A Holding Pattern

Buying a boat seems to be strangely like buying a house in that, having decided which boat to buy and had your offer accepted ... it all grinds to a halt. I signed the contract eight days ago and after some initial problems finding a surveyor (the first two I tried simply didn't bother to return my call) I'm finally getting Katy Ann surveyed early next week but until then I'm largely twiddling my thumbs.

Then I've got to decide whether to go ahead with the purchase and things get going again as I have to organise the moving about of money, get the boat insured, and then get someone to Coppercoat the hull and keels before we put it in the water.

But I have done some things in the last week: mainly booking myself on courses. I'm doing a VHF radio course next month (to get the bit of paper I need before I can legally use the boat's radio) with Les Rant of East Coast Offshore Yachting and I'm also booked on a marine diesel maintenance course with him the following month.

Of course this could all go to ratshit if the survey turns up anything expensive to fix but there's lots of other boats for sale out there. I'll just have the grief of getting my deposit back.