Our Search for a Boat
After owning a wonderful Tartan 34c for about 7 years and refitting her to the point where we were spending the majority of our free time in the summers cruising the LI Sound, we decided that we needed a boat that would allow for some more room for the family and would extend our cruising grounds.
Life changes, an increase in experience and education around boating, and the memories that we were providing for the children led to a rearranging and reprioritizing of the search for a new boat. I went from casually looking at “boat porn” on the computer to voraciously researching designers, rig types, and construction methods.
After jumping on as crew on the catamaran, “On the Bright Side”, for a few weeks in Puerto Rico, my search began in earnest. While there, a fellow cruiser named Wright, suggested that I look into either Bristol (the boat make that he owned) or an older Shannon. I had never heard of Shannon Yachts before and upon initial research understood why. They were waaayyy out of my price range! They were semi-custom built yachts, built in the U.S., right in Bristol, RI. They had a reputation for build quality and seaworthiness that was respected by everyone I spoke to about them.
My initial search centered around the Amel boats. After having a deal fall through on an Amel (more on that in a future post) and traveling and viewing several boats such as: Kelly Peterson 44, Amel Super Maramu, Maramu, and Santorin, Pacific Seacraft 44, Island Packet, Benteau, Tayana, Valiant 40 (as introduced to me by the Smiths), and countless others.
After all this traveling and research and education several things became clear. First, I didn’t have near as much money as I needed for a quality built Bluewater vessel. Secondly, that any boat which was not in serious need up upgrades was out of my price range. And lastly, that when I defined what it was I wanted in a boat, the list became very short and expensive.
After much frustration I stumbled upon a listing I had previously overlooked. A 51′ Aegean located at Shannon. The price was very far out of my league but as I was in decent driving distance after dropping the girls off at their sailing camp at Mystic, Ct. I figured it couldn’t hurt to check it out and maybe learn a thing or two about the make.
When we looked at the boat at Shannon it was apparent that this was not the boat for us. It was already taken apart with pieces missing and a refit that had begun and come to a stop a long time ago. The asking price was high and the amount of work to still be done was daunting.
We did however become lucky enough to meet with a man from Shannon who has been with the company for a long time, Bill Ramos. Bill was a complete gentleman. He was great with the kids, inviting, answered all questions very candidly and had vast knowledge of not just the Shannons but the whole boat industry. I expressed my opinion to Mr. Ramos that this was not the right boat for our family, but that I loved the layout and quality of the boat. He informed me that there was another boat that was a sistership that was just two towns over but it was in rough shape. We agreed to go look at it together.
The first time I looked at what would become our boat, then named Rubidium II, I was hit with a mix of lust and heartache. I saw this beautiful boat, languishing away surrounded by weeds and obviously neglected. Stepping on board there was work to be done….everywhere. From the cracked gelcoat on the deck, to the wood, to portlights, to the running rigging. Yet as I walked around the boat I kept thinking to myself…this is a quality boat. It was hard to see it at the surface level, but I felt it.
I left the boat feeling unsure that I could take on such a big project both in time and money. I had a lot to think about. I weighed the prospect of a major refit with the examples of boats on the market vs. price over and over. I kept coming to the same conclusion: I may search for years before I found the “perfect” boat….or I may search for years in vain and still end up with a project.
We ended up negotiating to a price we could work with. Deciding to purchase this boat was resigning myself to a MAJOR project. Only time will tell if the decision was a good one.
The major benefit is that everything will be as I want it to be, and my knowledge and skillset will be increased exponentially. The downside is that there is a loss in cruising time that has set back our departure date by two years.
Below are the pictures taken of our first trip to the boat.
