No longer boatless and dreaming!!

[settlednomad]

Morning CF gang,

So, I am now with boat!! If you have followed my threads and know what I have been after then this may come as a bit of a shock - the boat is 34ft and is really not what I was looking for or wanting (not as the final boat)! But, I am frustrated at not being on the water and this seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. I'll get the season out of her whilst still looking for the right boat!

I bought her here in the classifieds so a big thank you to CF for that

Right, time to go shopping for some bits. Oh, I might just join their owner's club too!

Happy days...
SN.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Congratulations!

I looked that boat over, and think it looked very nice and was a very good combination of condition, design, gear, and Price. Lucky you!

Bon Voyage!

[LLCoolDave]

Agree with Steady, looked like a lot of boat for the money. Keep us updated on your cruising adventures.

Congrats!

[settlednomad]

Thanks guys. I can't wait to get out there and start preparing her for the splash (March/April).

I must mention Yowieboy: he has been nothing but a true gentleman. Every question has been answered, every detail covered. Even though I haven't yet seen the boat, I have felt comfortable and confident in proceeding with the purchase. Thank you.

[brendanwalls]

Westerleys are great boats. I sailed a 27 at home in Emsworth as a kid. What more would you want?

[Paul Kelly]

Congratulations! And welcome to Westerly world.

I never thought I'd be a Westerly owner but bought a Westerly Storm 33 last year. I am very pleased with it. They are excellent boats. I'd recommend also joining the Westerly Owners' Association. They have over 3,000 members, are a font of good advice and send all new members a copy of The Westerly Story detailing all the 70+ Westerly designs and the story of how the brand developed.

[settlednomad]

Originally Posted by brendanwalls

Westerleys are great boats. I sailed a 27 at home in Emsworth as a kid. What more would you want?

F3-4 and blue skies??

[settlednomad]

Originally Posted by Paul Kelly

Congratulations! And welcome to Westerly world.

I never thought I'd be a Westerly owner but bought a Westerly Storm 33 last year. I am very pleased with it. They are excellent boats. I'd recommend also joining the Westerly Owners' Association. They have over 3,000 members, are a font of good advice and send all new members a copy of The Westerly Story detailing all the 70+ Westerly designs and the story of how the brand developed.

Hi Paul,

I did have a quick look at their site today. I'll take a better look tomorrow when I've a bit more time. Thanks for the heads up

SN.

[Divevac]

Congratulations!

Having bought a Grampian 26 in May 2017 and with a Catalina 42 Mk II under contract last week, we are officially two boat owners and about a year ahead of you. Never in my life has the word 'compromise' become so self-evident! The Grampian was a compromise that allowed time on the water in 2017 while continuing our search.

After a three year period of intensive 'education' (daily internet, several trips to FLA, Annapolis, Deltaville, Oriental, Charleston & a couple of laps of the Great lakes), we have come to understand that compromise can be a precarious balance. There is no mistaking we are excited about finding 'our' cruising boat - literally in our back yard. Its a well equipped fresh water boat in near immaculate condition with low hours-it doesn't get any better than this - and its a compromise.

Waiting for winter and ice\snow to dissipate from Lake Ontario to facilitate survey, inspection, sea trial, etc, we are pondering a myriad of issues - all appear as compromises at this point. Selling the Grampian (c 1975) is first and foremost. Planning a Jul-Aug 2018 shakedown cruise (a couple of laps of Lake Ontario or a trip down the St Lawrence to Charlottetown or St John's Nfld) - each a compromise. To sell or rent our home - a formidable issue fraught with compromise. Even our options for a 5-10 year adventure beginning in 2019 (east into the Med with Schengen rules and an abbreviated sailing season or south to year round sailing weather in the Caribbean) all involve compromise.

We have accepted and surrendered to the reality that life is a series of compromises and are intensely grateful to have such options available to us. We look forward to joining the rank and file of the full time cruising community and wish you every success in finding your cruising vessel!

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by settlednomad

- the boat is 34ft and is really not what I was looking for or wanting (not as the final boat)!

The great prophet Mick Jaggar wisely said: You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need!

I am quite certain he was referring to the experience of purchasing a used sailboat.

[Cheechako]

Great! 34 ft is a pretty nice size actually.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Voltaire said that perfect is the enemy of good enough. Congratulations!

[jmpapon]

Congratulations on your "new" boat!
We have owned a Westerly Corsair 36 for 20 years now. Sailed her all over the Gulf of Mexico, up and down the US east coast, and the Bahamas before crossing the Atlantic to the Med in 2014, where we have been cruising since.
She has always kept us safe and dry against storms and tides...
I highly recommend you subscribe to the Westerly Owners Assoc. It comes with a wealth of information on all Westerlys, sources of spare parts unavailable anywhere else, and is a lively group of sailing owners organizing regattas and cruises all around England, Ireland and Northern Europe.
Congratulations again, and Happy Seas....

[alansmith]

Congratulations Sir....let the games begin. alan

[settlednomad]

I was going to be clever and quote the last replies all in this same message. Then I realised I didn't know how to do that! Can it be done: multiple quotes from multiple replies? Who knows...

@ jmpapon - Absolutely going to join the WOA as I know nothing about the Westerly make. I did the same when I had a Moody - a great way to source information and get to know people.

@ ArmyDaveNY - Voltaire must have been a clever chappy . This is good enough, for now, but the search for the boat will still be happening in the background. At least I can enjoy myself and get my sea legs back in the process

@ Cheechako - 34ft is OK, my last one was a Moody 336 so I've gained 6" (something I tell my Mrs often). Before going ahead with the purchase she did say "why a 34 footer, we'd have come no further." My reply "we'll be on the water, that's miles further than where we are." That pretty much ended the conversation and the rest, as they say...

@ Hamburking - Mick, a friend of Voltaire? Certainly two very wise men! This is definitely what I needed - in the grand scheme of things. I have been too long away from the water. I even looked at buying a house - yes, I viewed a couple of them too - and visualised having a veg plot. wtf!? That was almost game over, right there.

@ Divevac - Compromises, compromises and, just for luck, a few more compromises. That's part of the fun of it, I think. I am happy to hear that all your ducks have lined up rather obligingly. And, you may be a year ahead of me but I'll be trying my hardest to catch you up.

She isn't the right boat but she's a boat, I'll be sailing, and I'll be learning all the time. A lot of the skills are transferable from one boat to the next - I can't wait to get my teeth stuck into it.

You have found the boat you wanted; the hardest bit is done. Kick back, relax and see what happens. The world is your lobster...