After the bust of a survey and our dreams on hold again, we were all set to fly back home the next day. However, our excellent broker found a 2010 Lagoon 421 for sale nearby. The next morning before our flight home, he was able to arrange a showing of the boat. She was even more beautiful than the last boat, but now we were worried that her ask price was higher than our budget (figuring 20% additional outlay for repairs, maintenance, and outfitting), and that another survey could turn up unforeseen problems.
We made an offer pending survey and we were back down to Fort Lauderdale within another week and a half. The survey did turn up some things (they always do) but nothing that was a deal breaker. We went home smiling from ear to ear! WE BOUGHT A BOAT! IT FINALLY HAPPENED!
So after the survey, we had another two weeks to get our crap together. We were in high gear now. We had done so much downsizing already moving house that we thought it would be relatively easy to pack up our lives. We may have underestimated that a bit. There were still more decisions to be made regarding what we thought was essential and what could wait until we brought the boat back up north if more space was available on board. Then it was crazily cramming a Uhaul trailer to the max and towing it down to Florida with the kids and cat.
Then the battle was all about logistics. When can we officially move on? Where are we going to put the boat? When can a captain be allowed to move it since insurance won’t let us until we are signed off as proficient? The week we spent in the hotel waiting was fraught with piecing everything together and somehow making it happen. Marinas were full and captains scarce due to the Miami Boat Show preparations coinciding with our closing. For insurance, there were many hoops to jump through. They needed all of the sign off captain’s information (which actually changed during the process), and wanted a documented location of where we would be during hurricane season. How would we know where we would be other than north of Hatteras? We hadn’t intended to slip it long term. Thankfully everything fell into place, though sometimes at the last minute. It sure was a whirlwind!
With most of our possessions shoved into a small storage unit, the boat was delivered to our slip in the mega yacht marina and we were absolutely thrilled to finally move aboard!