Well, as those following the saga know, we've settled on a Morgan 46,
whether shoal, deep, ketch, sloop, inner forestay or other configuration, as
the layout and other specs so nearly meet our direct design parameters.

A quickie review for those new to the saga: We started looking in the 30-40
foot, 60k range, in the Virgins (all), with a list of about 50 and going
aboard more than 30. We'd had counseling/haranguing/ridicule to the effect
that it would never happen - both parameters were significantly too small.

The second search, after that proved essentially fruitless, despite some
tantalizing boats, including a very meaningful example of a boat which
eventually sold for just more than half the original asking price, was of
the Florida perimeter, in up to 45 feet and 100k. That list, culled from a
couple of (turned out to be identical - I didn't know that boats.com and
YachtWorld were the same - 1000+ boat searches) had over 80 boats, of which
we boarded nearly 60. The exceptions (60 vs 80) were mostly duplications of
a type which didn't work, which was most of them. However, there *were*
many I'd fit on and be happy with but which didn't meet Lydia's
needs/desires. In the end, we had a long discussion about what those were,
and most of them turned out to be very practical, so I plugged them into my
mentality, as future searching would have to be on my own while she stayed
beavering away at the mortgage-origination business for the bank. We'd seen
a couple of boats which were very attractive, so when I redid the search a
little later, to revisit them, I also added some which met the new criteria.
I went back a few weeks later, knocking out both of our previous interests
as not working, but, out of the ~40 additional boats seen, offering a
lowball on a Gulfstar 44 which looked like it could work. That deal never
panned out, as it wasn't countered other than verbally to the effect of
'when you're serious, come back and we'll talk about it.'.

So, at this point, I'd been aboard legions of boats which didn't fit (I'm
6-4 and refuse to live the rest of my life if I have to hunch to stand or
curl up in a ball to sleep), and the rest didn't fit the layout needs.
Summer passed with us getting married on my front lawn and bidding farewell
to her mother after staying with us (from England) for 3 months. Then, the
search began anew.

This time I was going to see a boat which worked, or we weren't going to get
to go. The geography was from Baltimore to Corpus Christi, and all the
coastline in between. Over 1500 boats searched, and over 200 boats
selected, with (yet again, increased) parameters of up to 47' and 150k, and
not very many duplications of type.

The first leg of that was Baltimore to Charleston, over 60 boats boarded
(most on/off in less than a minute) out of about 80 selected. Hooray...
There were several which *could* fit, all under 45 feet. So, I went back
through the spreadsheet and struck all the remainder over 45'. Heh. I'd
been on a Morgan 46, but it was such a project boat, that my notes made only
passing reference to its being a 'potential type boat' - one which could
work for us - and so those were struck from the list as I overlooked the
type.

The next leg of that search was the Florida perimeter, again. Even after
taking off the over-45 set, there were over 80 boats, and I got aboard more
than 60. However, about halfway through that trip, at Jordan Yachts, since
there were a bunch of boats all in the same place, the broker took me aboard
a bunch which weren't on the list I'd sent him. An amazingly rehabbed M46
was among them. Boinnnnggg! Light-over-my-head cartoon revelation. This
boat works. So, I quickly did a review of current boats available on
YachtWorld and went to see all of the ones in FL, including doubling back to
the west coast at the end of the trip for the last 3. End result of this
trip was an additional few types of boats which could work.

So, after the entire Christmas holidays being spent reviewing the 10+ hours
of videos and reports/writeups I did, we narrowed our focus to only 4 types.
Since we had, now, finally, a range of choices, we also elected to drop the
last leg of this search, eliminating the Gulf coast from north of St.
Petersburg to Corpus. Further review led us to drop all the others and
focus on the M46. Whew. Only about a year of searching, over 3000 boats
researched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded, more than doubling our
original budget, but we now have something which works on all levels.

So, off we go, again, over the New Year's break. We started on the west
coast, looking at one which needed some rehab/upgrades, but at a bargain
price. We took along a recommended craftsman to look at what needed doing,
and were pleasantly surprised at the initial non-binding, verbal, estimate.
That boat was very highly equipped for cruising, including solar, wind and
towed generators, watermaker, and even a washer and dryer. Sort of an
interesting story on that boat that we learned about in talking with the
owner of the canal house behind which it's tied while the owners have been
off it for 3 years, and it's shown at fortydays.org, for those interested in
it. This boat is a backup at this point, as Lydia's high on curb appeal,
and this needs a bit of polish.

In my research, I'd talked/internetted to as many M46 owners as possible,
and set my mind at ease as to their suitability for our purpose. I also
heard from a couple of FL owners who proved to be invaluable resources.

One offered to have us out sailing with them, and stay overnight. After a
bit of workarounds, we did just that, and got to hang out at their dock,
too, which was another marvelous confirmation of the camaraderie of the
cruising and liveaboard community. Suffice it to say, we enjoyed the sail
and the opportunity to experience a slice of liveaboard with another couple
taking up space. They went with us to the boat which had caused the scales
to fall from my eyes.

The other was an original owner of 23 years who'd just finished over 70k in
work on his boat. Before you get palpitations as I did, it turns out that
he's a (now) retired pilot with no kids, so his boat is his life, and gets
anything he thinks is neat, along with intensive maintenance, so he's put
about a quarter-mil into it since he's owned it. Having owned it from new,
and having all that work/upgrades/maintenance on it, he knew virtually
anything there was to know about them. Anyway, he went with us on two of
the boats, and was able to point out things I'd known about from my
research, but didn't know exactly how to pinpoint. Aside from running all
the gear and banging every square inch of the hull and deck, it was pretty
much like a survey to do these boats with him. Much to my pleasure, the
boat I'd told Lydia was "our boat" had only one (common) item that he
recommended attention on. This boat had received major upgrades to make
suitable for singlehanding, all of which were appropriate expenditures,
though I would not have made them. There's too many to list here; suffice
it to say one's not likely to fall overboard, and everything can be done
from the cockpit other than handing the lines to the dock - but the boat can
be put, stationary, at any position, for long enough to go do the lines,
singlehanded. The owner died shortly after making the upgrades, and it was
listed as an 'estate sale' about 6 months ago. It's now owned by an
attorney who somehow had connections with the family or the deceased. We
don't now know the relationship, or if there's some partnership or other
financial personal interest in play here, but it's *not* in an estate, if it
ever was. Which or whatever, the boat has had no evident attention since it
was put at the dock, with various indicators of a hurried departure, so I
don't think the current owner visits it. That's probably to our benefit,
and, being an attorney (you know, the kind who makes mincemeat out of his
opponent in court and then goes to lunch with him), we expect that future
relationships will be businesslike without personal feelings intruding.

So, the liveaboard couple and we went off to the pub and hashed out the
realities of the 3 in FTL. They resulted in pictures and video of my
calling my broker, getting confirmation that what I had in mind (which was
15k short of what Lydia wanted to offer) was appropriate and not likely to
jinx our chances should it not be accepted, on the rehabbed singlehander.
So, at about 4:30 PM on 2 January, we made our third boat offer (the first
died on the vine, the second was the subject of a post about buying a boat
but giving it back).

The owner, apparently, is currently out of town, so we have no word yet on
our offer. Like every other offer, much can happen between offer and
closing, so we're not yet getting our hopes up - but from what we've heard
from the listing broker, this certainly looks like it will be our boat...

So, over 3000 boats searched, over 300 selected, and about 200 boarded
later, we believe we have our type (make and model) as well as the
particular example we want. There's backups to that particular one; our VI
broker is researching the 3 over there in case this doesn't fly and the
other FL boats don't work, and, failing that, we don't have to have the boat
immediately, and the broker through whom we offered, my first choice back
when all this started, I'm sure, can find other examples.

It's been a long trip, and I'm blessed to have been able to do the research
and travel I've done. Short of having a boat already in mind that you know
will work for you, and is everything you want it to be (accepting that my
height added inconceivably to the challenge), I can't imagine how anyone
who's employed could do this in less than half a lifetime.

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away
from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." - Mark Twain