Friday, October 29, 2010

Papers signed

All monies paid out, papers signed at the bank.  Now we await the title company to tell the broker to give us the keys.  If everything goes well, that will happen on Monday.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

There...

We sign our papers tomorrow.

Closing is on Monday.

Friday, October 22, 2010

And on to closing...

After a round of back and forth with the sellers, we came to an agreement as to how much they would cover on the items from the survey.  It doesn't cover everything but it covers enough. 

We have notified the marina that we are on track.  Our slip will be ready on 11/1.

So, the next step is to engage the title company (does the boat have a clear title), the banks (get the financing closed), finalize the insurance, wait for the paperwork, sign the papers and close the deal.

It's been over six months since we started this....and...wait...wait...wait...wait.

Almost there...almost there.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

the answer isn't 42

That's the number of items in our survey results.  Most of them, however, are easily corrected (by me) with little cost, and not much effort.

We have gone back to the seller and requested they take care of a few things on the engine and rebuild parts of the head and septic system on the boat.  Our broker thinks they will take it.

And the insurance company thinks it will be fine, as long as we address the 15 or so items in the critical list, most of which we can just fix in 45 days.

Here's hoping for more good news tomorrow.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Suspension and apprehension



Brigadoon, all 22,000 lbs of her, swings in a sling above the waters of the Ship Canal, at CSR.  We took the day, poking around inside her hull, lifting every cushion, every board, opening every hatch, and learning all we could about her in the day allotted.  Our surveyor, Matt, did a great job of just poking along, getting a good understanding of what he needed to tell/show me, and doing just that.

We drive her to the CSR on the cut, where she was hauled, pressure washed ($375.00), so Matt could inspect her 30-year old hull and, upon my question of, "is there anything you see under here that I need to address right now?", answered with a direct and honest, "Nope."

We put her back in the water and headed east, towards Lake Union.  There we raised her sails and, in the feeble afternoon puffs (of course there was no wind!  we were on a sea trial!), at least had her moving at half a knot.  We learned a lot about rigging her, routing her lines, and wondered at why there was a permanent reef in her main.

Overall, though, she is a solid, well sorted out boat, that Matt pronounced, "favorable."

We will have her, with a few adjustments for leaky holding tank (stinky) hoses, a bad propane gauge, a exhaust hose in need of replacement, a bad water pump, and some hoses and electrical stuff that needs sorted out.

All in all, a very good survey for a boat that is thirty years old.

It was great driving her, even trying to sail her.

I can't wait to own her and put Brigadoon in her slip at what our broker Tori called a "million dollar view" at North Lake Union.

Friday, October 15, 2010

So much to do


 
  • Survey is scheduled for Monday, where we spend the entire day inspecting the boat, ensuring all her systems (sails, engine, electrical, propane, heating, rigging) and structure are sound and functional.  We will sail, motor, then take the boat to a yard, where all 22,000 pounds of Brigadoon will hang in the air for the hull and underbody inspection.
  • Insurance is in progress -- I've had to answer a million questions.
  • The slip is confirmed for us.
  • We are starting our vacation rental business (Yes!  You can rent our beautiful Capitol Hill condo instead of staying in a cramped and expensive 400 sq/ft downtown hotel).
  • Shopping this weekend for the vacation rental space.
  • Moving storage.

So we are almost there.  So much to do but, we think we have a boat and we think we will be on her by November 1, 2010, just in time for winter!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

And...happy birthday to me...a new sailboat.



Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the Baba 35 Pilot House Cutter, designed by the renowned naval architect, Bob Perry.

We saw her a couple weeks ago, placed an offer, had it accepted, applied for financing, had that accepted today (happy birthday to me -- it's my birthday today).  Next Monday, we go to survey, resolve any issues, and should be on the boat by November 1.

We have plans to moor her in Seattle, on Lake Union right here.

We'll have some issues with storms from the south but we will have the best view in all of Seattle.

We have been staying silent as we did not want to publicly deal with the disappointment or questions if this fell through. We don't expect the survey to be an issue so, with financing approval, we think this is time.

After six long months, here she is.

Brigadoon.