How’s the Boat Search Going? ARE WE NUTS?

Thatcher Harvey · March 15, 2021 at 9:31 am

Hi Folks,
The short answer is yes!
I’m glad I found this video before making a long comment on one of your Friday night videos. I have watched several, and, I have been pondering doing the loop for a while now. I live in Seattle and keep my boat in La Conner. The fact that we don’t live near the loop makes this very challenging., as you have learned. I have pretty much decided not to pursue this for the near future, particularly since I have bought my early retirement boat already for the Northwest.
At the risk of sounding pompous, I am going to share my opinions based on 60 years of boating in 9 different boats. I have always done almost all the repairs, upgrades and maintenance myself in order to afford bigger boats that were less expensive. It has been my hobby, not only to go boating, but to spend many many hours working them as well.
It sounds like your vision is to have a great family adventure in a nicely appointed boat with classic design. Since that is a very difficult complicated thing to accomplish, it can only really be solved with lots of money or time. I can see why you are reconsidering. If your goal is really to do the great loop as a family, then the choice of boat should be something reliable which facilitates that within a clear budget like a used Ranger Tug, or a Meridian, or a Sea Ray. I have not heard (maybe I missed the video) a clear budget statement. It sounds like you may have resources to go higher than where you are looking, but there should be a clear list of musts and wants with weighting that takes some of the emotion out of the selection. Then, as you say, you would have to sell it there, unless you stayed with something small enough to truck home.
What are your expectations for keeping the boat running? Unless you are prepared and equipped to do major repairs during a 6000 mile trip, buying a 50 foot boat from the 80s in the $100-150K range is a recipe for disaster. (That’s just as true whether it’s here or in the eastern part of the country.) The adventure will be the family learning how to cope with a boat that stops working multiple times. (Personally, I would have found that half the fun when I was a kid, but I’m a mechanical engineer.) If your passion is better served having a family adventure together on a boat that you are really proud of, a better choice might be to skip the great loop, and buy a boat in Portland that you can take the time to fix up as needed and take to Alaska or the Canadian coast, or south to Mexico. Would the kids rather see bears, wolves , eagles, and whales, or shores lined with houses? Anecdotally, my aunt and uncle used to tell me in whispers that their trips to the San Juans with me were way more interesting than those with their son on the great lakes.
I grew up in MA and RI, and boated from CT to ME. The east coast has some great boating, and beautiful beaches. It might be better to rent a boat for two or three months and just go FL to ME and skip the inland side. It’s expensive, but you just turn back the keys and leave at the end. Then when you get home, your Chris Craft Constellation or Hatteras could be waiting for you to take your next adventure.
I wish it was easy to discuss this in person. I would certainly be willing to talk on the phone about it if it would be helpful. I am retired, so I have plenty of time when I’m not working on the boat. BTW, I had a 1979 34 Tolly tricabin for 23 years until 2018. I cried when I finally let it go. My wife and I decided at retirement, we wanted more room to bring another couple. My dream boat for many years had been the 44 Tolly. Their prices had come down to my range by then. I actually saw a beautiful 1990 version in Jantzen Beach area with only 600 hours that had only seen fresh water its whole life. What I discovered in person was that it was a pristine example of an 80’s boat design, and time had marched forward. It wasn’t much different than my 34, just bigger. I ended up buying a 2004 Carver 396 that looks like a space shuttle, but has an interior that has the room of a condo, and it’s all rounded Cherry and ultraleather. It’s not a classic like the Tollies, but for me it has worked out really well.
Best Wishes in your search. That’s part of the fun.
Cheers,
Thatch Harvey