Changing Course?

The other week we took a road trip to Saugatuck, our second in a week since our first attempt ended with a very expensive car repair - a burnt out clutch and the waste of a day, to check out a boat Brady found online. He was looking at and researching it for a couple of weeks and even put out some feelers on the inter-webs to see what other boat owners said about this 'new' boat compared to Further. We came to the conclusion that we had to go see it because of the make of the boat and the amazing price. The owner kept lowering the price, we thought because something was wrong with it but it was because he wanted out and fast. So, away we went with our brand new clutch to Michigan for the second time in a week! Thankfully we made it to the boat yard with no other excitement to report.

The boat was awesome. It was beautiful and well kept up. As we toured it we could not only see ourselves in it but we could also see the potential it had and what we could do with it. Big pluses... it already had a newer diesel motor, no molded in non skid, it was a blue water boat, it already had a propane oven, it had better storage, better joinery, and of course the price. After spending over an hour on it, inspecting every little nook and carney, as well as taking over a hundred pictures of it, we decided it was time to head back home and continue to think about this decision. 

Even though we would have gotten this other boat for a steal, a HUGE steal; financially we would have had to take out some money to purchase this 'second' boat. I call it a second boat since, we know that we will not be able to sell Further for at least a couple of months, at least. Further was on the hard for 2 years before we bought her so if we weren't able to sell her before the end of the season we would have also had to double our storage prices. So, that very possible cost also went into our new boat budget. We did come up with a to do list in order to spruce up Further and make her a bit more desirable to those who may be interested. But who knows, it could be a few days or years before we got any interest in Further after putting her on the market. 

Another thing we took into consideration was that Further could be worth more money on the great lakes than on the east or west coast, or wherever we may end up, whenever that is. 

So, after going back and forth, and back and forth, and over and over again, about it for a couple of weeks while watching the price of this 'new' boat drop yet again we decided to stick with our oldie but goodie! We decided Further was the sure bet in this even though we have to do all of these upgrades to Further that this 'new' boat already had. After it was all said and done I think we really made the right decision in keeping Further. We have already put a lot of money, time, love and memories into her and we have already spent a handful of years starting to make her our own. I think if and when we do decide to sell her, it will be a very sad day.