A Long Hot Summer

Since this was the first summer we have ever had Endless Summer in Florida (and it was for sale), I thought moving the boat from Longboat Key to Stuart would provide two benefits. First, I thought the east coast location would provide more opportunity for showings. Equally relevant was my expectation was it would be a "safe" location during hurricane season. Unfortunately, I was mostly wrong on both accounts.

In the entire five months the boat has been at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, there has been exactly one, -- yes one showing, which obviously didn't result in an offer. Not what I was hoping for to say the least, but I also understand that selling a yacht of this size and value takes time (which I have plenty of) and patience (which I may be lacking in). My broker has tried to reassure me that this is common and summer can sometimes be the doldrums for boat sales, especially in Florida. And it was!

None the less, it was relatively easy for me to drive from home in Orlando to do engine and systems checks. I also took advantage of the proximity and expert assistance of Jay Siebert and Siebert Yacht Management. The boat was washed every ten days, the bottom cleaned every two weeks, the hull and topside were compounded and waxed, all of the teak trim was varnished, the aft table was refinished, and the transom name was replaced. So even though we didn't have the expense of running the boat, I did manage to write a lot of checks to keep her "ship shape".

Sunset Bay Marina - Stuart, FL

In late September Hurricane Dorian came uncomfortably close to Stuart and required a lot of preparation in order to ride out the storm. This included double-line timing all the cleats, positioning the boat toward the center of the slip, adding extra fenders, removing all the cushions and covers, dropping the antennas, shutting down all the systems, removing the power cord and taping down all the deck hatches. Endless Summer rode out the torrential rains and winds at 40-50 mph with gusts up to 80 mph but avoided a direct hit. Needless to say, there were a few sleepless nights waiting for Dorian to move on.

It is now the end of October and time for the next phase of relocating the boat and stepping up our marketing efforts so we moved Endless Summer to Palm Harbor Marina in West Palm Beach. This is a first class facility and right on the Intracoastal Waterway. Even though this was relatively short trip it was great to be back on the water and underway again. We dodged a few rainstorms and wind along our route but by the end of the day it was a beautiful sunny day.  The plan is to leave the boat at Palm Harbor for a few months and see if it helps provide a better showing environment and market.

This past week Endless Summer headed to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) as part of the largest boat show in the world. Our broker, Chris DiMillo from DiMillo's Yacht Sales felt this was a great opportunity for people to see first hand the custom design and features of the boat. As much as I hate the thought of random people climbing all over my boat, it is just another annoying part of the sales process.

The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

Getting Endless Summer "show ready"

FOR SALE - Looking as good as new!