Mike and I went to Vancouver, British Columbia this weekend and while we were there we fell in love. At least we think it’s love. It could be lust. My dad always said there was a big difference, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what the difference is. It’s bad enough when you fall in love with another person. When you fall in love with a boat, it’s even more complicated!
There is an old, trite saying about how if you love someone, you have to let them go free and if they return to you then the love is real, and if they don’t, then you’ve saved yourself a ton of trouble. I’d like to make that case for boats as well as people.
We went to Vancouver to visit our newly married niece and her newly minted husband and since we can’t afford to be traipsing off to Vancouver all the time, paying for hotels, etc, we thought we’d look at a few boats while we were there. Our broker, Lee, set us up to look at a Swan 40, a Spencer 1330, and a Westerly Conway. (Reviews to follow)
Newlyweds. Their love seems like the real deal to me. Micah is a very talented musician and programmer whose professional goal is to put music to videos, video games, etc. He has his degree along with his talent, so if you know someone who knows someone in the Vancouver area, give me a shout. I like to help young people get off to a start in the career of their dreams.
Why are we looking at boats when Moonrise is still for sale, you might be asking yourself. And you would be wise to ask. Except that we are well and truly into the nasty rainy season here and going sailing is not much fun right now. We have to do something to keep the dream alive or it will die a watery death during the rainy season. If we look at boats, we not only keep the dream active in our lives, we also continue to educate ourselves about what we really want and need, and work toward making a final decision about whether we really want to sell Moonrise.
And that’s where the ‘let it go free’ concept comes in. We found a boat that made our hearts go pitty pat quite a lot. You know that feeling you get when you first spot the object of your affection from across the room, and your heart swells just a bit and dizziness overtakes you… that’s the feeling I’m talking about only this object is a boat, and we already own a boat. Technically, we own two boats if you count Danger Kitten, Andrew’s boat. So you can see the quandary we find ourselves in.
The boat is the Westerly Conway. Long time readers may recall we also looked at a Westerly Sealord last spring, and we also liked that boat. We’ve reviewed that one, and also reviewed a Westerly Cirrus that we looked at for our son over the summer. The common thread is that we loved all three of those boats and wanted to own each one. I think we may have found our builder, if not our boat.
The Westerly Conway, which made our hearts beat a little faster.
The Westerly Sealord, S/V Spellbound. I love the name. I loved the boat.
So we are throwing this issue out to the Universe to solve the problem for us. Do we make an offer? Do we consider the Westerly Sealord again? I would love to have that boat. It’s perfect in just about every single way: layout, size, amenities. But the price is not right for us, especially right now. And it needs quite a bit of work and is just that much bigger than the Conway. The Conway, at 36 feet, is only slightly longer than Moonrise. It has good accommodations and is ready to sail. The really big compromise on that boat is the galley, which would have to be completely redesigned. Either one would take us where we want to go, but the Sealord would be more comfortable to live on, no two ways about it.
Is it love or is it lust? I maintain that because we’ve liked every Westerly we’ve seen, it’s love. So if it’s love, we have to let it go free and see if it works out; we have to do our part but not try to control the process. We have to realize that if it’s right for us, the boat, whichever one, will be ours and Moonrise will find a new owner who will love her and sail her, as she is built to sail, not sit at the dock. If this does not work out, we will continue looking at Westerlys. Perhaps not exclusively, but definitely. Sometimes life is a little bit like a movie. You do your part by buying the ticket and taking a seat, and then you watch to see what happens next. I think that’s called making a leap of faith.
So, everyone who believes in fairies, or anything else good, clap your hands now and send all that believing our way!
After seeing the Conway, we stopped to watch this acrobatic fire juggler perform. He was pretty funny, and also very, very strong. We tried walking around the cool shops in the area, but we couldn’t focus so we got in the car and drove home, wishing we could stop in Blaine to see the Westerly Sealord on the way home.
It sounds as if you are really wanting/needing/wishing to sell Moonrise. I think you should get REALLY serious about selling her. Make your asking price as attractive as you can with out financially hemorrhaging. Have you placed a listing on CF, AS, Sailnet, etc? I would be happy to do a post on our blog to help find her new owner.
Get serious, then get serious about finding your next boat- whatever flavor Westerly she may be. Yes, it will need work. Any boat will need work. Every day you spend working on Moonrise when you should be working on your big boat is a day you have to put off cruising. 😉 Just saying…sometimes we make our own luck. 🙂
We’re getting serious, as you say 🙂 It isn’t that we weren’t serious before, though. Moonrise has been listed on CL, Yachtworld through our broker, we had an ad in Good Old Boat, and on Sailnet ( I think that’s the one) . After awhile, one just figures it’s not meant to be. So we took it off the market for awhile, not sure what we would do. After this weekend, we’ve put her back on our website with a newly revamped For Sale page, new photos, and a new page linking to the ‘tour of Moonrise’ posts, as well as a new price. The CL ad is up and is bringing people to the site. I took more photos of the boat today, so I’m getting those posted tonight. And we’re open to any broker who wants to sell the boat, but we will not sign with one specifically because we want lots of brokers trying to sell her. I think it’s hard for brokers to feel very motivated to sell a boat that is this price unless they know they won’t have to split the commission. Anyway, I think we’re getting serious again, so that’s the part I can do to make my own luck. The rest is up to the Universe, as it were. At the end of the day, we have a good boat so if we have to go in that boat, we’ll do it.
I understand and empathise with your situation, it’s so hard to walk away from a boat that you love and leave it in the hands of the universe. We made the mistake of inspecting a boat that was, if we were being sensible and honest, which we weren’t, completely out of our price range…but oh so perfect and ready to cruise, no work required. But then of course as with any dream state, reality came crashing in and we had to walk away. I became convinced that no other boat would be as perfect or make me feel the way I did. But It wasn’t long after that we bought Tygress and after worrying early on that we bought on the rebound she’s working out fine. She was perfect for us and more importantly perfect for our budget.
Keep thinking positive thoughts, Moonrise will sell as surely as, well, the moon will rise and your next boat is bobbing along patiently out there waiting for you. I can feel it!
I think you’re doing the right thing by adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach, the boat that is meant for you will be there when you’re in the position to buy.
Thanks, Sarah! Yours is for surely a cautionary tale and you did end up with a great boat that will take you anywhere in the world. One of the things I like about buying a boat that already needs work is that you learn the boat from the ‘ground’ up that way. Since we’re going to work on whatever boat we get, we’re willing to look at boats that need quite a bit.
The Sealord is in the running if the owner is willing to seriously negotiate on the price. Our broker is checking that out even as we speak. I don’t think the work it needs is going to be outside of our level of ability. It’s been sorely neglected for at least a year, sitting at the dock. The owner has all but abandoned it. But it’s a solid boat.
Yes, Moonrise will sell to the right person. I feel pretty confidant that whatever happens will be the right thing because we are taking these actions to do our part in what Cidnie calls ‘making our own luck’. Posting this to the blog is one more way of making that commitment.
Goodluck selling Moonrise and getting another boat. I agree with the others about staying in your budget range. I try to think of things in terms of “if we buy this cheaper boat we can cruise for an additional 2-3years!” It’s a no brainer.
Excited to read the review about the Conway.
Yes, me, too. I probably didn’t state it right in the post, but we’re seeing how negotiable the price is on the larger boat. As listed, it’s out of our range. But reduced, it might not be. I have to know that before I can make a solid decision about the other boat.
I wished you’d let me know you were in town!!! I would love to have met up with you for dinner or even just coffee! If you come back, please let me know!!
We were only in town for a day, and really we were focused on visiting our newlyweds so didn’t have much time to spare. Next time, if we are on a less tight schedule, I’ll email you!