Buying A Boat

By Author: Valerie Giles
Total Articles: 20
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Why is it, that when you are looking to buy a boat, you can
never find one that suits your needs. This is what has happens
to many people every year and in particular to ourselves. It's
just like buying a house. When you are selling, it is a buyer's
market and when you are buying it is a seller's market! This
year my husband and I decided that it was time to buy our first
boat.

Now we have been boating with our friends on their Bayliner for
many years. They pay for the boat expenses and we bring the food
and drink in exchange. Not a bad deal we figured, until we got
the boat bug ourselves. Now we want to own our own boat. After
six years of boating and as many seasons of boat shows, we
decided to take a boating course. So a couple of winters ago,
we signed up for a rather lengthy boating course of 16 weeks.
We decided that firstly we wanted to be safe boaters and
secondly we wanted to protect our very expensive boat
investment when the time came.

Week after week of classes, lesson after lesson of plotting
and ...
... tying knots came and went and finally it was time to
graduate and try our luck at boating with all this new found
knowledge. We decided first to try out our expertise on our
friends' boat, but discovered that was like having two cooks
in the same kitchen. Things don't really run as smoothly as one
would like. Tie a knot. Have someone retie it for you. Hang the
fenders over the side. Have someone reposition them. So after
several weekends of unsuccessful attempts, the decision was made
to buy our own boat sooner rather than later where we could tie
our own brand of knot and observe the channel markers the way
we had been taught!

So we started to look. What happened to all the For Sale
signs that we had seen only weeks before in every marina that we
cruised by? Where were all those perfect boats that we had seen
in every cove and tied up to every dock? They were no where to
be found. Finally after perusing the yachting magazines and
journals, talking to several boat brokers and searching many
internet boats for sale sites, we found what we thought to be
the perfect yacht for us - right in our own backyard. Only five
minutes from our home there is located a marina with lots of
power boats. Last year there were many for sale. But as luck
would have it, we were not looking then. This year, there were
few boats for sale. But on this one particular morning as we
drove through the marina parking lot, we spied the perfect boat.
We hopped out of the car and walked over to take a closer look.
The boat had been pulled out of the water, so we were able to
look it over from all sides including the bottom.

The information that was posted beside the boat looked very
promising. Just the right length. Just the right age. We had
already agreed that this boat make was good quality. An
inflatable dinghy with motor and seawise electric lifting
{ http://www.boats-anchors-and-more.com/inflatable-boats.htm )
system was also included. The boat also had a GPS and all the
trimmings. But the price, could it be correct? It seemed a bit
low for this particular yacht. You guessed it! The twin engine
system was gas, not diesel. This was the reason for the
excellent price.

We thought that we had found the perfect boat! In fact we had
except for one very expensive item. For those of you who own
your own boat, you can related to the expense of a gas engine
yacht. Gas engines are fast and great for skiing and lake
touring in small boats, but on the ocean and in a large yacht,
the cost can be prohibitive.

So once again, our search begins in earnest. And once again,
there are no boats for sale. Or is that just our take on the
situation? Surely the boat for us is just out there waiting
to be discovered!
About the author:

Valerie Giles owns and operates Boats, Anchors and More
http://www.boats-anchors-and-more.com
a boating resource site featuring boat accessories, boat
chartering, new & used boats, fishing lure manufacturers,
inflatable boats, outerwear, thermal underwear & sunglasses.
Everything you need for the boating season.