Dreaming About Sailboats
This was a time when we would spend hours daydreaming about sailing. Our sailing experience was almost nonexistent, apart from a few practical courses and RYA theory courses. We didn’t have real sailing experience, though the little we did was enough to make us fall in love with it. We would spend many summer evenings after stressful workdays chilling in a hammock near a harbour, watching the sailboats come and go while talking about anything related to it.
It became our little spot.
Little did we know that we would spend many more days, nights and sweat in that same spot and that it would become our second home.
Watching Online Listings
During the same period of time we spent a long time just looking into online listings and comparing different sailboat models. Everything from cheap affordable sailboats to big bluewater and exploration sailboats that were completely out of our league.
We spent so much time at it that we knew some of the listings by heart. So much so that one day we noticed a big drop in the price for one of the Sailboats that we used to look at, a beautiful H-323 from 1981.
That's when I told Maria the biggest lie.
"We’d Just Go See It"
“We won’t buy it. We’ll just go and see it so we can learn more for the future and become better at judging which sailboat we really want.”
With that statement, we booked a viewing with the owners.
It is fair to say that we had no idea what to look for. So we let them guide us through the boat. It was visibly old and in need of repair, but we had no idea how extensive the problems were. We didn’t check the rigging, the electrical panel and systems were a complete mess, we hoisted the sails to look at them but didn’t know what to look at, and we didn’t even consider the propane system. At least we checked the bilge; the bolts were clean and there was no visible damage. We also took a look at the engine, which was almost brand new and in good condition.
We suggested a test sail, but the owner refused, saying that the weather was “too bad,” and that we could instead go out with the engine. So we did. We took a tour around the Helsinki harbour, which felt a bit like showing a friend the city from the water for the first time, more of a sightseeing trip than a proper sea trial. Nevertheless, the engine worked and the boat floated, so we decided that counted as a successful sea trial. The last thing we wanted to check was the bottom of the sailboat, but the seller told us that a hauled-out survey was too expensive and too difficult in the middle of the season.
Even a colour-blind person could see the red flags. We chose to ignore them.
Making The Offer
After a few days talking about it and weighting the possible issues that could arise after purchase, we finaly decided we would handle it, and we made an offer.
Later that same day we were sitting in our little spot talking about how we would need to negotiate the price when we got a text message. Our offer got accepted. Just like that, it got real. Now was the time to gather almost every single penny we had saved, and trade it for what would become our new happy place.
The Day We Officially Became Boat Owners!
And the big day came, we gathered in the sailboat with the previous owners, signed the papers, transfered the money, shook hands and got the keys. After a very brief interaction we were left alone in what now had become our sailboat. We were so excited, and couldn't believe that it was now ours.
This was the point of inflection when we would start to learn what becoming a boat owner means. All the maintenance that brings with it, all the hidden issues that could be uncovered, and most importantly, this is the point when we really started to learn about sailing, manouvering, seamanship, navigation, weather and everything in between.
It was the best decision that we could have made.
