Lucky Find III...The Trawler: My first week in Key Largo

A Bit of Our Background:

Dottie and I both grew up in a section of "Da Bronx", NY, known as Throgs Neck. I met Dottie when she was 11, and I was 12. We lived on the shores of Long Island Sound and began boating in our later teenage years aboard my previous employer's boat...a 22' Caravelle cuddy cabin known as the "Escape".

After marrying in October of 1977, we took a 25 year sabbatical from boating to raise our family. In 1981 we moved to the Finger Lakes area of New York and started our own business.
In May of 2001 we purchased a 16' Checkmate outboard. Two months later, in July, "twofootitis" set in and we purchased a 1984 22' Larson Hampton on a whim. It was named "Lucky Find" by it's previous owner. That boat made us realize just how much we both had really missed boating and seven months after that, in February 2002, and another bout of "twofootitis", we purchased a Silverton 34' Convertible. We named her the "Lucky Find II".
Truly, both of those boats were "Lucky Finds", as both were problem free and gave us years of enjoyment. Two years after purchasing the ""Lucky Find II", we realized that we wanted to be a part of the trawler lifestyle...including some leisurely coastal cruising, living aboard for extended periods of time, etc.

The search was on. We attended every major boat show on the east coast. We went to Annapolis 3 times, Ft. Lauderdale 2 times, New York City, Miami, and Newport. We determined however, that a new boat was out of our financial range, and realized that if we wanted a trawler, it would have to be a "previously enjoyed" one.....and this is how the Lucky Find III came about.

Aquisition of the Lucky Find III

The Aquisition of the Lucky Find III :

We had been actively pursuing the purchase of "Tumbleweed" since March of 2008, when we first laid our eyes upon a picture of her posted on a yacht broker's wall in Buffalo, NY. We submitted an offer in April, and the broker laughed us off. He called us again in June to ask us to reconsider, but our offer still stood. This happened again in July and in August we were told it was sold, for considerably more than we had offered.....but at the last moment, the other buyer's financing fell through and our offer was back on the table. We told the broker that our original offer still stands.
Finally, on the 26th of September the owner had a change of heart and accepted our original offer. Our perseverance had paid off!

The whole purchasing experience could be a 3 page story within itself.

We scheduled a survey and sea trial for October 3rd & took possession on Friday, October 10th. We were not fond of the name of the boat, so we immediately renamed her "Lucky Find III", to follow in suit with the names of our previous other two boats.

One of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in this purchase was the fact that the previous owner had died in August of 2007, and there was no one who could answer many of the questions that we had in regard to how things worked....or how were they wired....or how was it plumbed, etc. on this vessel. You don't realize how important that is until you are faced without that valuable source of knowledge.
Should you ever sell your boat, make yourself available to the new owners, it makes the transition just so much easier. Our "shake-down cruise" was our first and last cruise of the 2008 season with her. By this time of the year, almost every boat on Lake Ontario has been put on the hard and wrapped for the winter.

Lucky Find III...The Trawler

Monday, December 1, 2014

My first week in Key Largo

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