9-13 May 2020

So we have finally bought our forever (for now) yacht.  She's 36 foot - perfect for coastal cruising but might be able to take us down and around the Carribean if we are confident.  Hull is sound (recent survey showed no issues).  Engine is sound, but very old (1983 Yanmar) - may be difficult to get parts for (are there old Yanmar chop shops?) sails look in good nick.  The running rigging looks very mildewed - don't know if it's just been out in the sun or if it's going to fail though!!

Other than that she is beautiful inside and dry as a bone on the keel.

Only electronics is a depth sounder.  There is a windex but not sure where the cables go to from it.

We bought the boat, far too intemperately, on my 50th birthday.  We have lost one yacht which was in good shape (a 32' Aloha) when the owners forgot to keep their emotion out of the equation and took their teddy home during the negotiation.  Having then seen a bunch of project boats in the same price range (real projects!) when we found 'Double Time' across the way from us at the Sail and life training skills (SALTS)  place we kinda fell in love and bought her on the first inspection (Yikes).  We also paid the asking price, in large part because we thought that this is also a charity and the money is going to keep them afloat (literally!) so it made us feel good :)

After putting down the deposit on the Saturday and much angst on the Sunday, we were back onboard on the Monday with a mechanic (Karl) for a mechanical inspection - the only caveat we had placed on the sale.  Karl was amazing and spent two hours walking us through the motor and all the components, pointing out how to service it and any issues.  Even he was impressed at how sweet the engine ran and this gave me a load of confidence (having a sound hull and a reliable engine seems to me the most critical items.  At the same time we got our first chance to really dig around what we had committed to buying and were pleasantly surprised by what we found.  There was nothing scary we could find (although the running rigging did look a little green!)

 After a little negotiation around a weeping seacock we finalized the sale and by Tuesday we had transferred the money, signed the bill of sale and were the proud owners of a sailboat, docked not more than 500 meters from our place in downtown Victoria