From long shot to chip shot

"Taking the plunge” may not be the best way to describe buying a boat; after all the main idea is to stay dry. But nonetheless Deb and I have jumped off into the deep end and decided to try and buy the Com-Pac 27. It is the nicest boat for sale on the lake (in our price range anyway) and, even if we found a better boat / price combo someplace else, the cost of shipping would make it less attractive then a boat already here.

Like always $ is a concern. We can write a check (with borrowed money) and pretend that it is not a big deal, but it is just pretend and it is a big deal. The boat needs bottom paint and batteries and at the moment is sitting on land. Someone is going to want some dollars to take their big boat-picking machine over to the stands, wrap straps around the hull, and haul the boat to the water. So some home budget items will have to be trimmed (Mac-N-Cheese on the boat, not steaks) and it would really help if someone wanted to buy a little motorcycle and pay us too much money for a pretty nice truck.

Like any deal on anything, the deal isn’t done until the paperwork is finished, money has changed hands and the item in question is actually (in this case) floating somewhere. Even if something happens and this doesn’t work it will still be a big first step up the learning curve. The fact is I don’t know anything about buying a boat, but it looks like that will change pretty soon.

Plans now are for Deb and I to meet the broker and look the boat over tomorrow morning, (before another potential buyer). If we don't spot a show stopper (or get a case of the willies) we will leave them a big enough check to hold the boat. After that I have to go do the first test flight on the Citation and its new engines / FMS / entertainment systems. That will chew up what is left of the day. So by this time tomorrow we may basically own a boat and have the Citation back in its home hangar and be ready to go back to work. Or we could pass on the boat and the Citation will be back in the maintenance hangar getting a list of discrepancies fixed. Either way tomorrow should be interesting.