We have a new HOME!

We've found our new home. It is a 58' Hatteras Long Range Cruiser, built in 1977, and in excellent condition. It is currently located in Bradenton, Florida.



Since our last update on July 18th, we've been on the move. We initially flew to Connecticut to check on a similar boat located in Norwalk. My sister Zayne was kind enough to let us stay at her home while we were in the area, so while the boat was a no-go (a mess), we at least were able to have a short visit with her.



Once we realized that the Norwalk boat was not "the one", we opened negotiations on the Florida boat. Once we had an accepted offer, we flew to Tampa on Monday, July 30. We were able to schedule sea trial and survey for the following day. So by Tuesday, August 1st (my birthday!), we knew we had found our new home.



I finally was able to load a picture of our boat, but here is a link to the website where the boat was listed for sale. It has about 25 pictures.
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/boatDetails.jsp?boat_id=1690446&checked_boats=1690446&ybw=&units=Feet¤cy=USD&access=Public&listing_id=20424&url=

Our plans seem to change daily. For example, Susan and I decided that I would stay here and complete the transaction on the boat, while she returns to Arizona August 2nd to wrap up our loose ends there. She has to get started with packing and moving her sister Dee out to California, then run an estate sale on the remaining stuff that is stored at Dee's house. Then she will initiate the sale of that property and the two others in Phoenix.


She will arrange to ship our personal goods here to me in Bradenton.


In the meantime, I will be here finalizing the boat purchase ahead of schedule, so I can proceed with the changes we want to make to the boat, mostly cosmetic (new appliances, bedding and soft goods, upgraded flooring) and some related to boat equipment upgrades (one new radar, new chart plotter, replacing old hoses, clamps, an air conditioner, etc.)


The sea trial and survey surfaced only very minor defects, which the seller is in the process of correcting. Since then, we've been shopping like mad, lining up suppliers and workmen to begin as soon as we close the financial transaction next week.

I won't be back to Phoenix now until late September or early October. My daughter Kara is due to deliver her baby boy in mid-September, and we promised to come a couple of weeks later.

We miss you all and look forward to our next get-together.