JANUARY 2009
20th Obama inaugurated amid another Dow plunge on banking news
598,000 jobs lost
20th Obama inaugurated amid another Dow plunge on banking news
598,000 jobs lost
January was not much better, but several prospects looked at our house.
697,000 jobs lost
2nd Dow Jones Hit Lowest Point since 1997
Unemployment Hits 8.1%
742,000 jobs lost
You get the idea. 2009 did not appear to be our year.
APRIL 2009
Unemployment Hits 8.1%
742,000 jobs lost
You get the idea. 2009 did not appear to be our year.
APRIL 2009
3rd Unemployment reaches 8.5%
9th Chip and Tammy list the business on bizbuysell.com
9th Chip and Tammy list the business on bizbuysell.com
We had listed our wine shop with a broker, and our contract ran out in March. We fired me, Chip ran the store, and I became our broker.
15th Chip and Tammy reduce the price of the house
Sometimes I took time to assess how we were doing.
Our life fell into a pattern: we had amazing weeks of frenetic interest in our business, our house and the boat, followed by a period of radio silence. Over and over this happened. We came to call the frenzy 'noise.' We learned to take it in stride, not get overly hopeful and just plod on.
Meanwhile I kept working on Isabella, varnishing and sometimes revarnishing, all while pondering the potential perils of dreaming.
June started with another period of complete silence and signs of impatience on my part, silly me, still one year and three months from leaving the dock. And then, the noise grew deafening, prospects for the house, the business and the boat.
26th Chip and Tammy get the first offer on the house
The noise turned into an actual offer on the house. An offer.
Then we had what we later coined a NO DAY. On No Days, you don't do anything.
We had some fantastic prospects come into town to look at the business. On paper, they were perfect. I was trying to print our business profile for them but neither the computer nor the printer would work. Try, fail. Try, fail.
The second the prospects walked in, I knew they would not be our buyers. As it turned out, they took all our info and opened a wine shop less than a mile from our own. It lasted only two seasons.
We had some fantastic prospects come into town to look at the business. On paper, they were perfect. I was trying to print our business profile for them but neither the computer nor the printer would work. Try, fail. Try, fail.
The second the prospects walked in, I knew they would not be our buyers. As it turned out, they took all our info and opened a wine shop less than a mile from our own. It lasted only two seasons.
29th Chip and Tammy sign contract on the house
The 29th dawned all YES YES YES, and we had a deal. Unfortunately it had contingencies, so we were still playing the waiting game -- and showing the house.
The 29th dawned all YES YES YES, and we had a deal. Unfortunately it had contingencies, so we were still playing the waiting game -- and showing the house.
7th Chip and Tammy sign backup contract on the house
8th Contingency on original contract officially lifted! July 28th closing.
Finally everything was coming together. The house was the perfect thing to sell first. It was the only property that was costing us money. The buyer was in a hurry, so suddenly, after 10 months of waiting, we had 20 days to move out.
9th Showed Isabella for the first time
During these months, I had been varnishing Isabella's teak, or, more often, failing at it, experiencing one varnish disaster after another until I was finally finished. I thought.
14th House appraised
16th Passed house inspection
Our frenzy of disposing of the remaining belongings continued as our move-out date approached. We still didn't know where we were moving.
25th Moved into our little apartment: Camp III
Off we went into a tiny apartment by the ocean, living like college kids with a mattress on the floor, a love seat, a chair and a table. However, by boating standards, we still had a long way to go. We called this apartment Camp III, likening it to a trek up Mount Everest. We were nearing our destination but still acclimating.
28th Scheduled house closing
31st Actual house closing and check in the bank!
Our house was scheduled to close on the 28th. It didn't close on the 28th. Not on the 29th or 30th. Waiting, waiting. Not until the 31st. We learned later that the buyer's lawyer had a vendetta against our lawyer and delayed the closing on purpose. Drama until the very end.
With the house now sold, we started getting really antsy. The only thing standing between us and the deep blue sea was a buyer for the wine shop.
And so we started boat watching. Fortunately for us, the economy was sending boat prices into the tank.
14th Dow closes above 10,000 for the first time in a year
September passed in relative quiet. We huddled in our little apartment and continued to wait. For how long, we did not know. I continued to vet dozens of prospects for the wine shop with no real progress.
We started evaluating Island Packets in earnest. I still find the numbers in that post fascinating. The 380 really stands out. Even then, it was the one we wanted.
We continued to prune back our belongings, forever trying to get down to boat weight.
In November, we got a prospect for Isabella and got her ready to show. The prospect did not show, so we had a lovely test sail on our own.
And then we came to our next crossroads. We had planned to use the money from the sale of the business to buy a boat. But what if we got a boat loan and bought the boat first? Would anyone loan us money in this economy?
We were approved in less than 48 hours.
DECEMBER 2009
We were approved in less than 48 hours.
DECEMBER 2009
With a boat loan in hand, we headed north to Rock Hall, Maryland, to look at Island Packets, especially a 380 named Good Company. We had debated the pros and cons of self-furling mainsails and chose a traditional main. Good Company was one of only two 380s on the market with a traditional main.
15th Made an offer on an Island Packet 380 named Good Company -- and it was accepted!
This is how that day went. We had a boat -- as long as she passed the inspection and sea trial.
Merry Christmas to us!!!
We moved yet again.
1. Sell the wine shop
XXXX2. Sell the house -- July 31, 2009
3. Sell the current boat
4. Buy our cruising boat.
XXXX2. Sell the house -- July 31, 2009
3. Sell the current boat
4. Buy our cruising boat.
