Saturday morning I went down to the broker’s office and signed an offer on the boat. It’s a little lowball, but I have reason to believe the seller is motivated and I expect them to counteroffer. I think we both have roughly the same number in mind, but I want to make sure I don’t come in over that number, because the necessary expenses are already mounting. The bottom needs to be painted and I don’t have time to do it myself. That’s a few thousand. The standing rigging (the cables that hold the mast up and provide the support for the sails) needs to be replaced. Fortunately, the parts are already there but, again, I have neither the time nor the expertise at this point to do it myself. And the dinghy needs a new motor or, at the least, a set of oars. Those are the biggies, but it’s a boat, so there will be others.
In spite of, or maybe because of, the state of indecision I’ve been in for a couple of days–well, no, that’s not really accurate. It wasn’t indecision, it was a hesitation to act on the decision, considering what was at stake. So, let’s call it the FEAR. In spite of that, I realized that this is why I put all my stuff in storage and drove down to La Paz without knowing really a thing about it. So it would be silly to do all that and then not do the thing I came here for. So I did. And it felt great. And now I am one step closer to living on a beautiful boat in a beautiful bay by a beautiful city in a beautiful country.
And then…the doubts! I wound up reading a thread on CruisersForum about how you determine the amount you should offer for a given boat, and that seriously undermined my sense of accomplishment for the day. All of a sudden, I was worried that I’d offered too much. More research! Now!
And…I’m at least in the right ballpark. There are no statistically valid numbers for sailboat purchases. For any given manufacturer/model, especially for models over thirty years old, you are flying pretty much by the seat of your pants. Which I am willing to do. Just waiting now for the seller to respond to the offer.