I looked at boats for about 15 years, going to boat shows and looking at news papers. One day my wife said just buy one, at that time in Michigan unemployment was double digit and people were looking for jobs not pleasure craft so prices were way down. I don't like to get loans for pleasure item but knew we would never have enough savings to get a boat so I was convinced that this was the time to do it. I looked for a lot of years starting with the 18' size and each year the next size seemed to be more appealing (what boaters call 4 foot'idis).
My wife was excited and was wanting to go with me but I knew she would tire of the type of shopping I was planning on doing. I checked the news paper and boat magazines and hit the road to look at them. I traveled all over several weekends from Montique to Benten Harbor along Lake Michigan. It came down to 2 sail boats, First was a Persion 26' with full keel on a trailer but had an electric stove for $3,500, I spotted this boat driving down a side road. The second was a Columbia 27' on a cradle I found in the Boat Trader magazine. This had much better equipment and (7) sails for $5,500. The fin keel had a slow leak and the hull had oxidized green paint.
My friend Vern and his wife went with me and my wife to check them both out. He convinced me that the cracks in the gel coat on the deck were not serious and the Green boat was a better value. I tried to dicker with the sales person in South Shore marina but they would not budge on the price. One point not in my favor was I had never owned a boat, or my parents and I didn't even know how to tie the boat to the dock let alone sail.
Later that week I agreed to purchase the boat and Vern and Denise said they would help me move it to Muskegon. They had a lease on a 32' boat that was damaged during a storm and said I could use there mooring until their boat was back in the water.
That Saturday we went to pay for the boat. They said that a friend was using the outboard and had brought it back. Upon getting it, the pull start cord was broken and there staff did not have time to repair it that day. It took about 20 min to figure it out and restring the unit. The motor seemed to run fine. The 3 of us were on our way, out the jetties and off shore in Lake Michigan. The lake seemed rough with 4 to 5 five foot waves that were white capping making it choppy. It is about 35 miles and seemed to take hours but I learned a lot about how well the boat would handle the rough water and a few maneuvers my self.
We stopped at the dock at Torensons Marine and admired the fine ship I had just acquired and marveled at the passage we had just done. I was obvious that this was a big step, taking over an hour and a half to get here.