I bought the boat from a guy named Joe. I had spotted the boat on Craigslist for $2,500 and met with Joe to see the boat. I had a little bit of trouble finding the run down little marina that Home From The Sea was docked at. The “marina” was nearly directly under the Ballard Bridge on the Ballard side of the canal and consisted of one dock with finger piers jutting out on the east side. These are some photos from the first time that I saw Home From The Sea:
My guts told me that Joe was kind of a shady character, but I wound up buying the boat for $1,800 and took the tiller off of the boat home with me the same day that Joe got his money. I figured if he didn’t have the tiller, he couldn’t steal the boat! Joe cleared out his belongings and the title transferred over into my name just fine though.
When I bought the boat, Joe had told me that the moorage was payed up through the end of the month of October and there should be no problem transferring the moorage over into my name. Sooo... I called the guy in charge of the little marina after Joe was out of the picture and found out that was not the case and in fact Joe had been something like 3 months behind in rent and the guy wanted me to pay all of Joe’s back rent in order to stay there. I thought that was kind of silly since I was pretty content to stay there and pay him the regular monthly fee and then he at least wouldn’t loose a tenant. Oh well, his loss. I left. Before I made my way out though I met a fellow who was helping my neighbors of a couple days out with their car. My neighbors lived on a run down old motor boat that would never move from the dock again, but it worked very well as a home apparently for them and their children. The guy who was there to help them with their car informed me that, “You know, Joe never did pay me for that kayak.” I offered that he take it, but he was kind and said it was alright. Oh Joe...
Now Home From The Sea sits at Shilshole Bay Marina while I fix her up and get her ready to be a full time live aboard and hopefully coastal traveler. I don’t know that she has the ballast to be an offshore cruiser, but then again if Bill Teplow can make it to Alaska and Hawaii in his 19’ Potter, then maybe I’m not giving this Lancer enough credit.
Time will tell.
When I bought the boat, Joe had told me that the moorage was payed up through the end of the month of October and there should be no problem transferring the moorage over into my name. Sooo... I called the guy in charge of the little marina after Joe was out of the picture and found out that was not the case and in fact Joe had been something like 3 months behind in rent and the guy wanted me to pay all of Joe’s back rent in order to stay there. I thought that was kind of silly since I was pretty content to stay there and pay him the regular monthly fee and then he at least wouldn’t loose a tenant. Oh well, his loss. I left. Before I made my way out though I met a fellow who was helping my neighbors of a couple days out with their car. My neighbors lived on a run down old motor boat that would never move from the dock again, but it worked very well as a home apparently for them and their children. The guy who was there to help them with their car informed me that, “You know, Joe never did pay me for that kayak.” I offered that he take it, but he was kind and said it was alright. Oh Joe...
Now Home From The Sea sits at Shilshole Bay Marina while I fix her up and get her ready to be a full time live aboard and hopefully coastal traveler. I don’t know that she has the ballast to be an offshore cruiser, but then again if Bill Teplow can make it to Alaska and Hawaii in his 19’ Potter, then maybe I’m not giving this Lancer enough credit.
Time will tell.
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