Help me! Spray's for sale again!

[MJC]

I almost bought this boat for $17,500 four years ago.

http://i14.ebayimg.com/01/i/02/f0/32/1f_12_sb.JPG

Now it's on ebay, 4 days left, 0 bids, $3,500 starting bid.

the ebay listing (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4508395677&indexURL=0#ebayphotohosting)

God help me. I'll have to bid. If I start bidding, I know I'll get sucked in.

Where will I put it so I can work on it?

Will my new wife of exactly two months leave me if I buy it?

Any Michiganders (Indiana and Ohio also) want to go in with me?

[Garrett Lowell]

Prudence suggests a chat with the wife prior to bidding.

[Bruce Hooke]

Originally posted by Garrett Lowell:
Prudence suggests a chat with the wife prior to bidding.That wins the award for understatement of the day!!!

[Thad Van Gilder]

I got a 34 foot Rhodes lake one design you can have for half that. New planking, framing and teak decking, too.

I can't support two big wood sailboats!!!!!

-Thad

[ 12-02-2004, 10:17 AM: Message edited by: Thad Van Gilder ]

[MJC]

Thad:

Can you send me a picture or diagram? email addy's in my profile.

[Venchka]

MJC,

Be brave. Just say, "NO!"

Or maybe SWMBO of 2 months will say, "NO!" for you. :D

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[MJC]

Wayne:

Yeah, right, I'm supposed to take advice from a guy who had a Caledonia Yawl custom built for him. :D I'll buy the Rhodes, you come up with the Caledonia, we'll cruise the waters of Georgian Bay. :cool:

I actually think Marilyn might go for it.

[Venchka]

Deal! Georgian Bay is high on my Cruising to do list.

But seriously, what's happened to the boat in the 4 years since you drooled on it last? What about all that fiberglass potentially hiding/masking oodles of trouble? And the mahogany. 40's vintage Honduran mahogany is one thing. Philippine mahogany is quite another.

Eyes wide open, if she's right for you, go for it. Just make sure you can have her in the water before we are both too old to cruise Georgian Bay! :cool:

For the record re: having Elisabeth Grace professionally built. A. I would still be plodding along trying to build a boat inferior to the boat John built. B. During the course of construction I worked enough overtime (hours I wouldn't have worked if I had been trying to build the boat myself) to offset John's labor costs. AND, I still don't have the space nor the hardware to build Elisabeth Grace. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[JimD]

Any photos of the sheer straight on and not from below, perhaps take from a step ladder? Kinda hard to tell from this one but is it badly hogged?

[MJC]

Wayne:

I'm sorry that the tongue-in-cheek didn't come through in the post, there is absolutely no reason to justify ownership of a Caledonia Yawl, none whatsoever. The first time I saw the pix of Elizabeth Grace (the one from astern, starboard side, with the curved tiller), I was transfixed with envy. Then I saw one of the two Caledonia Yawl's that sail up here near Lansing, and seriously contemplated piracy on the small lakes.

The 39' Rhodes Weekender is wildly impractical from a cruising standpoint, the salon being nearly non-existent. But Spray sails so sweetly, and that's the whole point, isn't it?

But I sure would like to have a Caledonia Yawl as a tender for exploring the islands and bays.

[WindHawk]

Hey, Milo:

I'll buy a share for $500. If we make it a two year or so project, thus following the maxim that "boats are cheap as long as you spread out the purchases, and don't total them up". We'll be OK. ;)

I am serious about the offer. We can get our 6-pack licenses and take little old ladies for rides. Heck, we'll proobably Make Money on the deal.

[MJC]

Jim:

If she's hogged, it's happened in the last 4 years, and then, of course, I'll have to fall in lust with another old wooden sailboat.

I spent a lot of time on her on the hard when I was thinking about buying her.

Definitely got to go have another look.

Last time I was looking her over, I fell off, landed on my elbow, crushed a nerve in my elbow - the funny bone nerve, I've had a tingling sensation ever since. Figure the only way to get cured is to buy the boat!

[Venchka]

I understand. I'll just sail away under a low bridge and leave you behind. :D

I don't want folks to think I'm made of money or something. Boy, did I cure that idea!

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[MJC]

Dave:

$500 buys you a one week cruising window June-September. Two additional weekends. You also have to commit to ten weekends working on her. BTW, do you have a caulking maul? If so, do you know how to use one? I don't and I haven't learned yet.

I'm sorry, I'm laughing so hard, I can't keep adding to this.

[Venchka]

Save the laughing for when SWMBO says, "YES!"

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[MJC]

O.K., I'm better now. If you're serious, so am I. Some small amount of money upfront - then share the work, share the fun.

The money seems pretty insignificant compared to the cost of buying up half the world's remaining supply of mahogany to redo the cockpit. You wood port, I'll wood starboard. You do the boom and the transom. I'll do the mast.

[WindHawk]

My understanding of caulking is that it's best by far to keep your thumb out of the way...

Now, 500/3500 = 0.14285%
and, 0.14285 * 52 (weeks of the year) = 7.4282
and, 7.4282 / 4 (seasons of the year) = 1.857

That's almost 2 weeks each season, but you can sign on as crew for those weeks. Do you know any Sea Shanties?

I would not mind owning 14.285% of this boat. Work is work, you do what you can (but no loafing ;) ). Put together a work plan, and make an estimated guess on costs. A third or fourth partner would be cool, but it's such a small initial investment. How could I, er... we ever go wrong!

Where is she located? I had a 13 foot yawl in my driveway all last summer, what's another 25 feet? Actually, if we asked, I think that might work with the neighbors. Since, I live in the township, zoning wouldn't be a problem.

Make a lowball offer, if he accepts, I own more of the boat. I didn't see any mention of the masts, that sitka gets expensive. Everybody needs a hobby. Do they make a "Limited Liability Partnerships for Dummies?" If at first we don't suceede, think of the bonfire we could build! If we simply got a liability policy on it, and we sink it, the only thing harmed will be our friendship.

I could not be more serious.

[MJC]

Dave:

We gotta talk! email me a phone number for later today (or let me know when's convenient).

I'm at work - can't do more of this here, and I can't access my private email either.

The current owner, is, I think, a forumite named HenryJ, member # 3498 - but he hasn't posted in a long time.

I'm also waiting until I get home, hoping for a email from Thad. His deal sounds really good to me, I looked up his posts about the Rhodes 34' and it sounds sweet.

The spars on Spray are very heavy box construction, the last time I saw them, they needed to have all the fittings taken off and then stripped with some bleaching of dark spots.

I don't like the fact that this ebay auction is a private auction - too much opportunity for the seller to bid against us without our knowing about it.

[WindHawk]

Done...

[Keith Wilson]

That boat looks like a heartbreaker, and a bank-breaker, but my God would it ever be nice if fixed up! Well, if you're serious, don't bid until two minutes before the time expires, then see how the price looks, and still don't bid if it's over the maximum price you and your wife have agreed on, at least if you want to stay married. If he still hasn't met his reserve by then, you might want to hold off bidding and contact him privately after the eBay auction ends. The only bid that counts is the last one, after all.

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

MJC:

You realize that the boat needs to be renamed Funny Bone don't you? ;)

[MJC]

O.K. - About buying this boat...

I've listened to the soft voice of sweet reason, fiscal prudence, and practicality - obviously that voice was SWMBO's. I say obviously because reason, prudence and practicality are very foreign to my way of thinking.

I slept on it, well, I tried to sleep on it, but here I am, wide awake at 3 a.m. As near as I can tell, I was awakened by several nightmarish scenarios like whether or not that damn rudder could be repaired or would need to be rebuilt. It also appears that the troubling phrase 'punky deadwood' has been sinking in and disturbing my sleeping thoughts.

Dave: Unless we can up with a 33.333% partnership, I'm going to pass on this one.
Henry: As you're monitoring this thread, good luck with Spray. I hope she finds the proper home.

Fellow forumites: Thanks for your thoughts and input. Thanks also for putting up with my bout of boat fever. I can't promise that it won't happen again.

[Leon Steyns]

Originally posted by MJC:
Fellow forumites: Thanks for your thoughts and input. Thanks also for putting up with my bout of boat fever. I can't promise that it won't happen again.That's what keeps a lot of beautiful classics on the water! ;)

Greets, Leon Steyns.

[WindHawk]

Milo, sleepless nights are all a part of the process. Panic attacks, lying to anyone and everyone still talking to you ("couldn't make it in 'cause I got a cold" to "I got it on sale"), anger, tears, suicidal thoughts, insurance fraud... These things come & go, what doesn't fade is the obsesive need to go forward. As it says in the Good Book, "...this too shall pass."

You were there when I launched last years project, so there's proof things can get finished. Well, if you ignore the fact that I only did the hull & topsides... A cold chill went down my spine as I drove home last night thinking that I really outghta' take that hatch cover to the basement, and get a jump on next season, and then just where did I think I was going to find a couple thousand hours for another project???

I really just wanted a minority position on this one Milo, you know, something that wouldn't keep me up nights whimpering...

If you change your mind, or find another boat, let me know. Of course, if you find one for 1K, then my .5K makes me a full partner, and then whimpering can begin in earnest!

[MJC]

Whimpering? No way! Listen to what Don Quixote has to say...

"I have lived nearly fifty years, and I have seen life as it is. Pain, misery, hunger... cruelty beyond belief. I have heard the singing from taverns and the moans from bundles of filth on the streets. I have been a soldier and seen my comrades fall in battle... or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I have held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no gallant last words... only their eyes filled with confusion, whimpering the question: "Why?" I do not think they asked why they were dying, but why they had lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams - this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be."

[WindHawk]

That's a great quote, and sums up boating pretty well. It's the process, not the destination, for as Celine reminds us:

"...in the end, some dirt is thrown upon the head, and that's that. Forever."

[Thad Van Gilder]

Milo,
Check your e-mail, I sent you a picture and the specs.

-Thad

[MJC]

Thad:

Thanks, even though I don't know yet what you sent. No personal email access is allowed at work.

[Erie Deerie]

Great quote. And another!

Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure. --Bob Bitchin

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Just say OH NO... ROTFLMAO.

actually a beautiful boat, but man oh man... sometimes I wonder why I love wooden boats. (this said as I ponder my winter and spring list on my own boat)

[MJC]

One last minute bidder, $3500. Wonder who it was?

[WindHawk]

Not me.

[Venchka]

Hopefully one totally committed to her...and really deep pockets! :D

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[Thad Van Gilder]

Milo,
did you get the picture I sent you?

I didn't hear anything...

-Thad