Until you have done it, you have no idea how stressful it can be purchasing a yacht.  It is now Saturday morning, and we are finally beginning to recover from our Thursday ordeal.

 

On Thursday we finally got on board our yacht for the first time. Even that was an adventure.  It started with us getting lost on the way to the marina.  We arranged to meet Tom (our broker) at the marina for 2pm. He gave us the address, but not the name of the marina.  While the crazy road that the marina is on used to be a single long road, it has since been chopped into pieces, each accessed from separate entrances. And of course, the other marinas don't know the address of each other.  Well, after stumbling around a bit (and yes, we asked for directions), another phone call to Tom got us on the right path.

 

Now we came across something that was pretty amazing.  Pretty much in the middle of nowhere, there was a large tank lying on it's side, on a wheeled chassis.  As we drove past and finally got to see the top end I realized that it was a Space Shuttle fuel tank. I haven't seen one for nearly 3 decades so it was pretty cool to see. We'll have to bring the kids back to see it later, but for now a quick video will have to suffice.

 

A few minutes later and we were sitting at the marina office with Tom, only to find that the marina can't find the keys to our yacht! Seriously?  The thing came all the way from South Africa, we drove all the way from Canada, and now it's locked and we can't get in! ARGH!!

 

So we left the office guys to try and find the keys while we drove down to the yacht. Wow, she's gorgeous. Her mast is off for the final inspection, but she's been polished and shined up, and has a new bottom coat on her.

 

We climbed aboard using the swim ladder. Charlena was worried that she'd have trouble getting aboard but even climbing from the ground was not difficult. Once on board the rear steps provided wide and easy access to the cockpit.  While Tom was getting a call about whether they could find the keys or not I began poking around. A quick look and I realized that the deck hatches were not locked, so I opened one and slipped inside. Wow, I was finally inside our yacht. I quickly made my way to the salon and unlocked the main doors, allowing Charlena and Tom to enter.  

 

The sliding doors into the salon are wider than expected and provide easy access between the cockpit and salon. The salon itself is large and unfettered, with an awesome blue cushions on the dinette. Charlena had always been worried that the galley was too small but now that she is in it she found it to be perfectly sized, and the galley up design, with it being in the salon makes for a much better layout than down in one of the hulls.

 

We spent about an hour poking and prodding through all the cupboards and storage areas, exploring every nook and crany.  

 

On next Thursday we have scheduled a surveyor to come aboard and do a full inspection. At this time the mast will be re-attached, and the yacht will be moved and placed into the water where the engines will be run, and just maybe, we'll leave the dock for a quick spin.  This final inspection is required for the insurance company, and this will be our final sign-off for the yacht, triggering the final payment of just under $80,000 US. After that, she's OURS!

 

I'll make sure I post next Thursday night after the inspection and splash, and I'll have some photos too.