The Purchase ~

I've been scanning the internet for cruising sailboats for quite a while now. Not everyday, but from time to time every few months or so I'd browse through yachtworld and see what was out there. Some days I'd be a minimalist looking for the most stripped down version of this yacht I could find. Super basic, but with the design aspects I know and love, heavy duty offshore blue water cruising quality. Other days, I'd max it out! Browsing boats that were way out of my price range, just to see what boats were going for. And every once in a while, there is a steal out there waiting to be had.... But they don't last long. And I'm sure there are a few others out there like myself ready to live the dream, buy a boat and sail off to find their own little piece of paradise.

I had pretty much narrowed my search down and knew pretty much was I was looking for. Another factor that came into play was location. It didn't really make sense to buy a boat that was in California or Mexico, simply because cost of travel to inspect and survey it.  So that also helped narrow down the search to more local waters. I found my boat sitting in St. Pete at a little marina, where she'd been sitting quietly for about 5 years, waiting for her previous owner to fix her up and sail her away.... this never happened. Somehow the previous owner became "disenchanted" with the boat and was ready to sell her and get on with his life of not sailing. Lucky for us!

My good friend and broker Randall Hinely was going to be in the Tampa area doing business and said he'd find the boat and have a look. I spoke with him while he and his niece were checking out the boat and he had this to say   "Ben.... you have found your boat."   We made an offer which was accepted to hold the boat until I could get a look at it also.  About a month or so later, Randall joined me to bring my bosses boat back stateside for the hurricane season. We delivered the Annie Lee from Marsh Harbour, Abaco to Niceville, FL where we'd spend a few months doing maintenance and stuff. Along the way making a stop in St. Pete to spend the day surveying this old boat.

Randall, my friend and broker

We spent the better part of the day and into the evening going through every nook and cranny of this vessel. Of course there were issues that I was concerned about, but the boat had alot going for it. 1st, it was in the right price range. 2nd, it had the right interior layout. 3rd, it was an awesome cruising machine I could see making my own! 4th, I had a friend representing me as broker, who could help negotiate this deal. Which he did, getting the price down to where it needed to be.

I was in love! With the boat, and with the idea of actually owning my own cruising vessel.
 
We renegotiated and lowered the offer. Randy called the owner personally and got him to accept the deal. I was well on my way to being a boat owner!





A few weeks past before we returned to the boat to finish the survey with a haul-out to inspect the bottom. For this I brought along friend and shipwright Dennis Mayhew.  I also got Dennis to go over a few other areas of concern we had, nothing scared him.

Dennis, Cy and Randy surveying her bottom

The previous owner had named her     "WANDERLUST"

Other than the name, we liked pretty much everything we saw.

It was September 15th.

I wanted to take her home.

Stroked a check, shook a few hands, and she was all mine!







We spent the afternoon cleaning, prepping, fixing, storing old gear, buying new gear and finally grocery shopping for a delivery trip back to the panhandle.  We bought a couple hundred dollars of food and a few beers, loaded it all aboard and headed out towards the beach.  We made one stop at a marina to take on some extra diesel fuel, not really knowing how much we had or needed. After all its a sailboat, I knew we could get home somehow!  So just before dark, Cy Greathouse, Randy Hinely and myself sailed offshore on the first leg of our journey home. ON MY NEW OLD BOAT!!!!  I'd been owner for less than 6 hours and we were already offshore ready to cross the Gulf of Mexico heading for Panama City.

Crossing the Gulf in ideal conditions! First trip on the new boat!!

We spent 3 day sailing and motoring her home. Experiencing all sorts of conditions, everything from total slick calm to 20+ kts reaching boat speeds of 8 and 9 knots. Truly amazing sailing for her first voyage in well over 5 years. And we only broke a couple things!













Arriving home to Niceville and gliding into the Bluewater Bay Marina for the first time aboard my new vessel felt extraordinary! I had done it, I had found and bought my boat, and got her home safely.... time to get to work!