After we sent in our offer for Entre Nous, the real work started. Luckily, I have a work schedule that allowed me the time to be able to go and see the boat a few times before we had to commit to anything, (I work 7 days offshore followed by 7 days off). When I got off work that next week I barely got to see Rachel, maybe eight hours before I hopped a plane back down to La Paz to see the boat again. The owner Kevin was very welcoming and let me spend two days peaking into lockers and snooping around the boat before having the official survey conducted. We discussed what he thought of the boat and what he would have changed, what systems worked well and which ones had issues. He was very honest and forthcoming with the pros and cons of the boat and when the day came for the sea trial and haul out I had a good sense of what to expect. As far as sea trial goes, it was just ok. There was about 4 to 4.5 knots of wind, the sailing was slow and not as exciting as I thought it would be. I was able to get a feel for the boat or as much as you can while essentially drifting quickly. The haul out was the only thing that gave me real pause about the boat. Kevin had been honest that the boat was overdue for new bottom paint. We aslo discovered some small blisters on the hull and a few larger ones on the trailing edge of the rudder. Other than that everything went very well.

I called Rachel and explained every detail I had learned about the boat and gave her my thoughts as well as the surveyor's. We talked long into the night. The next day before I flew home, I met with the owner again and the broker to hash out the last details and sign the paper work!!!!!!

Woooohooooo!!!!!!! WE OWN A BOAT!!!

I had been very worried about handling large sums of money through Mexican banks but as it turns out the brokers used an escrow company based out of Washington to hold the money and complete all the paperwork work for an offshore delivery. So buying a boat in Mexico is really the same for us as it would be buying a boat in San Francisco area. We could have saved ourselves several thousand dollars in sales taxes if we would have left her down in Mexico for a year but we couldn't imagine leaving her there. We couldn't wait to start small projects and take her out to the islands just off our coast.

The only problem was trying to figure out how to get her back to the states…..

Higher a captain, or take the time off to bash up the coast ourselves?

Here is a list of what the boat had on it at the time of purchase.

Navigation and electronics:

SSB: ICOM 710.
SSB TUNER: ICOM AT 130 Tuner.
RADAR: Raymarine C120 Digital MFD system, Plus Raytheon RL70C, Garmin 521 with world maps.
VHF: ICOM MC412.
VHF #2: Standard Horizon.
HANDHELD Standard Horizon.
GPS: Furuno standalone GPS which is tied into Raymarine chartplotter. Raymarine C120 also has internal GPS. Garmin 521.
TV/DVD/VCR: 22” Samsung Flat Screen TV.
STEREO: SONY New 2010.
PRINTER / SCANNER / FAX : Furuno SSB Weather Fax.
DEPTH SOUNDER: Raymarine ST60 Depth plus C120 digital depth.
SPEED RaymarineST60.
WIND SPEED / DIRECTION: Raymarine ST60 series.
AUTOPILOT: Garmin under deck autopilot New 2012 with remote control.
PLOTTER: Raymarine Radar C120, Raytheon RL70C, Furuno RN300, Garmin 521.
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS: Antenna and Boat wired for Iridium.
Furuno NAVTEX system with dedicated antenna.
Electrical:
HOUSE BANK 1: (2) 8d AGM of type AGM.
START BANK: AGM New 2011 of type AGM.
BATTERY MONITOR: E Log Xantrex. LINK 10.
INVERTOR: Xantrex New 2010 2500 watt.
ALTERNATOR: Heavy duty high output with load meter.
BATTERY CHARGER: Xantrex New 2012.
SOLAR PANELS: 3 x 140 watt with two Blue Sky Controllers.
SMART REG: Balmar plus spare.
Mechanical:
WATERMAKER: Spectra 200T Tropical watermaker with electronic controller for auto flushing and filling. 100 hours
OTHER: Dual fuel filters and Fuel Polishing system with auto change feature (Filterboss) installed 2012.
WINDVANE: Monitor windvane with light and heavy air vanes, new 2010.
BOW THRUSTERS: New in 2010.
BILGE PUMP: Manual and electric. Electric new 2011.
FIRE EXTINGUISHING: Halon in engine compartment.
FUEL FILTERS: Dual racer filters. Full automatic. Filterboss system with alarms.
FRESH WATER COOLING SYSTEM: Flushed and serviced 2012.
HEAD TYPE: Electric with Manual over ride. New 2009.
WATER HEATER: New in 2011.
TRANSMISSION: Rebuilt 2009.
Sails and rigging:
MAIN: New Doyle 2010.
JIB: New Doyle 2010.
SPINNAKER: New 2010.
STAYSAIL: With loose fitting club and deck sweeper.
PRO ROLLER FURL
WINCHES: 3 – 2 speed self tailing in cockpit, 2 winches on mast (new 2011).
BOOM VANG: Garhauer Rigid Boom Vang.
MAST: Both the mast and boom were stripped and professionally painted with 2 part paint in 2010.
STANDING RIGGGING: New 2010.
WHISKER
OTHER: Spare Main and Genoa under v berth in good condition.
Deck and hull:
ANCHOR: ROCNA 25KG with 330 feet HT chain.
CQR: 45lbs.
ANCHOR 2: Fortress 25 with 50 feet of chain and 150 feet of rope.
WINDLASS: New 2010.
NAV LIGHTS: Upper LED's, lower are standard.
LADDER: Folding wood ladder.
DECK WASH: Salt water wash. New in 2010, never used.
SWIM STEP: Life Line expanding stainless steel ladder.
Galley:
REFRIGERATION: Adler Barbor
FREEZER: Dometic
MICROWAVE
PRESSURED WATER SYSTEM
WATER HEATER
STOVE: Propane (2 burner and oven)
COOKING FUEL: Propane, 2 tanks plus 1 BBQ Tank
SINK: Deep Double
Covers & cushions:
DODGER: New 2011
BIMINI: Full bimini custom made in 2011 with screens
HATCHES: 4 with custom screens
GENOA: New 2010
STAYSAIL: New 2010

Offer Accepted!!!