So, I just wanted to share with you how we got this boat. Jeff and I have been looking for quite some time for a boat we can live on. We have a few friends who live in the harbor, and with Jeff being a fisherman, we were able to pass the word around. I got a phone call a few years ago, when we first moved our shop to an industrial yard, from a friend who saw an ad posted up at the harbor. She hadn't seen the boat, but she called me with every possibility she found. And she knew that we were willing to grab something that needed some work. So I called the guy and said I might be interested. But that I didn't currently have the $10,000, and would he consider payments if we took the boat. Neither of us realized just who we were talking to on the phone, and he said to me, very gently, "Now, honey, you might want to go take a look at the boat before even considering it. She's an old boat and needs a lot of work. She's in E19, go look at her before making any kind of offer."
Okay, Jeff already had a key to the gate, so no worries there. But E19, we know that number, why does that number sound so familiar??? So, as we near the boat, we realize the boat that Jeff's been fishing off of for the last few years is in E17, right "next door." And I just about fainted when I realized what boat this guy was talking about. OMG!! I have literally been in love with this boat for the last few years!! Beautiful 1933 Sandstrom. It reminded me of the boats my father used to build on Oahu. I was in heaven, and had to do everything I could to get this boat.
So, we get back to our new shop, and I call this guy back. Telling him about my "love affair" with this boat. We talked for a while, and like Jeff said, this boat was literally on its way to the junk yard when he picked it up. And he now just didn't have the time to work on it like he had planned. So, after about a half hour on the phone with him, me standing in my new sewing room overlooking the drive to our new shop, we realize that we are now neighbors, and we are literally looking at each other window to window, waving at each other. We run out to greet each other, and turns out we know this guy from him working the boat yard. What a small world!!
So, he says, let me go talk to my partner about price and payments. He came back to us a few days later, and said, "We want you to have this boat--no charge, it's yours...on one condition...you let me work on it with you..."
Yeah!! No problem!!! They had just gotten the boat as a project, but never had the time to work on it themselves. And it was heartfelt for them to see it going to someone they knew would fix her up and treat her right.
So, that's how we got our dream boat. The guy has since left, and we havent seen him in a while, but he knows that if and when he comes back, he's got finger on that boat. We couldn't be happier. Jeff has recently found the time to work on her, and as you can see has been having a lot of fun with her!! We are so looking forward to the first night aboard the Theresa C!!
