S/V Encore – we own a sailboat once again
Posted By RichC on December 18, 2010
Christmas has come early for me as we finalized the closing on the “new to us” sailboat – 1986 36’ Westerly Corsair called Encore. Although Brenda and I have been looking at boats for years, we realistically planned on putting off owning our next boat until both kids were out of college and comfortably on their own. Things change … and the right boat, at the right price, stimulated both of us at the same time (a rarity); we weakened together feeling life swiftly moving by. Voilà … we made an offer, negotiated a few times and came to an agreement. 
A month later found me surveying and off to ‘freezing’ Florida for a seatrial then closing yesterday.
So … as of Friday 12/17/2010 we are boat owners once again (this has happened about every ten years or so to us). When we were first married (pre-kids) we lived on our sailboat ‘Brenich’ most of the summer (the photo of the block on the right was from the 1980s – photo of the boat here). Then after kids sold the boat, bought a bigger house and started a business. When Katelyn and Taylor were in grade school we once again ventured in to the sailing realm by purchasing ‘Tulla’ and thought it would be a great way to keep the family together – we were wrong. Soccer, karate, baseball, figure skating, gymnastics, church, school and friends took over our weekends and the demands of our suburban bliss (cough, cough) became all consuming. Our beautiful investment sat humbly at it dock and was rarely enjoyed. It was a mistake for us to think we could both sail and stay fully connected with the activities of youth … but thankfully both boats were purchased and sold at a profit (except for the “cost of ownership”). It was the case of buying the right boat in the right market and doing the same when selling. There are no guarantees we will be 3 for 3 … but then I have no intention on selling.
Besides our cruising sailboats, there were a couple of other small boats, an 18’ Thistle, a couple of sailing and motoring dinghies that I could car top on occasion, but nothing to satisfy a cruising sailor.
Hopefully this third boat will stick around a while. I have enough update projects on my to-do list and as it is with a 1986 boat, there are plenty of improvements that will keep on coming. We’re still questioning each other and wondering if it is the right time, but all is a bit late to turn back now. Stay tuned and you’ll eventually know if the timing was right.
Do you know any airplane fanatics interested in a Sonex experimental airplane project with a new Aerovee engine … 80% complete … with the proverbial 80% to go.
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