I feel your pain. I didn't even mention the work we had done at a marina on Lake Texoma before the boat ever hit the road. Pump out, drain the water tanks, put everything loose inside the cabin, zebra mussel decontamination, a bottom job while we were at it, new zincs, prep for shipping.
Still, on a calm summer night, or a blazing sunset on the water having dinner on the boat, or a really comfortable party with a few guests -- it's all worth it. We figured this is the bad year, the most expensive year. We also have the little financial bonus that because the big boat market is so drastically limited here, we probably add 25% or more to a boat's value by trucking it to South Dakota. We already got a serious offer for $5000 more than we paid for it -- although that still wouldn't cover the total purchase, prep, sales taxes, registration and shipping cost. Instant appreciation is just a geographical quirk of this market of course though. Moving a big boat is a time-consuming, expensive ordeal, but barring a catastrophic repair in the future, it should get easier from here on out. That's the theory anyway. We're hoping the acquisition year is the most expensive year, because otherwise we'll have to sell the dog to keep this boat.
