M.V.Tropical Horizons II: Closing the deal....reality sets in.

At this point I should introduce everyone to Captains Steve and Diane. We met Steve and Diane through the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruising Association) As you may have read in an earlier post, Karen and I are Harbor Hosts for the AGLCA at Trent Port Marina, Harbor Hosting and the AGLCA, the work we do to welcome and help members as they pass through Trent Port Marina puts us in contact with many very knowledgeable people and sometimes good friendships are forged. Steve and Diane are one of those friendships that were forged.

AGLCA gathering in 2018

Of course, everyone we meet through the AGLCA are, for the most part great people that we really seem to connect with. But there are some who; maybe, stay a little longer, we cruise with, or we share a meal with, somehow a special connection is formed and we become close friends. Steve and Diane are one of those couples that we formed such a connection with. Steve is a professional Captain, diesel mechanic, and all around boat person. He's known through the DeFever community and both he and Diane have been living aboard their yacht Aurora for over 20 years (don't quote me on that number I'm going from memory).

So what does this have to do with the purchase of the Burger, I'm getting to it.... When we were going through the whole process we sent off some info the Steve and he gave us his honest opinion about what was listed. Steve and Diane were there with us for the sea trials, and as part of the insurance requirement, they will be providing training and sign off on our competency as set out by our insurance provider.

Back to the closing. I had been researching several insurance companies trying to find one that had the best fit for this boat. First of all, finding an insurance company that will insure a vessel of this vintage was not easy. Finding an insurance company that would insure the vessel while we held an address in Canada, and had the boat documented in the US was also a challenge.

There are several rules around the ownership of vessels and I have some challenges with regards to taxation, and ownership of my various businesses. To "simplify" things and set ourselves up for retirement income, we decided to incorporate in the state of Florida. We formed Paradise Found Adventures. One thing I can say is that incorporating in the US is so much easier than up here in Canada. The boat would be purchased through this corporation and held as a corporate asset. We then needed to get the title documents changed over, this was done using a closing coordinator. I'm so happy that such people exist, because anything that involves multiple government agencies has a tendency to get complicated quickly, thank you Betty! The paperwork seemed straight forward enough, but there are some ownership rules that the USCG requires to federally document a vessel which I wish I had known prior to incorporating. I then went about issuing an amendment to the articles of incorporation and sent the filed paper work along with a copy of the payment that went to the State of FL along with all of the transfer documents signed over and a payment of the taxes to the state of FL as we registered the vessel there since that is where the corporation is formed as well. This was also the best time to change the name and port of call of the vessel to "Tropical Horizons II" port of call, Cape Coral, FL. and so we did.

Quarter Boards changed.

New graphics with name on stern and new port of call

Also added the bow name

Once I had the closing documents, notarized bills of sale, and insurance binder, I transferred the funds over into my broker's escrow account. The broker would hold the funds until the closing date at which time, upon our inspection of the vessel, he would transfer the funds into the selling broker's account and ultimately into the seller's account. Seems to be a little crazy and it can take a bit of time but at the end of the day, there are so many fail safes in place that I felt very comfortable with the transaction.

The former owner, John, approached the boat and asked, "permission to come aboard", as soon as the funds were in his account. With that, we invited him aboard and then we chatted a bit more, and I asked if he would remain to help me bring the boat to the marina where we had arranged for it to be hauled out and stored for the winter. John was more than happy to help out, and once we confirmed that the current in the narrow channel approaching the drawbridge seemed to have slowed, we headed out. To say I was nervous is an understatement, but John was calm and as I noticed just much heavier Mandalay was and how slowly she moved maintaining a straight line I started to settle in.

My first time backing her out of a slip

John had a very different way of piloting than what I was used to. He would use both transmission and rudders when moving at slow speed, I was used to leaving the rudders center and steering strictly by shifting the transmissions. The other nice thing was that with the autopilot, I knew exactly what the rudder position was. All in all we moved the boat into the travel lift and we managed to do this without any real excitement, all in control at slow speed.

Out of the water for heading over to winter storage

I then spent the next few hours with John going over things and once we were done, we parted ways. I keep in touch with John as he really knows the boat inside and out. Karen and I had a nice lunch then spent the rest of the afternoon, trying to prepare Mandalay for her winter sleep as best as we could. As the sun set, Karen took her many photos as she does, and I was winding things up on Mandalay. Now to get through another winter.....spring can't get here soon enough!!!