I’m on a Boat

Yep.  I’m on a boat alright.

J and I left the house last Friday with our 16 ft. Wellcraft…

And came back home towing a 28 ft. Sea Ray…

Here is a better view of it.

Do you want to know the craziest part of our Friday boat adventure?

We did not pay a dime for the new (to us) boat.  I know!  How is that possible?

Well, I’ll tell you.  J met a retired guy while lobstering in the Keys a couple of weekends ago who was looking to unload his boat.  Actually, he was looking to sell or trade it to someone.  He had his 28 ft. Sea Ray listed on Craigslist and had recently lowered the price in hopes of attracting some attention.  The boat was simply too big for him and his wife to manage in the wake of his recent medical problems.  But because the economy is so crappy he wasn’t getting any interest from anyone.  He told J that he would trade us his boat for ours.

After much consideration, research, measuring, studying and consulting a Sea Ray engineer who lives a few blocks away, we decided to take the man up on his offer.  All signs pointed to us coming out way ahead on this deal.

We didn’t want to strap ourselves with a money pit, however.  The boat had to fit on our side yard in order to avoid paying a monthly storage fee.  It had to run perfectly and have a solid hull as well.

We asked the boat’s owner to meet us at a boat ramp on Lake Okeechobee on Friday morning so that we could inspect it and take a test drive.  I am happy to report that the boat ran wonderfully.  The engine was so incredibly quiet.  I am used to hearing our outboard motor so it was quite a surprise to barely hear the rumble of this larger boat’s inboard engine.

We were also treated to some of the local redneck flavor while out on the water…

The only things really wrong with the boat are cosmetic in nature.  The vinyl needs a good bleaching.  Some of the interior upholstery needs to be replaced.  The teak needs to be oiled back to it’s shiny glory.  The wasp infestation needs to be remedied…  All of the aesthetic things can be tackled in time.  The most important thing is that the boat seems to be in sound operating condition.

I spent a lot of time in the cabin taking photographs while J got the mechanical lo-down from the owner.

Here is the galley.  This boat is like a little RV inside.  It’s so cool!

The cabin sleeps six.  This is the main sleeping area.  There is another tiny ‘bedroom’ toward the stern that would maybe sleep two tiny adults.

Overall, we were quite impressed with the Lissy B II (soon to be the Pura Vida).  We took the owner up on his boat swap offer and left the backwoods of the south Lake Okeechobee area with a certified yacht.

I’ll save the spectacle of parking it on the side of the house for another time.  It was one of the craziest and scariest things I’ve seen in quite some time.  It is safely parked there now and that is all that matters!

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