More ups and downs than a rowboat in a force 10 gale!
Today is Saturday, January 14th, 2017. As mentioned in Part 1, we had pretty much decided on one of two Swift 42 Trawlers. Both of our options were located in Southern Florida and looked pretty good. We had made flight arrangements for the 26th of January, to fly down to Kissimmee where our daughter lives, pick her up and head down to Palm Beach Gardens to look at the first of the two boats with our Broker Alex Wilkes from Denison Yacht Sales, and were waiting for the date to arrive. To make the story easier to follow, the two boats we were looking at are called Cyrano and Blu.
We posted on the AGLCA forum asking for others’ experience with the Swift 42 and were contacted by another broker in the Tampa area about another 42 that was available, “Bene-fits”. We looked at the photos and quickly decided that due to some significant modifications made by the current owner to the kitchen area, it was not the boat for us.
Then late last week, we heard that Blu (our preferred choice) was being traded into a wholesaler and was not actually on the market. We also learned that Cyrano while a nice boat was a bit over-priced for the condition. That left us with no current choices. Alex then found a newer Swift 44 that was just coming on the market in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was over our budget but was still a good buy, and being newer less likely to need repairs or maintenance. The issue is that while you CAN sail from Milwaukee to here, (it’s about halfway through the Great Loop), it’s probably a 2-month trip, and we couldn’t even start until Mid may as we would have to wait for the Ice to melt. The other option would be to take apart part of the boat, and get a specialist truck to truck it down to us, then have it re-assembled. It’s pretty common, but as you can imagine, not cheap.
We were considering the 44′ in Wisconsin, and deciding that we’d just have to wait for something else to come along, when on Thursday, Alex emailed with photos of Blu (our first choice boat), in dry-dock having the entire underside re-finished. He was able to track down the wholesaler and, as long as we moved quickly, would be able to work a deal for us before the wholesaler took it and listed it. The price quoted was excellent, and with the underside of the boat just refurbished, it worked out to be a fantastic deal!
In order to lock in the deal, we had to make a deposit on Friday, and go to the Boat Survey and Sea Trial on Wednesday of next week! Our issue was that we’ve never seen the specific boat, and while Tom has been on a couple of the newer Swift 44 Trawlers at boat shows, neither of us has ever seen the Swift 42 except in photos and video.
Because we had an out with the Boat Survey (similar to a home inspection), we locked in the deal on Friday with a deposit. Alex contacted his Charleston, South Carolina office and made arrangements for us to see one of their customers Swift 42’s on Saturday morning. So, this morning we drove down to Charleston and were able to walk around a Swift 42. Brenda was also able to see the newer 34′ and 44′ models and confirm that even though it’s an older model, the Swift 42 is the right boat for us.
Looking forward to Wednesday!
Thanks For Visiting! – Tom & Brenda
