agreements will a local broker and the ads should appear by the end of the week. We will find a price that moves them to their new custodians in a short window and get on with a new adventure.
They will both make someone very happy I expect.

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Considering the effort involved in finding these vessels, getting them to where you live, and then making them your own, you make HUGE decisions quickly!

Wishing you good fortune in finding a new vessel, but something tells me you've already separated one from the herd

klee wyck said:

As an update, we feel like the crisis has passed and we are ready to move on.
We have placed the listing agreements will a local broker and the ads should appear by the end of the week. We will find a price that moves them to their new custodians in a short window and get on with a new adventure.
They will both make someone very happy I expect.

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Glad you're moving forward. My question is when do you enter rehab or a 12 step program to kick this addiction?

Ted