Friday, January 25, 2013

The decision to buy a motor yacht!

After having spent nearly 15 years together, on and around sailboats, my wife and I have finally decided to buy our first motor yacht. A 1980 Marine Trader 34 DC trawler.




The decision came about after the birth of our second daughter 5 months ago. Our current boat is a 31 foot racer cruiser, which has been a wonderful addition to our lives for 3 years. But we realize with two small kids (our other daughter is 3 in a couple of months) we needed a change. We didn't necessarily need more space, although having an apartment the on water is a nice change, it is more about safety and practicality. 
We are lucky enough to be ex-pats living in Montenegro. We have an amazing extended cruising ground at our door step and/or loads of wonderful anchorages just minutes away from the marina for that afternoon or weekend trip. Whilst we sail when we can, the mix of little summer time wind, the need for an awning over the boom to protect us and the kids from the hot Mediterranean summer sun, and those little exploring fingers needing a constant attentive eye on them to be sure they don't release a jib sheet potentially causing nasty injuries, has drawn us to the conclusion that at this point in life we need to hang up the winch handle and get a boat fitted with a couple of iron topsails!




There, I said it! :)
So now that all that is out of the way and off my sailors chest, we can move on...

After an extensive search for a suitable motor yacht, I knew that there was no way I could go from sail (by the way, we sailed round the world on tall ships a couple of times) to a white plastic Nike Air on steroids. Hence the decision to look for a trawler yacht. Completely by accident I stumbled across a Marine Trader only a few hundred Nautical Miles from us.
After an extensive survey, our offer was accepted and we are now in the final throws of change of ownership, after which I will head up to Italy with a couple of experienced friends for the 48 hour delivery back home.

The boat is in really good condition for a 32 year old lady, but is in need of quite a bit of cosmetic work, which is the main reason I wanted to start this blog.
During the search for a suitable boat, I stumbled across another MT34DC blog 'The Trawler Beach House'.  http://trawler-beach-house.blogspot.com/
After hours reading all their post, I had a better general idea of the boat that I was interested in purchasing and what I may come up against in the future, than if I had already owned her for months!

I feel a blog of my own will not only keep me motivated and accountable as I progress though the job list, but may also help others just as I was helped by Chuck and Susan's blog.

This is my first ever blog, but hopefully not the last.

Finally, here are a couple of shots of the new boat.



6 comments:

Monty B said...

There is only one question on my lips.....can you make ICE??

See you on the water!

Katie

Tony said...

Hmm good question, and maybe something that we will have to look into!

Chuck and Susan; said...

Congrats and the best of luck to you. we feel your pain and pleasure. Glad our info on Beach House could help you in making a decision. we hope to see you out there on the water some day. Chuck and Susan

Unknown said...

hi Tony

good idea, I will follow your works on Ns Signora, she has been our first real boat and will remain in our memories

ciao

Gianni

Unknown said...

hi Tony

good idea to start a blog, I will post some pics of the works we have done on our trawlers, just to share with you the italian approach to trawlers restoration

ciao

Gianni

Tony said...

The answer is yes!