The Hunt

Some snapshots from our search over the last week...

43 ft., steel, lying Malaysia.  This boat had been high on our "maybe" list during the months we were waiting for the aluminum boat in New Zealand that eventually fell through.  I emailed the broker this week with the idea that we would probably put in an offer and found that someone else had gotten there first...

I heard about this one at a get-together in Anchorage... a friend's sister knew these people and knew they were about to sell the boat after having reached New Zealand.  Turned out to be a 50 footer, much too big for us...

44 feet, aluminum, lying New Zealand.  Was working up to the top of our list until we checked the specs again and saw the 2.5 meter draft.  Fuhgettaboutit!

38 feet, aluminum, lying east coast U.S.  Took a while to get over the draft - 6'9".  And getting her back to Oz in our time frame would be a push.  But, oh dear - the price.  We just couldn't get past the very very good price.  When we first contacted the broker, she estimated the head room at 6'4" or 6'6".  We got her to go measure and it turns out it was 6' or 6'1".  A deal breaker.  On the plus side, I had a chat with another broker in the same company who turned out to be the pushiest a**hole used boat broker in the whole world.  So at least that's behind me.

40 feet, steel, lying Melbourne.  Appears to be very nice, doesn't need to be imported into Oz (a big plus!), and is right in our back yard.  But also has a spade rudder, only supported by a stainless steel rudderpost in an oxygen-starved environment.  Maybe I'm being too picky, but I just don't want a spade rudder.

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So that's what we've been doing this week.  Many are close, and we think that means that the right one will soon be at hand.  Our current list of hot prospects includes two boats in New Zealand and one in the U.S.  Stay tuned...