Wednesday noon we were back in search of a boat to buy. Unfortunately this meant much travel. Fortunately I didn't have to do the driving for the next couple of days, while feeling so ill. Len drove with Warren in the passenger seat, while I vegged out in the back. Warren learned how to use the GPS and map system in Lens new car, which was cause for much laughter at times. We got where we needed to go, which was the most important thing.

There was no view to speak of up and down the I 95 apart from the noise barriers on the side, and the occasional tree you can see over the wall. It was all very boring, but good for my state of mind. I was coughing till my ribs hurt, and I felt very  'otherworldly'.

Back up Highway 1 to Vero Beach to see another boat that had been on our short list. We may as well take a look at her while we were in the vicinity. The owner has his head in the clouds price-wise and we will get no further on that one, so leave it in Vero Beach.

This is a fine example of' Live Aboard Winter-Over' accommodation in an out of the way Marina. These folks have their priorities right :)

On the road again, and this time down to Pompano Beach. We took a look at a 60 ft Hatteras which Len was keen for us to see. She may have been a great boat a couple of years ago, but her current owners have neglected her and done no housekeeping besides. This is so disappointing, because with just a little elbow grease and a few small dollars, they would achieve a much greater price. They don't want to lower their price to reflect the work needed, so we pass on this one too.
Many of the boats we look at have not been detailed. While we can overlook most of this, my oversensitive nose could not go past the mould smells that were greater than what a soapy wash would take out. That usually spells other big problems with water somewhere it shouldn't be.

Time to go back to the Hotel after viewing those two boats and being on the road all day.
We have moved to Port St. Lucie, just up the coast, after our fiasco of a night in Stuart. Dinner at TGI Fridays...nothing much on the menu that we felt like eating...too tired and mostly fried food. Salads didn't even look good. Warren and Len had ribs and enjoyed them. We did buy lots of fresh fruit from the supermarket the previous day, and ate a huge container of Blueberries the size of quarters for breakfast.

Our accommodation that night (Wednesday 20th Feb.) was in a suite with two queen beds,a sink and a microwave, a sofa and comfy chair. It was probably 30 sq. meters in all. We managed to get the last two rooms in the hotel, this being silly season. Of course, the one thing we hadn't factored into our travel plans was that all the Snowbirds were in Florida for the Winter. How could we have forgotten this??

On the agenda for the next day's viewing (Thursday)  is a drive 1 1/2 hours north to Merritt Island. This boat had been near the top of our short- list prior to our making an offer on the Vantare. She is a 55 ft Viking with complete walk-around deck and a galley on the Salon and pilothouse level, which is very convenient, but she is a 1986 boat.
The gentleman who greeted us at the boat was the owner who had come down from NY just a few days earlier. You could tell a 'fella' was living on the boat. He also hadn't made any effort to tidy up before our viewing. This was a 4 Stateroom, three Head boat, which wasn't my idea of fun. Too many small spaces below-decks which means hard to clean, but quite nicely furnished. Airflow is a problem on all boats, and this was no exception. I didn't feel this was something I really wanted to buy, though Len and Warren were making the right noises. She did have a lot in her favor...which I wont go into in depth, because we didn't buy her! the owner wanted too much money, of course, but when his wife came down to the boat, she berated him, apparently, for not taking our offer. Too late!

Warren and our broker Len on their way to view the  Merritt Island Boat. This is the private Marina there.

Next in line was a trip down the coast to Ft Lauderdale, a 4 1/2 hour drive. We had decided to take both cars as we planned to go back to Punta Gorda, Len's home port, that night.
The boat we were about to see was nothing like the ones we had previously considered. Frantic searches late into the night by Len had come up with this boat which had been on the market since October 2012. He also knew the broker well and had a high regard for her.
It was a bit challenging finding the dock, which was situated at the back of a residential property. The property was also on the intra-coastal waterway which we were interested to view. It was a wide body of water at this point as you can see across the bow of the Horizon.

This Horizon 56 ft was a 2002 boat that had been purpose built for charter in the British Virgin Islands. She had been sitting on the present dock when the last fierce storm (Hurricane Sandy) hit the area and she had  sustained a small amount of damage to her back starboard side and the dinghy had almost been destroyed.

 She presented well with lovely wood finish inside and heavy stainless everything, including windows and doors which was very attractive to us, being used to aluminum fittings otherwise. The galley was small, though suitable for a week's charter, she would need much modification for live-aboard.

Warren also didn't like the port-side pilot station.

She had also been neglected by her owner who owed more than half a million dollars on her. We felt good enough about her to make an offer, which was countered and again, but which we ultimately walked away from. The owner owes too much to come down to our acceptable level, given the amount of work involved in making her seaworthy again.
We parted ways with Len late that afternoon. He drove back to Punta Gorda on his own, and left us to go to a pharmacy for drugs for me, and for Warren and I to have some time alone and a meal. We found a Chinese takeout with some tables to eat at and enjoyed an excellent meal there.

Len had given us directions to Punta Gorda and Fisherman's Village, where he had booked us into an Hotel room close to his office. Driving in a strange place in the dark on the wrong side of the road is never fun, but we completed the 6 hour journey in good time with a stop for Gas in the middle of the  I 75, the Everglades Expressway, better known as Alligator Alley. There is nothing to see on this road anyway, as swamp surrounds the expressway and it is bound by fencing to stop critters crossing the roadway. The vegetation is the same for the whole distance, and very uninteresting. We agreed to txt Len as we got close to our destination, and he was there to meet us with the room key. What a trooper! He had been waiting for our arrival, in his office, looking for more boats for us to view.
Our 2 bedroom 'condo' at the Fisherman's Village was nice if a bit dated. It was good to have the space to stretch out and for me to have a bed to retreat to when coughing spasms overtook me, threatening to wake Warren.

This pic shows the area just below our condo at the Fisherman's Village

By this time, we were absolutely dying for a Kiwi-style Latte or flat white. We had not found a Starbucks in our travels so far, so had to do without. It was tough!
Downstairs at the Village was a breakfast and Ice-cream kind of 50's diner. They did Bagels and Latte...well, some semblance of a Latte. After the first one, we learned to ask for a small, as the medium was HUGE! Cinnamon and Raisin, or Blueberry bagels and cream cheese were on the menu for us for the next three mornings. Warren did venture to have a sausage egg muffin, one morning, but it appeared in such a short time that there was no way it could have been made for him. We later found out you can buy them all pre-made in a box...of course! blech!
We spent time doing laundry, walking the shops in the village and sitting with Len for what seemed like hours, while we found, discussed the virtues of and discarded boat after boat.
By now we have been in Florida for just a week.
We could only stay in the Condo for two nights (Thurs/Fri) as Spring Training (Baseball) was in full swing in Florida and they needed our accommodation. Again, the place was booked out and we couldn't find a room for love or money or in Len's case, influence and favors. His partner Tony was kind enough to let us sleep in his lovely 60ft Viking, moored in the Marina next to the village. This boat is used for charters with captain (Tony) and was beautifully appointed, just like a luxury hotel. We had spent the day chilling out, finally deciding to rent a 16 ft runabout to get out on the water. We were going a little stir crazy by this time. Too much time in Hotels! We spent 1 1/2 hrs going up the Charlotte Harbor to the Peace River, and a short way up that before returning to Fisherman's Village. We stopped a couple of times to take photos of birds.


By Saturday, (the end of week one) Len had another boat for us to view... another Horizon, from the same fleet out of the British Virgin Islands, only this one was moored at the back of a broker's property in West Palm Beach. Sunday morning we went with Len to Ft Meyers and waited in the car while he showed a boat to another client...successfully completing a sale...and then he drove us to West Palm Beach to view the Horizon.
This boat was in a shocking state.

She is a 2000 version of the 2002 model we had seen in Ft Lauderdale, only everything about her was hopeless. Everything needed doing. Of course this made the other boat look fantastic. We tried again with the 2002 Horizon owner, but ended that bidding war with nowhere to go, price-wise.
Len had  managed to secure us a room in the Wyvern Hotel in Punta Gorda for Sunday through Friday. This lovely hotel had everything except coffee making facilities and a business center, which rather bemused us. We so desperately needed to make ourselves a cup of tea that we went to a local Target store and bought ourselves a two cup coffee maker. It saved our lives!

With no further boats to view we  spent the rest of the week waiting for boat owners to accept or reject offers we had tendered. We made the decision not to go forward with all of them. I wasn't prepare to accept a second best boat that I would have to live on for the next couple of years. It is not only an expensive proposition, but I have to be happy where I live. Don't we all?