The Sad Story of the Boat Purchase

It was July of 2000 when our granddaughter was born.  Not long after that Ginger and I decided we should sell our Gulfstar 39 sailboat and then sell our house and move from Corpus Christi to Grand Junction, Colorado.

I created a web site with boat descriptions and pictures and waited for the phone to ring.  Of course it didn't.  As the months passed I would get an occasional call from a used boat dealer and that was pretty much all the activity there was in the boat selling arena.

Finally a fellow who lived a half mile away became interested in my boat.  We dickered about the price and I have to admit I finally just pissed the guy off and thus gave up on the chance of selling him my boat as he gave up even considering the purchase.

Fast forward to the summer of 2003.  My phone rang and when I answered it a womans voice asked if I still had the Gulfstar 39 for sale.  I said yes and she said she thought it would look marvelous sailing in Puget Sound.  I told her she was absolutely right.

We talked about the boat and I agreed to send her a copy of the last survey (inspection).  A few weeks later she called back and asked if she and her husband could come to Corpus Christi and sail the boat.  Sputter, sputter, eh.. eh... but of course!  A week later they were at our door step having flown in from Seattle.

With plenty of beer, soda and sandwiches we set off for a beautiful days sail around Corpus Christi Bay.  The winds were perfect and the boat performed flawlessly.  They were happy and, by the end of the day, in love with my Gulfstar.

They made arrangements to return in about 2 weeks and this time they brought their surveyor with them.  We had another great sail from our house to the boat yard where the boat was hauled out and the bottom inspected.  By the time we got home late that same day everyone was happy.

They left our place headed directly to the airport to catch their plane for Washington.  From the airport she called me and gave me an offer on the boat.  It was $4K less than I was asking but I agreed fast enough that she probably thought she should have reduced her offer.  The deal was stuck!

They were an interesting couple.  She was a lawyer practicing in a town east of Seattle.  He was the owner of a welding shop and apparently ready to have his son take over the business while he reaped the fruits of his labors.

From the first time on the boat you could tell he was warming up to the girl.  He wandered around on the deck looking at all the pullies and lines.  The deck rails and sails.  Checking inside the lockers.  He was all over her.  You could see him fixing this or changing that in his mind.  He was already having a great time and they had not even bought her yet.

They were nice folks.

They made arrangements for a boat transport to come to one of the local boat yards and pick up the boat.  I delivered her to the boat yard and said my goodbyes to that damn boat that captures your heart.  You love 'em and you hate 'em all at the same time.

Within 3 days the boat was loaded on the transport and off she went... headed for Puget Sound.  The buyer would talk with the driver each evening and was plotting his path from South Texas toward Seattle.  She would email me each day telling me of the progress and their growing excitement as the boat neared her new home.

The emails stopped after they were supposed to meet the driver as he stayed the last night on the road before making his destination.  They wanted to see the boat on the truck and take pictures.  Then I got the last email from the buyer.

She wrote that she and her husband had driven to a nearby town and did meet the driver.  She said it was exciting to see the boat on the trailer and commented on how big it looked versus when it was in the water.  She said the driver was even excited about seeing them launch the boat in the sound.  Her husband was also very excited and was looking forward to many days aboard "their" boat.  I knew he loved it... I knew it.

The she said, they returned home that evening and went to bed tired but happy.  The next morning they got up and were getting ready for work when her husband had a massive heart attack and died right their in the bedroom.