One Step Closer...

First Born said:
prodigalson said:
One of the first pieces of advice I got on CSR was "buy what makes you smile"...Thanks again!

When we went to the boat show this year I told Paige remember Frank's advise is buy as much boat as you can get your wallet around. I just had her come in and look at the pictures of the boat, she looked at me with this puzzeled face...I said what? She said looks like you need a bigger wallet. :smt043 At least she listens. :thumbsup: Congratulations again, I bet you felt like a king today as you pulled into the dealer.
Wesley

Wes,
The secret is a walet made of elastic material. Cowhide doesn't stretch very far. :smt043 :smt043 :smt021
 
Congratulations. That is one beautiful boat! :thumbsup:

prodigalson said:
Wesley- speaking of the Admiral... I gave her a complete Power Point presentation on the benefits of this boat over our previous boat and a detailed financial overview. Luckilly, I'm in marketing so Power Point is a second language for me.
Obviously, she said yes!

Without personal specifics, can you share some highlights of a financial overview?
 
She sure is a sweet looking boat :thumbsup: :smt038
 
Prodigal - Any chance the dealer will let you take the bag of manuals home to review before you take delivery? My dealer did and it made for a more informative orientation...just a thought.
 
Stray Cat said:
Prodigal - Any chance the dealer will let you take the bag of manuals home to review before you take delivery? My dealer did and it made for a more informative orientation...just a thought.
Stray, that's good advice and I tried to get my dealer Marine Max to let me have it before orientation on my last boat (260DA) ....they said no!! They said they needed it as part of the delivery checklist. I tried to order an extra owners manual but they wanted 275 bucks for it. No thanks.
 
I would have an other talk with your MM Dealer. :smt021 Not sure, but I'm assume you have already put a major down payment if not already completed the purchase or done the loan work on it. Either way it is your boat :huh: and they should let you have the manual. You will need them again when they do the in water delivery. I know my MM dealer had no problem with me taken the manuals before my in water delivery. They actual thought it was a good thing that way you are already familiar with them.
 
Prodigal - Any chance the dealer will let you take the bag of manuals home to review before you take delivery? My dealer did and it made for a more informative orientation...just a thought.

I thought of getting the manuals when I was halfway home... I know I can get them, we've closed on the boat so it's mine now!

Without personal specifics, can you share some highlights of a financial overview?

As far as the powepoint... the basic flow was to first "sell the boat" with a detailed stem to stern comparison of this boat with our old boat. We spend a lot of time on the boat so some of these things were nitpicky but I knew they would be big sellers to the admiral. Additionally, I showed numbers to support the fact that the operating cost (meaning fuel) for this boat would actually be less than our previous boat.

It's not that she didn't want the boat, she just needed to be convinced that we could afford it without sacrificing on things like college savings and retirement. So I walked her through a status update of what money is where, what is it intended for and at what pace is it being accumulated. Basically a balance sheet.

Additionally, I finally explained to her how much money I make, not just in salary but in other forms such as bonuses, options, stock grants, pension and company matches. Basically an income / cashflow statement. This was to reassure her that the money we would be spending on the boat payments was not our last dime every two weeks. I say "finally" because she never really asked and I never actually told!

Even though this was a "financial overview", at no point did I attempt to hide the fact that this is a horrible investment. The main point was: yes, it's a horrible investment, BUT we're doing enough of the "good" (i.e. boring) kind of investing that one little bad investment won't kill us. OK, maybe "little" isn't a good choice, but you get the drift.

Then I closed on the fact that you only live once, and that our kids will be 9 & 7 this year, which means we've got MAYBE five years before they think we're jerks and don't want to spend any time with us. In the meantime, we spend every weekend together on the boat bonding as a family. So what might be a bad financial investment is actually an investment in our family unity and our children's future in the form of life experience and fond memories.

And I said it all with a straight face... how can you argue with that?

T
 
Bridog said:
Stray Cat said:
Prodigal - Any chance the dealer will let you take the bag of manuals home to review before you take delivery? My dealer did and it made for a more informative orientation...just a thought.
Stray, that's good advice and I tried to get my dealer Marine Max to let me have it before orientation on my last boat (260DA) ....they said no!! They said they needed it as part of the delivery checklist. I tried to order an extra owners manual but they wanted 275 bucks for it. No thanks.

Piece of cake, just go to the Searay site and download the owners manual. You can read it right off your computer.
 
jg300da said:
Piece of cake, just go to the Searay site and download the owners manual. You can read it right off your computer.
Nice call, thanks! Downloaded it this morning. Will certainly make the time go by until the 15th!

goblue said:
I resemble that remark. You have a lot to smile about. Enjoy.
Thanks again for the inspiration, goblue!
 
jg300da said:
Piece of cake, just go to the Searay site and download the owners manual. You can read it right off your computer.
Yep, that's what I ended up doing as well. I also printed it out. I then had to buy all new ink cartridges.
 
There are many things you can download on the internet that are very usefull to have for the boat. I have a whole file full of them.

On Sea Rays site don't forget to download the parts manual as well since it won't be in your package. I have also downloaded the Smartcraft Manual from Mercury and the Navman manual for my Charplotter as well as the Cruisaire manual for the A/C and the Clarion Manual for the stereo. Since I keep the printed ones at the boat, having them on my computer is of great help at home too when I need to refer to them. In fact, I think I will start a thread about this so others are aware as well.
 
I think we are all awestruck by that gorgeous boat.


Just one question ……………do you need any crewmembers? :smt043


â€Have Polisher – Will Travelâ€
 
Congrats, nothing like watching the delivery and outfitting of your new boat. We had the same experience in Dec. '05. We knew when the boat was shipped and followed the progress of the boat as it was trucked to Seattle. We lost track of it in Idaho and actually spent a weekend trying to find the truck. Talk about sick. After all there are only 2 possible routes to Seattle and one was closed to oversize loads due to a rock slide. Shouldn't be that difficult. Turns out we missed him by about a half an hour on two seperate occasions. We finally arrived at the boat yard where it was to be delivered Sunday PM disappointed. I told the wife I'll take a quick look around and we'd head for home. I came around the corner of the yard office and there it was sitting on a trailer. The boat arrived a half an hour before we did. I helped the driver pull what was left of the shinkwrap off, found the keys and communed with the boat for a couple of hours. Pam had to drag me home but I took an armful of manuals to ease the transition.

I hope you find your new boat experience as rewarding and memorable as we did. Take lots of photo's. I still enjoy looking at mine a year later.
 
Congratulations on a beautiful vessel, and truely a dream come true. I think a bridge helm is the greatest place to run a boat. Good luck with her! By the way who will be doing the polishing :smt001
 
Wow... congrats whit your new SHIP.
What a look this boat has!

Have fun with her with your family.

Peter.
 

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