Just BUMPING this because I keep getting emails and posts asking me what happened.....
Yep, we are officially boatless. Pop open a cold one and grab some VS; this story is gonna take a while.
As many of you know, earlier this year we bought a property on Still Pond Creek, a beautiful tributary on the Chesapeake Bay eastern shore. We knew that we have to sell the Silverton before we could afford to build but figured that was a couple of years away so there was no hurry to put the boat on the market.
In late June my employer asked if I would accept an assignment in China to oversee the construction of a new factory we are going to build in Panyu. The assignment would be for 9-12 months. We talked a bit and they made it attractive, even offering to cover all the cost to have my wife be with me for the duration. The Admiral and I discussed the deal; she decided that she doesn't want to take a leave of absence from her job with only a few years left to pension time and she certainly doesn't want to be that far away from our new grandson so I'll go it alone. I'll get to come home for a week or two every 6-8 weeks and the company will send her over for a visit a couple of times if she wants. So, the assignment is pretty much a done deal although a lot of the details aren't finalized yet. (Update: I leave 9/23, home for a week on 11/11, return to China with the Admiral on 11/18 then we'll both be home for the holidays after which I go back withou the Admiral. I be staying in Shenzhen so stop by if you're ever in the neighborhood!)
So, we were vacationing on the Silverton for 9 days over the July 4th week and talking about the house plans and the upcoming assignment and we realized that the boat just didn't make much sense right now. Just for hoots, on the Wednesday after the 4th we went to talk to the local broker. The broker was far less than encouraging about the market right now but said that if we were interested he'd put out some feelers. He shot some pictures the next day and posted them on Yacht World. Less than an hour later he called to say he got a call and an appointment to show the boat on Sunday. Long story short, we had a contract in hand on Monday. This had to be record!!! The survey's were delayed a bit, we had a fuel filter issue at sea trial and I had to replace the rudder shaft seals (no packing, they have some rubber seals) so closing was delayed until today. I haven't said much about this here prior to today because the buyer is an RO that doesn't post much but does lurk.
In addition to all the boat stuff our daughter and her husband have put their home on the market and agreed to buy our house. The Admiral and I will move into the in-law apartment we have there while the kids and our grandson will move into the main house. Once the Admiral retires we'll move to the new house on Still Pond on a full-time basis. The other advantage to this is that the Admiral won't be here alone while I'm in China.
Now we'll spend the remaining season puttering around Casa de Mikee, taking care of all those things that we tend to overlook during the boating season and do some other none boating things. I even got to go diving last Sunday for the first time since last February and I plan to get a few more dives in before I depart for the other side of the globe. We have a POS 19' Sportcraft Fish and Ski project on a trailer that my son-in-law and I started working on which he should finish by the time I get home and we have the new house built. It'll go well on the dock there.
So, life continues to deal fresh hands and allows you to make decisions to play or fold. I'm pretty confident we drew a strong hand this time so we'll play it out and see what's in the pot at the end.
Thanks for listening and for your patience.
Yep, we are officially boatless. Pop open a cold one and grab some VS; this story is gonna take a while.
As many of you know, earlier this year we bought a property on Still Pond Creek, a beautiful tributary on the Chesapeake Bay eastern shore. We knew that we have to sell the Silverton before we could afford to build but figured that was a couple of years away so there was no hurry to put the boat on the market.
In late June my employer asked if I would accept an assignment in China to oversee the construction of a new factory we are going to build in Panyu. The assignment would be for 9-12 months. We talked a bit and they made it attractive, even offering to cover all the cost to have my wife be with me for the duration. The Admiral and I discussed the deal; she decided that she doesn't want to take a leave of absence from her job with only a few years left to pension time and she certainly doesn't want to be that far away from our new grandson so I'll go it alone. I'll get to come home for a week or two every 6-8 weeks and the company will send her over for a visit a couple of times if she wants. So, the assignment is pretty much a done deal although a lot of the details aren't finalized yet. (Update: I leave 9/23, home for a week on 11/11, return to China with the Admiral on 11/18 then we'll both be home for the holidays after which I go back withou the Admiral. I be staying in Shenzhen so stop by if you're ever in the neighborhood!)
So, we were vacationing on the Silverton for 9 days over the July 4th week and talking about the house plans and the upcoming assignment and we realized that the boat just didn't make much sense right now. Just for hoots, on the Wednesday after the 4th we went to talk to the local broker. The broker was far less than encouraging about the market right now but said that if we were interested he'd put out some feelers. He shot some pictures the next day and posted them on Yacht World. Less than an hour later he called to say he got a call and an appointment to show the boat on Sunday. Long story short, we had a contract in hand on Monday. This had to be record!!! The survey's were delayed a bit, we had a fuel filter issue at sea trial and I had to replace the rudder shaft seals (no packing, they have some rubber seals) so closing was delayed until today. I haven't said much about this here prior to today because the buyer is an RO that doesn't post much but does lurk.
In addition to all the boat stuff our daughter and her husband have put their home on the market and agreed to buy our house. The Admiral and I will move into the in-law apartment we have there while the kids and our grandson will move into the main house. Once the Admiral retires we'll move to the new house on Still Pond on a full-time basis. The other advantage to this is that the Admiral won't be here alone while I'm in China.
Now we'll spend the remaining season puttering around Casa de Mikee, taking care of all those things that we tend to overlook during the boating season and do some other none boating things. I even got to go diving last Sunday for the first time since last February and I plan to get a few more dives in before I depart for the other side of the globe. We have a POS 19' Sportcraft Fish and Ski project on a trailer that my son-in-law and I started working on which he should finish by the time I get home and we have the new house built. It'll go well on the dock there.
So, life continues to deal fresh hands and allows you to make decisions to play or fold. I'm pretty confident we drew a strong hand this time so we'll play it out and see what's in the pot at the end.
Thanks for listening and for your patience.