Monday, November 7, 2011

To buy or not to buy...that is the question

On Sunday, brother Graham and I drove to East Perth to look at a boat advertised for sale. It was around 35’ and well appointed with a rebuilt Perkins Turbo Diesel engine, a ‘stateroom’ with double bed, shower, toilet and basin...new wiring throughout, a water purification system, plenty of party space and a flybridge as well as undercover controls.. all for A$19,500. Unfortunately it didn’t come with a mooring, which in a location I would want, could cost as much as the boat. An alternative would be to get a pen @ around $5k a year.

We have had several boats similar to this in the past. One was the ugliest boat on the Swan River and I renamed it ‘Vile Body’ after Capn Bluto’s. Ugly as it was it gave us lots of pleasure with family and friends doing evening cruises. Joan loved it and she catered for lots of cruises with friends.

The last boat I owned was a ‘stink boat’ a fast outboard powered cruiser and I found I wasn’t using it because it was designed for only a couple of people, so we sold it.

I was going to buy another boat when the Western Australian government brought in boat handling licences. That is when I decided to give up boating because the licencing deal was a farce. If I did the licencing test in a 6 foot dinghy with a 5hp outboard,and passed, then I had a licence to drive a $1m block of flats down the river and out to sea.....ridiculous!

Take a look at this boat....a little rough in spots, but a great party or Rottnest Island boat. The money is not the problem here...it is that I will be without my Joan if I did buy it. Not much fun in that.

Notice the Mallard near the stern of the boat. The stern is the blunt end.

Blogger has updated the format of this blog and I believe it is a stupid update. If you click on the photo to see it in full size, then use the 'back button' to get back to the text it now takes you to the previous page. Dumb! Correction.....Bernie in Canada pointed out that the X button in the photo frame returns you to the text. My apologies to Blogger.

4 comments:

Bernie said...

Buy the boat and have fun with your family and friends, Joan would want you too Kev. Do what brings you joy and what you are healthy enough to do for as long as you can.
Kev I enlarged the picture and only clicked on the close "x" and I was right back on your blog.
Have a great week, I am off to spend time with my nephew and his family....:-)Hugs

Kev said...

Bernie,

Brilliant, I hadn't noticed the X. Thanks for pointing it out

Carole said...

My advice...buy the boat, take your friends and family on sailing trips, enjoy the boat and raise a glass to Joan whilst you're out on the open sea.
Might not be as *much* fun without Joan, but you can still have *some* fun with people who care about you
Go on....you know you want to Kev...buy the boat :)

PS. I just asked Rab my husband and he said 'Buy the boat - go off and enjoy the freedom of the water'

xxXxx

Anonymous said...

Kev, great looking boat, I know about the stern but what is a mallard?Had would say buy the boat, but then he always had to own a boat even if we had breakfasts etc on the mooring, and we know how much they cost. It's only money and you can't take it with you.. Marg