I sold my first keelboat, to a couple that moved not only into my marina - but further out on the same pier. I bought the vessel for $5K a year or two earlier, did a bunch of work, and sold it to them for under $3K (I had another boat and wanted out of double slip leases.). Like myself, it was their first boat and I don't think they knew much about maintenance. I felt good initially, selling the family a solid, safe cruiser at a very decent price.
But over the next couple seasons most times when they would stroll past me on their way out the pier to their boat they would give me at minimum a dirty look, sometimes an "under the breath" comment, or even a verbal exchange about how I screwed them over because of whatever had recently gone wrong on the boat.
The first spring that I saw the boat after selling it was in it's berth, some seaweed hanging limp on the dock lines, and the cockpit full of green water a foot deep. What a sad sight. I assume that as it sat uncovered over the winter debris and leaves had collected in the cockpit and clogged the scuppers to the point of non-functionality. I guess come springtime the marina just dropped it back in the water as they found it, assuming the owners would visit and at least check things out but it seems they either lost interest, got busy, or something else.
I still see it tied up in it's slip when I motor in and out of the marina, but haven't seen the owners in a couple years. Boats do require some time and money for upkeep, and maybe they just ran short of one or both. Had they approached me differently I most likely would have been happy to help them with their issues if I had the time available. I can understand their frustration, and maybe their expectations about what a boat requires wasn't reasonable. Anyhow, best wishes to them.
Takeaway lesson: don't sell a boat to someone who is or may end up a future neighbor.
But over the next couple seasons most times when they would stroll past me on their way out the pier to their boat they would give me at minimum a dirty look, sometimes an "under the breath" comment, or even a verbal exchange about how I screwed them over because of whatever had recently gone wrong on the boat.
The first spring that I saw the boat after selling it was in it's berth, some seaweed hanging limp on the dock lines, and the cockpit full of green water a foot deep. What a sad sight. I assume that as it sat uncovered over the winter debris and leaves had collected in the cockpit and clogged the scuppers to the point of non-functionality. I guess come springtime the marina just dropped it back in the water as they found it, assuming the owners would visit and at least check things out but it seems they either lost interest, got busy, or something else.
I still see it tied up in it's slip when I motor in and out of the marina, but haven't seen the owners in a couple years. Boats do require some time and money for upkeep, and maybe they just ran short of one or both. Had they approached me differently I most likely would have been happy to help them with their issues if I had the time available. I can understand their frustration, and maybe their expectations about what a boat requires wasn't reasonable. Anyhow, best wishes to them.
Takeaway lesson: don't sell a boat to someone who is or may end up a future neighbor.
