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11th November 2009 Today we had the surveyor inspecting the catamaran and giving us an appraisal of her condition. Because she’s located so far away, it’s impractical for us to fly over just to look at her so we’ve engaged a surveyor to look over her on our behalf. Based on the surveyor’s report, we’ll likely make an offer. The surveyor we’ve picked is a German and from a background check on him, he’s very thorough. I feel comfortable with him. I spoke to two Australians who have recently used him to survey their yachts and they both spoke very highly of him. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
13th November 2009 We received the appraisal from the surveyor today and were excited to read that most of the things he’s pointed out are cosmetic and non structural. There’s a few things to be done, but this was anticipated and we’ll factor that in with our offer.
15th November 2009
Well today is a day filled with excitement and anticipation because I’ve just sent off a letter of offer for the catamaran in Turkey. She’s located in Marmaris, Turkey, so if we’re successful, then we’ll be starting our family adventure from Turkey. I could think of worse places! As far as commencing a cruise, there’s no better place to start a cruise than in the Mediterranean - and if we’re starting in the Mediterranean there’s no better place to start than Marmaris.
17th November 2009 This morning was Cheryl’s birthday. We got up and opened presents, but the biggest present was when we checked our emails, on the off chance that we had a reply from the broker. Hidden amongst the six or so emails was one from the broker. With trembling hands I opened the email and read the words “…the seller accepts your offer … ” That was about as far as I got before I felt the lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. Cheryl noticed my hesitation and came over, as did Chelsea and Nick. The seller accepted our offer … THE SELLER ACCEPTED OUR OFFER. The words were read out, over and over again, but it still took longer to sink in. It was the same feeling as when someone hits you with a water balloon. You know you’re wet, you can see it, but it takes a certain amount of time for the wet to seep through and you really comprehend it. The seller accepted our offer. We are the proud owners of a new boat. There were hugs and smiles and tears … even from me. This has been a dream of mine for just over 10 years and now it’s coming true.
19th November 2009 Today was a negative day. I’m normally a really positive person and I can generally see the glass half full, even when other people are convincing me it’s really empty! I was away in Melbourne with work for a couple of days and while I was sitting in my motel room late at night, I started going over all the negatives. Should I really be doing this?, is this a waste of money?, am I being responsible? Wouldn’t I be better just staying home and raising my family in a proper environment? I got depressed pretty quickly, so I decided just before I went to sleep, I’d open up the photos of the yacht and go over them one more time. I can normally spend hours just staring at these photos over and over and I get more excited and happier the more I look at them: imagining myself standing in the picture of the helm, holding the helm as we maneuver our way out of the marina. Or imagining the bow photo – what the bow would look like gliding over the crystal clear waters of some tropical island. Or sitting at the saloon table, playing games with the children. As I flicked through the photos, all I could see was problems that were growing worse by the minute. The engines, have painted hoses – does that mean the engines are old and they just spray painted the whole engine to make it look passable to a gullible Australian purchaser?? Or what about the hatches? I’m sure they look like they’re about to start leaking and that could cost lots …. And speaking of costs, can I really afford this? And so it went on. I shut down the computer and went to bed sad and upset. I knew I was just tired and I knew I’d feel better tomorrow after a sleep, but at that time it just felt so large. While we were lying in bed the next night, snuggled up as we do. I recounted the story to Cheryl. She listened with caring ear as I recounted my previous upsets. Then with true love, after she had reassured me that I had nothing to worry about and that this was the adventure we’d been working towards for the last 4 years, she warned me that it was just as well I was away that night because if she’d heard me she would have (lovingly of course) belted me about the head until she knocked those silly thoughts out … or until I fell asleep. Whichever occurred first! I can always count on my wife for love, understanding and sympathy.
21st November 2009 Today is Saturday and I just had word from the broker that our yacht is getting her sea trial and survey today. Whoo Hoo !! I transferred our deposit yesterday, however it won’t likely turn up in the broker’s account until Monday, so Adelina (our broker) is taking a bit of a chance by consenting to a sea trial and haul out. Technically she should have waited until our deposit was cleared into her account before haul out. Now I should really reserve my comments until everything is completed and put away, but I must say that Adelina is doing a fantastic job as broker.
Because we aren’t able to get over to Turkey until February, we have elected to store the yacht on the hard for winter. Now as part of our survey we also need to get the yacht hauled so the surveyor can inspect the hulls. Typically when a yacht is surveyed it’s hauled out of the water for a couple of hours but left in the travel-lift, then dropped back into the water as soon as the surveyor is done. As each lift costs a substantial amount of money, we’ve negotiated to get the yacht hauled and then stored on the hard for winter, meaning we only need to pay for one lift. This was a bit of a risk for the owner, as if we don’t complete the sale then he has his yacht stored on the hard for winter, however the bigger risk is for Adelina because she’s trusting us to pay the deposit. Adelina has again done a great job in convincing the owner to let us take this approach. Hat’s off to Adelina at the Lusitana Yacht & Ship Brokerage – soon we’ll have to call her “Saint Adelina”.
28th November 2009 We received the surveyors report today and approximately 30 extra photos showing various views of, glad to say it, predominantly cosmetic issues that need rectification. Most predominant in his report are small gel-coat cracks in the outer skin from local stresses or flexing – but the surveyor was quick to clarify that these are only minor and cosmetic in nature. The standing rigging is original and needs replacing, but we already knew this and have started arranging quotes for the new rigging.
30th November 2009 Well we’ve just done it. I just sent off the email of acceptance to the broker advising her that, with the exception of repairing the refrigeration system and reinstalling the auto pilot linear drive (which mysteriously went missing) we accept to purchase the yacht. After 4 years and 3 months of looking. After collecting information on 52 yachts. After making offers on 7 yachts. After flying to Sydney, Brisbane, Florida and Jamaica to inspect yachts we have finally found our yacht. It’s starting to sink in now … it’s actually happening … it’s exciting … it’s scary ... it’s happening. |
