After deciding that yes, this is what we’re going to do, we had to decide on the boat. We already knew that a sailboat was out of the question. Sailing was fun, we had enjoyed it for many years, we had even raced, but the joy of pulling on sheets and lines to keep the boat on course and sailing efficiently had faded over the years. Therefore, a diesel trawler it was going to be! We needed to consider that we were going to be cruising many miles, and fuel economy had to be taken into account. We weren’t going to be in a hurry anymore, (since we aren’t going to have to be back at work on Monday!), so a slow trawler was the only choice for us. Next decision, how big of a boat do we want. If you are determined to do the loop, the loop forces a few mandatory restrictions on your choices. There is a famous bridge (for Loopers), just south of Chicago that you must be able to clear. It is a fixed bridge, and you must be able to go under that bridge. From the water at normal depth, it is 19 ft, 6 inches to the structure of the bridge. (Our boat can clear that by dropping the radar mast). Also 4 ft. draft, (depth of the keel below waterline on the boat) is ideal, but up to six ft. is possible. Legacy draws 5 ft., so that will limit a few possible side trips, but won’t jeopardize the journey in any way. Knowing that we were going to be living on this for at least a year and hopefully more, we knew we were going to need to live comfortably. In October of 2018, we attended the Great Looper Cruising Association’s Fall Rendezvous in Rogersville, AL. This is an event for people that area actually doing the loop, as well as those who are planning on doing the loop. This is a four day event, with training and learning sessions all day each day, and social interaction at night. They also hold a Looper crawl, in which Rendezvous attendees are able to tour the boats that the owners agree to participate. It was during this “crawl” that we realized that we needed to move up from what we had been considering, (40 ft.), to something more in the 50 – 60 ft. range. At the rendezvous, I made contact with a broker with Curtis Stokes and began some discussion with him about what I was looking for. I took his information, and we agreed that in the near future we would be speaking.
A few months passed, Michael Martin, (Curtis Stokes broker), and I talked over the phone and email several times. I had a pretty specific list of items that were must haves on the boat I was looking for, (stabilization was a BIG must have,), and a pretty large list of nice to haves, (a water maker was somewhere between a must have and a nice to have as water can be fairly expensive in the Bahamas). There weren’t a lot of boats that fit the specifics we were looking for, and many that did had problems that turned us off. I had seen a boat on yachtworld.com several times that had all the must haves, all the nice to haves and even some nice to haves that we weren’t specifically looking for. It was an Ocean Alexander 51, and Ocean Alexander was one of the two or three make of boats that we were interested in. Only problem was, the boat was in Sturgeon Bay, WI – northern Wisconsin and it was wintertime. I talked to Michael about it, it was now March, and he suggested that we might want to go up and take a look at the boat if we really were interested. Since the bays and lakes up there freeze, boats are hauled out for the winter and stored inside buildings, some heated, some not heated. Luckily, our boat was in a heated facility. Michael made the arrangements with the selling broker for a date to view the boat, Kristin and I bought plane tickets to Green Bay, rented a car to drive the hour to Sturgeon Bay, met all the players and entered the building, climbed the ladder to get on the boat and have a look around. The boat was immaculate. Everything looked brand new, clean, and obviously this boat had been meticulously cared for. We spent about three hours crawling all over the boat, down in the bilges, in the engine room, back in the rear bilge/generator room, this thing was perfect. We all split up, Michael, Kristin and I all went to a local restaurant for a snack and to be able to chat a bit. A decision was made that we were going to make an offer on the boat that day. Kristin and I had a hotel room at the Green Bay airport for that night, (Saturday), so Michael worked up an offer while he was waiting at the airport for his flight, sent it digitally to my iPad, we signed it and the negotiations began. We didn’t hear anything that day or night, Michael was flying home, so he was out of touch for a while. Sunday morning, Kristin and I turned in our rental car, went into the Green Bay airport to wait for our flight home. Alas, it wasn’t to be. The FAA had grounded the plane due to an overdue maintenance item, and mechanics were driving from Detroit to fix it. Yes, I said driving. I pulled up Google maps, did a quick search and realized that in the amount of time it was going to take these mechanics to drive from Detroit to Green Bay, we could almost be home if we rented a car and took off. And since this flight was our only chance to get out of there, (Green Bay is a tiny airport), if there were any delay at all, we wouldn’t be getting home that night, we decided to rent a car to come home. It probably was a good thing too, as negotiations began that morning as well. As we were driving south, Michael would call with their counter offer, we would counter back, and this went on for several calls. Finally it was becoming clear that we were not going to get anymore concessions out of the owners, an agreement was made to accept their last offer as we were driving through Milwaukee, WI, contingent upon a sea trial that would take place some time after Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan were clear of ice. Now all we had to do was wait, and during the wait try to find surveyor, (inspector), for the overall boat, as well as an engine surveyor to inspect the engines during the sea trials. There were four engines to inspect, two generators, and two propulsion engines. And in a place as small as this area was, it wasn’t going to be easy.
For those that may not know about purchasing a boat of this size, a short explanation of the process. None of this is mandatory of course, in reality, you can walk up to the owner and without even looking around the boat, offer a check and sail away. Of course, you wouldn’t do this with a house, and with a boat of this type, you’re literally buying a small city. You will be producing your own water, you will be producing your own electricity when away from the dock, you have your own waste treatment plant, there are a lot of complicated, (meaning expensive), systems, and you want someone knowledgeable to inspect these items and put them through the paces. An inspection usually begins with a haulout. This means that the boat is lifted out of the water so that the surveyor can inspect the hull beneath the waterline for damage, water intrusion, etc. At this time, he can also check props for any prop damage, check prop pitch, etc. Usually at that time, the boat is placed back into the water, taken back to its slip and the inspection of the rest of the boat begins. In this case, since the boat was already in its carriage for the winter, the need for haulout wasn’t necessary, I just needed to make an extra trip to Sturgeon Bay for the hull inspection as well as the overall boat inspection. I found a surveyor, we all agreed on a date for the survey, my broker, Michael Martin, the selling broker and I all traveled to the boat for the inspection. As was expected, everything went perfectly. Some minor issues, nothing to break the deal. Now we just had to wait for the bays and lakes to thaw so the boat could be placed back in the water and we could take it out on the sea trials. This is where all the systems are given a work out, making sure all work as expected. By the time the sea trials were scheduled, I had found someone in Milwaukee that could do the engine surveys, so another trip up for all parties, and a couple hours out on Lake Michigan putting the boat through the paces. Again, everything went as expected, and when the oil samples from engines and transmissions came back a few days later showing all was well there, the paperwork was signed and the deal was negotiated over the following week. It was time to bring our new baby home. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas. Extreme flooding on the River system that we would be using to bring her home had locks closed all through the middle of the country, on the Illinois River as well as the Mississippi. So, we had to leave her in Sturgeon Bay for a couple months before we could begin the journey.