The "Nexus" pictured above with the owner working and showing me the boat.

Over the past few days we agonized over a couple of different boats.

Both of them were MacGregor made.  One was a MacGregor 26, newer, and was pretty and nice.  Has the interesting water ballast system in it and a non-weighted keel that drops down and is called "Nexus".


The other is the 1979 Venture 25.  The pricing on both was good - the first a bit more expensive, but close to home.  The other less expensive and would give us some money left in our little budget for boat buying to do some work on the boat if necessary.

Since I'm both very new to this and a bit wary of a boat weighted with water instead of a keel - and to be completely honest, a bit scared of a boat without a fixed keel and sails we compromised on the boat and chose the Venture 25.

We've made a deal for the boat, trailer and one motor (he had two for sale) but one is fine, and he kind of wanted to keep one himself.  That's fine with me.  A small motor is all I need, and the one we examined works.  Sufficient for me.  If I have to replace it at some point, well alright.

I am still researching whether my Jeep can handle the towed load, so Saturday I'm taking my son's big Dodge Ram truck over to meet the current owner, Phil.  Also, well, I don't even have a tow bar and hitch on my Jeep....

Phil has been just awesome in talking to us, emailing and being forthcoming with information, good and bad, about the boat.

At one point I was getting the impression he wasn't really wanting to sell the boat, but he explained that he couldn't see leaving it sit in the snow and not be used.  Well, it will still sit in the snow and not get used until this springtime with us, but at least we'll be doing something with it over the course of the next few months.

I just finished speaking to my wife a little bit ago who has taken care of the important, and legal junk, like making sure we've got insurance on the boat and it's covered on the trailer, being towed, sitting at home or on the water.

So, our plans of getting our first sailboat are coming together quite quickly and with ease - so far. 

Things I've not done but will do in the future.

1) Hire a broker to find our "big boat" - the one we will cruise in.

2) Hire an independent surveyor to examine that boat.

3) Personal inspection of the boat, after having done it a few times myself - with a second and perhaps third pair of eyes before I even bring a surveyor out.

4) Remember to KEEP my current Insurance Agent for the rest of my life... they are the coolest people in the world. Thanks to Vance and Mikki. (I didn't KNOW that a boat is AUTO-MAGICALLY called a Yacht when it is 1 inch over 25 feet.......)

Now... we're checking on dates for courses through the ASA.

Rick