Buying "Dalliance"

The events leading up to my buying "Dalliance" are very interesting and I thought I would share them with you.

I have been a sailor since I was 12.  I have sailed to Canada, made seven offshore passages to Bermuda and a passage from Boston to Bermuda and then on to St. Croix in the Caribbean.  And, then made the return passage the following year.  These trips were made in a Columbia 29 named "Tranquility".  So, sailing is in my blood.

My most recent sailboat, "Crackerjack" was a Catalina 30 which I loved to sail.  She was a great boat and I hope the new owner and his wife have a great time sailing her.  About a year ago I was talking with a sailing friend and telling him about the arthritis in my thumb joints that cause me severe pain for days after a sailing trip.  I told him I was afraid I would be selling my boat because it was becoming too difficult for me to haul the lines to put up the sails and control them during a sail.

He said he had a neighbor who was interested in buying a sailboat and he would talk with him about buying my boat.  Well, that sale fell through, but early this Spring the same friend told me at a Masonic meeting and said he had talked with another Mason who was interested in buying a Catalina 30.  About 3 weeks later the couple came to look at the boat and I showed them through it.  They seemed very interested.  Two weeks later he came back with an offer to buy "Crackerjack".  It was an offer I could not refuse, so off went my sailboat to a new owner.  I was now without a boat.

Several days later I was on my computer looking at BoatTrader.com and saw an ad for "Dalliance".  She is a 30 year old Senator 35 trawler (Power Boat).

The pictures drew my attention and the features of the boat met my criteria for a boat I could handle and would be comfortable to operate.  I noticed that the boat was located in Havelock, North Carolina.  I have a friend, Ed Gagnon, who had moved to New Bern, NC, several years ago.  I sent an Email to Ed and asked him if he knew where Havelock was.  He said it was the next town.  He also said not only did he know of the boat, he knew the owner of the boat.

I asked Ed if he could make an appointment with the Broker and owner to inspect the boat.  After Ed and his friend, Neal, inspected the boat, Ed's comment to me was, "Book a flight!".  So, I drove down to Havelock on the Cherry Point Marine Air Station and inspected the boat myself and took it on a Sea Trial.  After the Sea Trial, I made an offer on the boat.  With the money from the sale of "Crackerjack" and some savings I was able to come up with a good offer.  The owner who due to a medical condition needed to end his cruising accepted the offer and the Broker completed the sale.

Ed and several of his friends in Fairfield Harbour, NC, have been great.  Bernie had previously owned a trawler that he sold last year and had an empty dock.  He said I could keep my boat on his dock.  Bud and Neal (both experience power boaters) helped Ed bring the boat from Cherry Point to Bernie's dock in Fairfield Harbour.  These guys have been very supportive and have given me lots of advice and assistance and I thank them for it.

This has been a great experience of serendipity and fortune to bring it all together.  So, I guess I have (as sailors put it) "Gone to the dark side" and become a "stink potter".  However, I look forward to many happy years with "Dalliance".