@Barnacle Bill has some good advice.
When I bought my first boat, I found a 1988 O’Day 322. I drove home with a knot in my stomach over buying my first boat. But alas, my wife (the smart and fiscally responsible,one) said…wait until our son picks the college of his choice, so we know what that is going to cost, before you buy a boat. I reluctantly agreed (but chided my son to make a #($+&@$2 decision already!
He finally did, and I called the broker the next day to say “I want to see the boat and Saturday and make an offer”, to which the broker said….”I would love to show it to you, but I sold it last week”. I was pissed at my wife and my son and heck, the whole world! I bought the next boat I looked at…
Oddly, I got to know the guy that bought that O’Day 322 “out from under me” as I often described it. He would write me and tell me know sweet she sailed, and I would call him a thief for stealing it out from under me!
5 years later, Bill emailed me, and said, “Greg, I moved to Cleveland, boat is still in Michigan…make me an offer”.
I bought the boat straight away, against the objections of my wife (who wanted to the fiscally responsible thing and sell the boat I already owned first…but I said I wasn’t letting the O’Day slip through my fingers again.
To this day, whenever I talk about upgrading to a new boat (5-foot-itis does creep in once in a while), she reminds me how I cried, whined and in general couldn’t think about anything but the O’Day 322…my “perfect boat”, and that she is the one I am stuck with forever!
Well, I do like my O’Day 322, but a Beneteau 373 keeps catching my attention…what is a guy to do?
oh yeah, back to the original question….just do it already
Cheers,
Greg