Well sort of. After being out of boating for 10yrs my wife and I decided to get another one so we started looking at 230da's but she said it was to small so I found a 88 28' Well craft Antigua she said she liked it so I made the deal and went for a sea trial I climbed in the engine compartment and found a lot of rot in the transom and bulkhead canceled that deal. We looked at a 270 Brokerage boat and loved it then we decided that we didn't wan to be stuck in one body of water so we continued the hunt then on a Friday at 2pm I found a new ad for a 268 called him to send pictures by 4pm I called made a appointment to meet him at 8am on Saturday 250 mi away the wife said she wasn't going to get up at 2am to ride 250mi to look at a boat she just said you know what I want by 9am we made a deal and the rest is history.
Finally, this story (links to the first, second, third, and fourth posts) is coming to a conclusion. However, it should be noted that this is not the end but really the beginning of a whole new story. Without dwelling on this further, Monday rolled around and "cough cough" I took the day off of work.
Obviously, you can see where this is leading. The Sunday before I spent the afternoon pitching to my wife why we needed the 270 by presenting a cost benefit analysis. I've used this technique before to smooth over the sticker shock of any large purchase. In this case, I presented the following:
So that was my case but, of course, my wife mulls it over and decides to ask her father for advice on what to do. :smt100 My heart pitched up and sank to the depth of Davy Jone's locker. My father-in-law is an old fashioned Portuguese who believes in saving money for family and nothing else. He doesn't speak English so as I was listening in to my wife's conversation with him, I had no clue how this was going to play out. I swear that I've never been so nervous, dreading the final outcome. With all that happened, will this be the end? How will I go back to my lowly 175 Sport knowing how close I came to a cruiser? Time seemed to tick by at a snails pace. Finally, my wife addressed me, "my dad says that if we put the money in a cottage, we'd probably spend more and pay more taxes. And if you look at my cousin, whose cottage flooded this year, it's not worth it." I was bewildered since I didn't even think of that, probably because I think that if you have a house it should be as good as you can make it; a cottage is a waste. My wife finished with "this boat can be our floating cottage." At that moment, I swear that I heard the sound of clearing trumpets.
- If we get the 270, we can have the life style you want without the stress or worry of wake waves. We can use it every day after work to decompress, and we won't be messing up the house (big selling point).
- Also, I'll do all the work which will be good for my health and with all the extra activity, I'll lose weight. (Hard to say that one with a straight face. :grin
- We'll have more family time and activities for the kids, especially for my youngest daughter who plays WoW practically 24/7 (another big selling point).
- AND the clincher was: we'll stop eating out (fast food) and I'll do the cooking (I'm actually a good cook). This is what clinched the deal since in the month of August, for example, we spent $872.65 on eating out/fast food. (No, I'm not kidding!)
So on Monday over my wife's lunch break, we found ourselves in Hurst's business office inking the deal we made on Saturday with a few additions. First, our 2009 Sea Ray 175 Sport with the installed electronic package was traded in for $3000.00 over what I paid for it, essentially I got full value for it. Second, the artic white 270DA Sundancer had about 20K worth of manufacturer incentives applied to the invoice. Then finally because of it being late in the season, Hurst threw in the complete winterization, shrinkwrap, and storage (a $2500 value) for free. Of course, there was still a month left before the Rideau Canal officially closes so there was time to commission the 270, do the water test, and enjoy the symphony of fall colors on the Rideau. Of course, I was given another slip that could easily fit the 270.
Now I could write about how, for me and my wife, this was the best possible decision. But instead, I'm going to show some pictures I took of our [Canadian] Thanksgiving weekend out on the Rideau. So now the REAL story begins...
My beautiful 2009 Sea Ray 270DA Sundancer.
Heading out on Thanksgiving weekend, the trip was eventful since getting to know a new boat certainly bound to have some surprises.
A picture of putting anchor at a spot close to the Rideau Provincial Park; while we enjoyed ice cream from the Ice Cream Float (his last day open).
Serenity... pure serenity.
Some practical shots... And yes, I couldn't wait to customize my 270 with wireless/wi-fi and Sirius satellite radio with a temporary installation.
A shot from the stern, for its size there is a lot of room. And yes, I love the double seat helm since it's roomy and I like having my wife sit next to me. Notice the Ericsson W35 3G router on the helm dash and the external antenna duct taped to the arch.
Cheers,
Kaoru
Just found this thread. Good reading.
