This journey began in October of 2010 with a 6,150 mile adventure called the Great Loop, which began six months after I retired from The Warranty Group. The journey ended on February 1, 2019 with the sale of Guided Discovery.
In the middle there is the building of the 63 foot Outer Reef, which occupied a year and a half (October 2012 to February 2014) and the five years (short of 9 days) that we lived aboard on Guided Discovery, which as readers who follow this blog know, involved 10 trips between Sarasota FL and Hingham MA. All of which were memorable and a few were down right scary.
We did not start out with the intent to live aboard, but that's the way it worked out. After taking delivery in February of 2014 we still owned our town home in Chicago. By early summer we concluded that having a town home in Chicago that we rarely used was a risk, both for break-in and potential problems, such as a burst water pipe during the winter, and an unnecessary expense. So early in July (actually the 7/2/2014) we listed the property for sale.
With that Diana headed for Chicago to get the unit ready for showing. On July 24th we received an offer for 98.8% of the asking price. We accepted and the deal closed in mid September.
We then made a strategic decision no dispose of all of our furniture and most of the "stuff" that we had accumulated over the years (rather than put it in storage). Some of the furniture and all of the art was shipped to my daughter, Lesley, in Rhode Island. Our pool table was given to our close friends Becky and Steve and their kids, Dakota and Nathaniel. The "stuff" consisting of clothes (I owned over a dozen suits) and other household goods were donated to the 'White Elephant" (an arm of Chicago Children's Hospital). Those donations totaled over $50,000 in retail value. That process took about two weeks. When it was all said and done we turned the unit over to the new owners in absolutely pristine condition. I've included a few photos of the Wrightwood property below.
Fast forward to 2018. Diana and I had made a deal when we contracted to build the boat that once it was completed we would use it for the next five years and then sell it. By November of 2018 when we returned to Sarasota that the five year time frame was coming to an end.
So, on October 16, 2018, we listed the boat with the Outer Reef Yachts. My logic was simple. Outer Reef caters to a particular market, people who are looking for trawler motor yachts that are capable of being both a yacht and a home for long term periods. If we listed with any of the other major brokerages we would be one yacht among many. By contracting with Outer Reef we were, at the time, one of only four Outer Reef's for sale.
This proved to be a good strategy. It took Outer Reef about four weeks to prepare marketing material and post the boat to www.yachtworld.com, the premier website for listing brokered yachts. They also showed the boat for sale on their website.
The boat was shown three times. It is interesting and a totally logical strategy that Outer Reef allowed me to show the boat to prospective buyers unaccompanied by my Outer Reef broker. The third showing was to Wayne and Catherine, a couple from Annapolis. They arrived on Friday, December 22, and spent almost three hours exploring the yacht and talking with me about my experience with the boat and Outer Reef. Truly a charming couple.
On Sunday December 23, 2018 they made and offer and with minimal negotiation we settled on a price, which represented 97% of the asking price. Things proceed.quickly from that point. Wayne and Catherine did their homework and hired a yacht surveyor and an engine surveyor. We all met in the early morning on Friday January 18 for the inspection and sea trial, which involved hauling the boat at a nearby yacht yard. The surveyors reported that the boat was in unusually good condition and two days later, I had a signed "Conditional Acceptance" in hand. The "condition" was a price reduction of $3,700, which represented repair of the port engine oil pan seal and replacement of the batteries, which, while not problematic, had reached the end of their useful life (i.e., replacement was clearly on the horizon at some point in the near future).
Explanatory Note: When I met Wayne and Catherine back in December I had presented them with a $2,800 estimate from Ring Power, the Caterpillar dealer, for a replacement of the port engine oil pan seal. That seal had been problematic for over a year and despite several attempts to fix it by tightening bolts it continued to leak. I told them upfront that I would pay for that repair.
The deal closed On February 1, 2019 and we moved off the boat.
And here too there is a bit of story. Our objective was to leave the boat in pristine condition for the new owners. So after the moving company removed the boxes (of which there were 24), we proceeded to clean the interior from stem to stern. This took almost the entire day.
I took responsibility for cleaning the heads (bathrooms for those of you that are landlubbers). That of course involved cleaning the toilets. Without consultation, Diana decided that I did not do an adequate job of cleaning the toilet in the master head and proceeded to try and clean it again. Not only was she unable to improve on my work but in the process she broke the toilet seat. See photo below.
It turns out that the seat was on its way to failure and her effort was the final straw. So now we had a toilet seat to replace and that turned into an absolute month and a half nightmare. Short version. The manufacturer, Tecma, a division of Dometic, send me a seat assembly which turned out not to fit. Despite being the manufacturer they had no idea what toilet had been installed on the boat and this problem was exacerbated by the fact that they had been bought out and most of the people were new. They had no idea what I was talking about.
After much frustration I went back in my records (which are extensive) to figure out how we had replaced that same unit about 18 months earlier. Turns out I had bought the first replacement from Yachting Bliss an on-line boat hardware suppliers. So I called them and they sent a new seat assembly. Low and behold, it did not fit. The mounts had been changed. So, in the end after numerous calls with Cheryl, the owner, we finally figured out that the manufacturer had changed the mounting assembly. Cheryl to the rescue. She was able to locate the critical parts and we were able to install the original seat with the new parts. The word frustration does not even begin to describe process of fixing the seat.
Meanwhile, we needed as place to live and that will be the subject of my next article. Here too it turned into a bit of an adventure.
Written by Les.
We did not start out with the intent to live aboard, but that's the way it worked out. After taking delivery in February of 2014 we still owned our town home in Chicago. By early summer we concluded that having a town home in Chicago that we rarely used was a risk, both for break-in and potential problems, such as a burst water pipe during the winter, and an unnecessary expense. So early in July (actually the 7/2/2014) we listed the property for sale.
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| 1030 W. Wrightwood Ave, Chicago. Our unit is dead center. |
We then made a strategic decision no dispose of all of our furniture and most of the "stuff" that we had accumulated over the years (rather than put it in storage). Some of the furniture and all of the art was shipped to my daughter, Lesley, in Rhode Island. Our pool table was given to our close friends Becky and Steve and their kids, Dakota and Nathaniel. The "stuff" consisting of clothes (I owned over a dozen suits) and other household goods were donated to the 'White Elephant" (an arm of Chicago Children's Hospital). Those donations totaled over $50,000 in retail value. That process took about two weeks. When it was all said and done we turned the unit over to the new owners in absolutely pristine condition. I've included a few photos of the Wrightwood property below.
 |
| Kitchen |
 |
| Dining Room |
 |
| Entry |
 |
| Living Room |
 |
| Pool Table in 1st floor family room |
So, on October 16, 2018, we listed the boat with the Outer Reef Yachts. My logic was simple. Outer Reef caters to a particular market, people who are looking for trawler motor yachts that are capable of being both a yacht and a home for long term periods. If we listed with any of the other major brokerages we would be one yacht among many. By contracting with Outer Reef we were, at the time, one of only four Outer Reef's for sale.
This proved to be a good strategy. It took Outer Reef about four weeks to prepare marketing material and post the boat to www.yachtworld.com, the premier website for listing brokered yachts. They also showed the boat for sale on their website.
The boat was shown three times. It is interesting and a totally logical strategy that Outer Reef allowed me to show the boat to prospective buyers unaccompanied by my Outer Reef broker. The third showing was to Wayne and Catherine, a couple from Annapolis. They arrived on Friday, December 22, and spent almost three hours exploring the yacht and talking with me about my experience with the boat and Outer Reef. Truly a charming couple.
On Sunday December 23, 2018 they made and offer and with minimal negotiation we settled on a price, which represented 97% of the asking price. Things proceed.quickly from that point. Wayne and Catherine did their homework and hired a yacht surveyor and an engine surveyor. We all met in the early morning on Friday January 18 for the inspection and sea trial, which involved hauling the boat at a nearby yacht yard. The surveyors reported that the boat was in unusually good condition and two days later, I had a signed "Conditional Acceptance" in hand. The "condition" was a price reduction of $3,700, which represented repair of the port engine oil pan seal and replacement of the batteries, which, while not problematic, had reached the end of their useful life (i.e., replacement was clearly on the horizon at some point in the near future).
Explanatory Note: When I met Wayne and Catherine back in December I had presented them with a $2,800 estimate from Ring Power, the Caterpillar dealer, for a replacement of the port engine oil pan seal. That seal had been problematic for over a year and despite several attempts to fix it by tightening bolts it continued to leak. I told them upfront that I would pay for that repair.
The deal closed On February 1, 2019 and we moved off the boat.
And here too there is a bit of story. Our objective was to leave the boat in pristine condition for the new owners. So after the moving company removed the boxes (of which there were 24), we proceeded to clean the interior from stem to stern. This took almost the entire day.
I took responsibility for cleaning the heads (bathrooms for those of you that are landlubbers). That of course involved cleaning the toilets. Without consultation, Diana decided that I did not do an adequate job of cleaning the toilet in the master head and proceeded to try and clean it again. Not only was she unable to improve on my work but in the process she broke the toilet seat. See photo below.
It turns out that the seat was on its way to failure and her effort was the final straw. So now we had a toilet seat to replace and that turned into an absolute month and a half nightmare. Short version. The manufacturer, Tecma, a division of Dometic, send me a seat assembly which turned out not to fit. Despite being the manufacturer they had no idea what toilet had been installed on the boat and this problem was exacerbated by the fact that they had been bought out and most of the people were new. They had no idea what I was talking about.
After much frustration I went back in my records (which are extensive) to figure out how we had replaced that same unit about 18 months earlier. Turns out I had bought the first replacement from Yachting Bliss an on-line boat hardware suppliers. So I called them and they sent a new seat assembly. Low and behold, it did not fit. The mounts had been changed. So, in the end after numerous calls with Cheryl, the owner, we finally figured out that the manufacturer had changed the mounting assembly. Cheryl to the rescue. She was able to locate the critical parts and we were able to install the original seat with the new parts. The word frustration does not even begin to describe process of fixing the seat.
Meanwhile, we needed as place to live and that will be the subject of my next article. Here too it turned into a bit of an adventure.
Written by Les.
Les
ReplyDeleteI’m building my Outer Reef now, your blog has been invaluable to me. Best of luck and health in your future endeavors.
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