Last year I started to think about moving out to the US to help the San Francisco team at Brightpearl. Rose and I both feel like we’ve reached a point in Bristol where we need to move on. Although it’s a wonderful place where we have lots of wonderful friends and lots of amazing things to do right on our doorstep, it’s time for change. I’ve also longed to move back onto a boat having had a short but enjoyable period living on board Red Bull. Getting back into “big boat” sailing with Rancote has rekindled my drive for ocean adventures … and San Francisco is a great place to live on a boat.
So, I decided to check a few boats out whilst in the US this time in January. On the Saturday I spent a full day with a local broker (thanks Dana from Passage Yachts) taking a good look round ten or so boats of varying shapes and sizes. On the Sunday I took a look at a private sale in Sausalito, discovered in Latitude 38 magazine – a basic but affordable 1985 Pearson 36-2 called “Folie a Deux”. I’d seen a Pearson 36-2 the day before and immediately it felt “right”. Seeing a second one would give me a good comparison. The first had more equipment aboard; including a spray hood, new autohelm, working electronics, dinghy … but was $10,000 more. I figured that I could add the extra equipment when need required and budget allowed. And electronics are out of date the day you install them anyway.
After plenty of discussions between Rose and I about downsizing, moving countries, careers, life … and lots of research, I decided it was the right thing to do. I put an offer it, it was accepted and then deposit was sent! I arranged a survey for when I was next out in the states – although I’d given the boat a really good look over myself, I wanted a professional opinion and a haul out.
Whilst she was in the water, we had a good dig around deep inside all lockers and spaces.
Next was the haul out. Even having done this many times with Red Bull and Rancote it’s still exciting seeing a boat lifted out of the water on one of these cranes. As soon as the boat rises above you it seems so much bigger than in the water.
I was surprised at how clean the bottom was. The previous owner last had her out in 2010 (over 18 months ago) and there was only a small amount of growth. Either the antifoul is awesome or the water round here really doesn’t suit little critters trying to make a living in the shadows. Rancote has a good crop of algae on her after just one summer and a decent two coats of antifoul. Jeff ran around with his hammer checking for dull spots that would indicate a dry lamination or osmosis – with everything checking out OK. The lads in the yard renewed the anodes, and then we were back in the water!
We ended the day with a sail out of Alameda into the bay. We ran the engine fully up to speed, got the sails out and gave everything a good test. Probably needs a new main sail – or perhaps maybe I can get the bagginess taken out somehow? Short of a few other minor pieces of work that need doing, Jeff the surveyor declared her “excellent condition”.
In my opinion, when buying a boat, by the time you get to the survey you’ve generally made up your mind, and you’d have to see some fairly serious problems to back out at this point. I did so once before when looking at narrow boats in Bristol – “La Jolie Demoiselle” needed so much work I would have condemned myself to 6 months of refit had I gone ahead. Anyway – Folie a Deux came up all clean. Time to jump in and commit! Now to transfer the funds across to complete the sale before Rose comes out next weekend…
Road and Ocean 