All Things in Time

As some of you probably have guess, especially if you are following us on Facebook, we have postponed our trip to the Bahamas for this year. You can’t go to Paradise if you don’t have a ship to get you there. For now we are pushing the trip one full year, so this time next year, September 2016, we will be prepping to leave for the Bahamas from Eastern Ontario Canada. It just so happens that the friends that we were going to travel with also postponed their trip down until next year due to unforeseen circumstances. We feel bad that they were not able to go this year either, but it is a bonus for us to be able to travel with them next year. 

It has been a summer of a lot of disappointments, we were desperate to find a boat this summer, but that didn't happen. Some would say it was not meant to be. In the last post we were set to leave for a road trip down the east coast to look at some potential boats. We did just that and looked at about 8 boats from here to Virginia. Out of those boats we took one to survey. It was a Bayliner 4788, and it did not pass survey. This is the second 4788 that fell through in survey this season. We then considered a nice 40' Tollycraft. Not exactly what we wanted since we preferred the 44' in the Tollycraft lineup. The 4 foot extension of the aft cockpit was something we really wanted for safe boarding and line handling. We could not reach an agreement on the 40' so we let her go as well. 

Stay tuned as there is lots more to come, we still have to find a boat, prep it, and be ready to cruise next season. We have another boat in the works and things are looking good, it is a 44 Tollycraft, one of our favourite boats, but more on that in the next post. 

Follow us on Facebook, for the latest news and pictures, you can even get a first glimpse of the Tolly 44 just mentioned as well.

1988 President 37 Super Sedan For Sale

In an effort to help friends sell their boat, we are listing the boat hear on Searching for C-Shels. Photos also done by C-Shel Photography. If you want or know of someone who may want a nice cruising boat, this may be the one. Liveability inside and out is incredible and the wood working is stunning. Check the listing here on Searching for C-Shels, or look in the Brokerage menu at the top. 

The Facepalms of Boat Buying

There is no doubt that searching for the right boat and purchasing is a very difficult endevour, especially when you have no boat and you are landlocked for the summer months.  Though not unlike trying to find a home, we find this way more difficult than buying a home. This has been a learning experience, and we would like to share some of  the events that happened to us so maybe someone else can learn from our mistakes or provide a laugh or a facepalm moment for someone at our expense. :)

Here are reasons we don't have a boat right now.

1. When we were contacted about a price drop on a boat we were very interested in, we came in a half day too late with an official offer. Another buyer had an offer in beforehand.
2. We stuck too long with the buying process on a boat we had an agreement on, hoping all the red flags were because of a strange private seller and not the boat itself. This one mistake probably cost us our entire summer boating and may ultimately cost us our trip to the Bahamas in the Fall.
3. We again stuck with the inspection of a boat that was obviously in poor condition in some major mechanical areas, in hopes that it might be not as bad as it looked and fixable. This mistake played a roll in us loosing the next boat.
4. We toyed around with offers trying to determine the sellers bottom dollar, on a boat that was worth the asking price, and would have fit us and our plans perfectly, even though she had a few shortcomings. While doing this we were taking our dead time in the inspection process of the previous boat. We should have quickly dropped that previous boat and put in a good offer on this one. She would have been ours and we would have been boating right now.

In the attempted purchase of those 4 boats here are some red flags that arose and things we have learned. These are all actual things that have happened in the last 2 months

• When a seller easily comes down to a much lower price than asking, that is a red flag that there may be something wrong with the boat.
• When the seller tells you they cannot contact the marina where the boat is stored to get the shrink-wrap taken off to facilitate a survey, nor can they get a date for the removal or subsequent splash of the boat, that is a red flag.
• When the seller tells you that you cannot contact the marina the boat is stored at, that is a red flag.
• When a seller splashes the boat after winter layup even though you have a hull survey scheduled in a couple of days, that is a red flag.
• When the seller asks why you need a hull survey, and how would moisture get into the core anyway, that is a red flag.
• When the seller then tells you that you don’t need a survey just come test drive and buy, that is a red flag.
• When the seller tells you that they have been boating for many many years and have never once surveyed a boat they bought, that is a red flag.
• When the seller tells you to do your own survey and sends you a web page telling you how to survey your own boat, that is a red flag.
• When the seller thinks that a casual look at the hull by the buyer is enough to tell the condition of the hull (delamination, blisters, & moisture), that is a red flag
• When the seller tells you that the clouds of black/blue smoke coming out of the exhaust is just vapour, that is a red flag. 
• When the seller tells you they have booked off adequate time for the sea-trial and mechanical survey, then when you get there they cut it all very short and rush everything, that is a red flag.
• When the seller then asks you to "sign off” on the rushed and cut short sea-trial/mechanical survey, that is a red flag.
• When the seller unrealistically compresses the time to close the deal before you have the survey results and oil analysis results, that is a red flag.
• When the seller tries to guilt you into closing the deal, saying they have spent so much time answering questions and they have kept the boat off the market missing selling opportunities during this process, that is a red flag.
• When as boat is in storage and a sea-strainer is opened up and the filter lifted out showing it is full of debris and the filter is completely clogged, that is a red flag. 
• When engine rooms and engines are covered in engine fluids, that is a red flag.
• When little to no information is coming forward from your questions, that is a red flag. If the answers to your questions were positive then sellers and brokers will freely give it, if negative they will hold back or be vague.
• Boats usually look worse in person than they do in pictures online. A boat better look good in the pictures if you stand a chance of liking the boat in person.

Those are some mistakes we have made. I wonder if we have learned from them? I guess we shall find out since we are planning on taking the first two weeks of July to look at boats down the East Coast as a last ditch effort to save Summer and our 2015 trip to the Bahamas. 

Know of any boats we should be looking at? Contact us or leave a comment below.

Plans, Don't Bet on Them

Today we said good-bye to the C-Shel. She has been sold to a wonderful couple that we hope will have as much fun and make as many memories as we have on that boat. As we watched the boat cruise off into the distance heading for her new home, we couldn’t help but think of that saying, “The two happiest days of a boaters life is the day they buy a boat, and the day they sell her”, that saying must of been coined by someone who wasn’t a Tollycraft owner. I can’t say we were happy to see her go. We loved that boat and it still has special meaning to us. She was very good to us, and will always look back on our time with the boat as some of the best times of our lives. We can only hope she brings the same to the new family that has taken her on.  

So now we are boatless. This has been a very stressful week dealing with the purchase of a new boat, the boat we had been hoping for months would be the one that would take us south to the Bahamas fell through. It was not to be. We were so sure that this boat would be the one that we gave up our apartment at the end of May. At this point, in 15 days, we will not only be boatless, but also homeless. 

As we usually do, we have picked up whatever energy we could muster and we are now sitting in a hotel overlooking Port Credit Harbour Marina near Toronto, set to look at a few potential boats. 

As the other popular boater saying goes, “plans are written in sand at low tide”, our plans for the Bahamas this coming Fall is in jeopardy if we do not find a boat. We are cutting it close, we have little time, and very few boats to choose from. All we can say is, stay tuned.

Searching for the Next C-Shel - Our Short List

When searching for a boat that will hopefully help you realize your dreams, it is no small endeavour. If you missed the post on the method I use to compare potential boats, you should probably review it. It illustrates the technique we call the Weighted Quad Method for making major purchases. Today we will show you my requirements,  exactly what boats have made it to our short list and how they compared to eachother. 

Our plan is to live-aboard this boat full time, hang out in the Great Lakes and tributaries for the summer months, travel the ICW in Fall to Florida and cross to the Bahamas for the Winter months. Maybe even do the Great Loop some year. In general the boat will have to have as many live-aboard amenities as possible, making the boat as comfortable as we can get it. The boat would have to be relatively sea-worthy as we will be doing one day ocean crossings from time to time, like crossing any of the Great Lakes and crossing to the Bahamas. The boat would also need to be relatively fuel efficient at hull speed providing for longer range cruising, this also means reliable diesel engine(s). Here is the complete list of requirements based on the Weighted Quad Method. The only thing I have removed is budget requirements.

Must Have	Should Have	Could Have	Won't Have
Lower Helm Aft Cockpit Flybridge Full Sized Refrigerator or Equivalent 2 Staterooms Generator >= 40 Gal Waste Capacity >= 120 Gal Water Capacity Diesel Engine(s) No Exterior Teak Decking	>= 42 Feet LOA < 50 Feet LOA 2 Heads (Bathrooms) Fuel Economy ~2-3 gph @6-8 knots Low Engine Hours Washer/Dryer Good Galley for Cooking An Area Outside for Dining Little or no Exterior Teak Double Sink in the Galley No Hull Coring Walk-Around Side Decks Walk-Around Master Island Berth Late Model Electronics @Lower & Upper Helms Autopilot	Pilothouse Teak & Holly Flloring Wood Flooring Naturally Aspirated Engines (Non-Turbo) Water Maker Semi or Full Displacement Hull Stabilizers Hardtop(s) 40-42 Feet LOA Tender and Outboard Engine	Dishwasher

Given these requirements here are the top 5 boats that made the list. Honestly, we think we could be happy with either of these boats.

Defever 44
The Defever 44 is a very well recognized live-aboard and cruising boat. It is considered very sea-worthy with a full displacement hull and sometimes you can get them with stabilizers to counteract the roll in rough seas. They usually come with small twin 135hp Ford Lehman engines that are very economical and will last a long time. As for layout, The living area, galley and lower helm are in one large open single level area with the guest stateroom and head forward, and the master stateroom and head aft. The few negatives to this boat are they seem to maintain a high value so deals are hard to come by, and it is missing an aft cockpit which we wanted for better line handling around the docks and water access at the stern.

42 Kadey Krogen
Like the Deferrer 44, the Kadey Krogen 42 is considered a wonderful live-aboard and cruising boat. They have almost a cult like following and can command a premium in the used market. It is a standard raised pilothouse layout, with the accommodations forward and the living area and galley are midships with a nice large cockpit aft. This boat has even crossed oceans, so seaworthiness and fuel economy are major features of this vessel. Most of these boats had a single 135hp Ford Lehman engine, which gives the boat almost a 5000 nautical mile range. The single engine however has some drawbacks, close quarter maneuvering would be slightly hampered, and if the main engine fails while cruising one would not have the safety of the second engine to get you home.  Some other negatives would be, that this boat has a cored hull up to 1992 I believe, with newer ones having a better reputation than older ones. Also many of these boats in the 80's had teak decking, so one would have to find one that has had the decks refitted. 

Ocean Alexander 423
The Ocean Alexander 423 is a a trunk style boat, being so it has great walk around access on every side. This is more of a coastal cruising boat with a semi-displacement hull, one won’t be crossing oceans in this boat. The larger engines that can push it up on plane when need be at the sacrifice of fuel economy. This boat has one of the nicest interiors of any boat on our list. There is finely finished and crafted woodwork throughout the whole vessel. These boats can also command a higher price point, though we have seen some good deals on older versions.

44 Tollycraft Cockpit Motor Yacht
No list of possibilities as the next C-Shel would be complete without at least one Tollycraft on it. The Tolly 44 CPMY is one of our favourite boats. Built from the same bones as our beloved 34 Tollycraft, we could be sure of its sturdy and long lived construction quality. These boats have a great layout with a large master stateroom aft, 2 heads, and a dance floor sized aft deck for watching sunsets. Even with the raised aft deck there is still an aft cockpit for easy access to the water and line handling. There was a time where we were only looking for this boat. However, we had specific conditions, we wanted the version with the Cat 3208 engines, and had a lower helm, which not all come with. In our searches it seemed if it came with Detroit engines it had a lower helm, if it had 3208s then the chances were low it had a lower helm.

Bayliner 4788 Pilothouse
The Bayliner 4788, I thought, was an outlier, not seemingly anywhere in the same class as the rest of the boats on our list. However, after long hours of research, having this boat appear multiple times in our boat searches, and having friends with this boat saying nothing but good things, we decided to officially add it to the list. There is no doubt that the layout of this boat makes a superb live aboard. Though its sea-keeping ability may not be in the same realm as say the Krogen or Defever, this boat is popular in the Pacific North West used to run up and down the coast. That alone must say something.   The other negative was that this is a cored hull boat. I was adamant that we would not have a cored hull. Once again, research proved that there are near zero reports of hull problems in these boats and there are a lot of these boats around. It seems that Bayliner Motor Yacht division got something right with this cored hull. The value you get for cost of these boats are second to none. You get a lot of boat for your money. 

So how do these boats compare to each other, and how close are they in matching my criteria above? Here are our results using the Weighted Quad Method. 

When using this method we used actual boats for sale, not the make/model in general when rating the boats. Each boat of the same model can be very different and in addition to owners customizations and you could have the same model vary widely in these results. Every boat in our results above was/is one that was online for sale. 

So as you can see the sweet spot for us is around 75%. As said in our previous post about this method of comparing, depending on your criteria, your sweet spot might be higher or lower. We don’t think we would be able to find a boat that would go above 80%, unless we increased our budget. The interesting thing here is that the outlier, a 4788, topped the list with the highest match to my criteria, and thats even with the things we don’t like about the boat, like the cored hull. According to this, the Bayliner is probably the boat we would be most happy with. That said, we were not surprised that the Tollycraft came in high as well. This is because a lot of our requirements came from our positive experiences with our current 34 Tolly. I’m sure we would be equally as happy with the 44 Tolly. 

There you have it, the boats that we have spent about 2 years looking for. Do you think we have missed anything? Any boats you think meet our criteria better than the Bayliner or Tolly? Maybe you think our criteria is out to lunch? We’d love to hear your opinions, so leave a comment below. 

Within the next 2-3 weeks we will hopefully be revealing which of these boats we are actually buying, if the boat passes survey and sea-trial of course. Stay tuned.