I indeed had intentions of maintaining the blog through the sale of Encore and the purchase of our next boat, but it just wasn't meant to be. There are too many moving parts in the sale and purchase of boats, and a public blog is not the place to be discussing them during the process. The sale of Encore was finalized yesterday and she headed off to New England to be with her new owner. 

The process had a number of ups and downs, that were sometimes frustrating, sometimes exasperating, and in the end bittersweet. We knew that we needed to sell her to move on to purchasing the next boat, but as our first boat she will always be remembered fondly. She provided many adventures and enjoyable times on the water, as well as helping us learn so much about boating and cruising.

We found a replacement boat in the spring, but that is a story in progress and the details are to be saved for a later blog.

Encore was put up for sale shortly after we came to an agreement on the replacement. We cleaned her up for some great pictures and made sure she was in good shape for showing. The interest was fairly slow at the beginning, but a potential buyer made an offer sight unseen (except the pictures) and put down a deposit. A survey was scheduled, so we removed everything from the boat that was not to be sold with her. Fortunately, Rock Hall has a very convenient U-Haul storage facility and we were able to secure a unit to store all the boat items until we take possession of the replacement vessel. I can't believe how much stuff we had on the boat and amazed that we got it all on there. I do believe Encore was floating a few inches higher after moving our stuff out.

As luck would have it, we experienced a significant heat wave during the time we were clearing out the boat. It was pretty rough moving everything from boat to car in dock carts. I have no idea how many trips we made, but the heat made them longer. A final day was spent washing her down real well and moving the last few items to the storage unit. Encore was looking very good inside and out, but..............hold everything! As I was closing the door to the storage unit, our broker called to tell me that the buyer needed to cancel the survey. He also had some bad news about the replacement boat, but I'll save that for the next installment.

Needless to say, we were very disappointed and exasperated, but the bad news didn't end there. After driving back home, a two hour trip, we had dinner and Martha left for a meeting. The short version of what happened next, is that during the meeting she injured her knee and could barely walk. After visiting a couple of doctors, it was determined that she would need arthroscopic surgery to repair her meniscus, a couple of weeks to recover and then physical therapy (Thankfully, she has recovered nicely, although she is still going through some therapy). Boating was definitely put on hold at this point. But wait........there's more, three days after all the drama, the broker calls to tell me that the potential buyer wants to schedule another survey and proceed with the purchase. Here we go again, but this time the boat was mostly cleared out and ready to go. OK, maybe things are going to turn out positively after all. A few days before the survey date, I called the broker to verify that we were still good to go for the survey. My calls to him were always double duty, as I continued to check on the status of the replacement boat. He confirmed that the survey was still on. Fast forward to the next day, the broker calls, and you guessed it, the survey was off. This time for good. UGH!

Over the next week or so, the boat was shown a few times and another potential buyer turned up. To wind the story up, an offer was made and accepted, a survey was scheduled, it took place on a beautiful day, we came to a final agreement and the sale was finalized. A couple of weeks before the survey we took one last trip to Annapolis and spent two nights on a mooring ball. The weather was gorgeous and the nights were calm. It was a wonderful trip and we have a great memory of our last time on her.

The sale process took a little less than 5 months from beginning to end. As I said above it is a bittersweet experience and there were a number of sleepless nights...........especially when I was on the boat. I became concerned about every sound, wondering if some system were malfunctioning and would cause the buyer to walk away. In the end, things worked out and I hope the new owner enjoys her as much as we did.

I look forward to updating the website with information about the replacement boat and writing a blog about the purchase experience, but it will be a month or so before that can happen. Until then, our adventures are limited to dry land.

Encore spent the winter "on the hard" at Haven Harbour Marina in Rock Hall. The requisite maintenance has been completed or will be completed in the next few days. The weather has not been cooperating this week, so I'm sure the marina has gotten a little behind on some of the detailing and painting work. With luck we will be back in the water next week, but probably won't have many opportunities to get out cruising until May. This will give us time to get the boat ready and return everything that we brought home for the winter. It was so nice not having to recommission the boat last spring. After the trip south, everything was still on the boat ready to go. There was no spring prep required. We'll have to try and remember what to do to get the boat outfitted properly.

We have spent the winter researching other boats for a possible upgrade in the fall. Our trip south last year really helped us learn what we would like to have in a cruising boat going forward and what we need to live on a boat for extended periods of time. As everyone will tell you, there is no "perfect" boat out there. You really have to deal with compromises of various types, and weigh the value of certain features. To help me with the process, I created a spreadsheet to track the specifications of each boat, but as I looked at each boat I had to add fields to account for unique features specific to certain boats, and of course, I want all those features. I have watched countless Youtube videos, read any reviews I could get my hands on and talked to various dealers. Encore is a good boat for a couple nights on the hook, but she needs to be in a marina every third night or so. We are hoping to find a boat that will allow us to be independent for a longer period of time with ample storage, sufficient capacities and the appropriate seaworthiness for extended and safe cruising. 

The field has been narrowed somewhat, but lack of available inventory with the features we want may slow the whole process. I am being patient with the process and I have faith that the boat for us will make itself known at the right time. Fortunately, we like the boat we have. She is a great boat for cruising around the Bay and we look forward to a good season with her.

We will document the process and progress in this blog as we go through the next 5 or 6 months. The ultimate goal is to be heading down south again no later than  Fall 2023. Wish us luck.