Hunting for a New Adventure

We managed to sell the Spindrift early in 2017 and it was a bit of a painful process.  We, had put so much blood, sweat (Keith's) and tears (mine) into the boat that it was a hard enough decision only to be made more difficult by a few different buyers who were jerks through the selling process.  I was literally at the point where I  just wanted to give the process the bird and ship her up here to Washington State.  Luckily a couple came in at the last minute and bought her and actually ended up shipping her to nearby Seattle.  I keep wondering if we are going to see Steadfast show up sometime through the marina here.  So currently we are a bit fancy free with no boat burdens, no slip rent, no maintenance costs....we are calling it our boat honeymoon which when you think about it is rather backwards.  People would normally think the honeymoon is right after purchase but honestly, each and every time we buy we always feel sick with nerves.  So for us, honeymoon comes with the sold sign.

It was always our intention to get another boat, one perhaps a little smaller that doesn't need all the space the Spindrift did because, honestly, our kids are getting older and some don't have any interest in hanging out with us right now...especially aboard.  So we have been on the hunt for the next boat and that is a bit where our adventure begins because trying to align my wish list with Keith's wish list has become a challenge.

​If we had a limitless budget there would be no conflict,  but as we live in reality versus la la land this is a key factor and, as with all things impacting two people, it's a process of compromise where both parties give and get..  One of our agreed upon goals is to downsize to something nearer to 36 ft. but where we differ is in regards to down below and the amenities.  I still want my creature comforts and a nice galley.  For the Pacific Northwest and the exploring we plan to do here, I require a heater.  Keith on the other hand would like things simpler because he is done trying to contort himself into crazy spaces to work on boat repairs.  In his mind an Express 37 with all glass interior and all everything showing and easily accessible is perfect.  So you see we obviously have to come to some sort of middle ground.  This seems to be the story of our life, always compromising on what we each want.

​Winter has come again and we are believing this may be the best time to buy as people start to get anxious about sitting on a boat through another winter.  We've done some traveling up to Vancouver Island, over to Bellingham and round to Seattle checking out potential ideas and trying to find a boat we both can agree on.  As of yet...the hunt continues.

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