Boat Update

Well, I am on vacation again this week, or at least I am not at work.  I have been very busy installing a new engineered hardwood floor in our house.  We have worked two days, moving furniture, pulling carpet, laying tile around the door way, and have yet to lay one board of hardwood!  Tomorrow hopefully will be the day. 

I also have my Mastercraft up for sale, which is a little sad, as I really like that boat.  I guess I am not too sad, as I will be replacing it with a much larger boat!  Monday I de-winterized it, and dropped it in the water!  It was all waxed and looked great!  As normal, it started right up!

2002 Mastercraft Prostar 209 for sale!

On the boat front, we finally received an official counter offer from the owners of the Belize based Leopard 40.  It was only $5000 away from my last offer, but the complications of trying to get the boat to Guatemala for a haul-out, plus the higher cost made me step back and reconsider other boats.  It is still my favorite boat that is in my price range.  The owner finally agreed to sail it down to Guatemala at his cost, so this could be an option in the future. 
Today we made an offer for a Lagoon 380 coming out of Sunsail charter.  It is in the Bahamas, so if we get this boat, it will be easier to bring it back to Florida for provisioning.  We can also drive to Florida with all of our stuff, including our dive equipment and kayak, which is a huge deal!  My mom also is excited about this option as she can take her black cat.  We received a counter offer, but it seemed very high, so we are considering our options.  The only negative thing about this boat is that it is a 4 cabin charter version, instead of the owner version that the Leopard was. The best thing about this boat was that it was $30,000 to $40,000 cheaper than the Leopard.  I was a little disappointed that the counter offer was so high, but I guess that is part of the negotiation!  I will probably make one more offer and then move on to another boat. 

2008 Lagoon 380

Some of the factors in buying a charter boat are below:

• Pro - If you agree to purchase the boat before the refit, you can be involved in the refit from the charter company.  This is something that is usually done by each charter company at the end of the contract.  The Moorings and Sunsail have a good reputation for a quality refit.
• Pro - Price - Usually you can get a decent price on an ex-charter, if you look around.
• Con - There usually is no dinghy included in the sale, so you will need to buy one, once you take possession of the boat.  This isn't a big deal if you are in Florida or BVI, but in Belize, they are expensive and hard to fine. 
• Con - Engine hours and wear and tear.  You try to find a boat with lower hours, if possible.  Most of the boats in BVI that we have looked at had 3500 hours or more on the engines.  The boat in Belize only had 1700 hours, so it was more attractive.  They Lagoon that we are looking at has 2700 hours, which I would consider 'low hours'.
• Con - There is usually no solar panels or other gear needed for cruising on the charters.  Figure that you will spend $10,000 to $30,000 more on these items, depending on what you want.