Sometimes I come up with some odd ideas on what I should be doing with my life. Last summer, I had the strange notion that I should be a yacht salesperson. I honestly thought it would be a fun and glorious summer job. Sitting at my desk at the marina, the sun shining outside, the wind gently blowing, and the yachts gleaming outside. Rich people would just stop by, I’d take them out for a test cruise, and I’d sell a yacht a day.
Luckily, my laziness and my desire to enjoy myself kept me from a life of khaki slacks, boat shoes, and washing seagull crap off some yacht on Lake Union.
Instead of becoming a boat salesman, my son and I went to the Big Seattle Boat Show yesterday. Now, I haven’t been to a boat show since I was a kid so this was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it is extremely fun to see the variety of yachts and boats available (and this was only the ones they could bring inside on trailers). A curse because the boats I like are in the price range of $600,000 to $900,000. Sure, I could get by with a smaller boat but once you look at a $800,000 yacht, the $225,000 is small and not really up to your standards. The $1.3 Million yacht wasn’t even that attractive. I would have to pass on it.
I would also like a yacht that isn’t too big where I would need a crew to run it. I want to be able to handle it with myself and my wife. I know; I’m a bit picky when it comes to big boats.
I also wouldn’t mind a retired classic Coast Guard cutter or even an older working boat (tug, fishing vessel) that had some space on it. Retrofit that baby with some modern electronics and you’d a vessel that would have some style to it, yet be fun to be on.
However, unless I win the Power Ball Lottery, I won’t be buying a new boat anytime soon. Besides, who wants to worry about having to find a boat slip, fueling it up, getting through the Ballard Locks? Am I right?
