No longer own a fleet!

killarney_sailor · #1 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Completed the sale of my Niagara 35 on the weekend. Wonderful boat and pretty much setup the way I wanted it to be - but when the admiral says she wants a bigger boat what can you do. One boat was on Lake Ontario and the other in New Jersey so not at all convenient to deal with it.

Because of the decline of the US dollar against the Canadian dollar, the used boat market for Canadians has completely changed in the last year or so. There is a good and bad side to this. Now Canadians (and Europeans too) can get some terrific bargains in the US (since we are shopping with dollars that are worth US$1 (+/-) as opposed to 62 cent dollars a few years ago. I could never have imagined that I would be looking at 40+ foot Swans and Bristols, for example. On the flip side, the price of boats in Canada has gone down the toilet since it is now one market not two. I got killed on the Niagara since I bought it for CA$90K and put about another 20k into upgrades -- and sold for 66K and was told by everyone what a good price I got. The way it works out is that if you are moving upmarket you are well ahead but if you just want to sell your boat, you lose big time.

Now I only have one whole in the water into which I pour water -- I type this on the boat as the canvas guy is making patterns for the new dodger/bimini/enclosure.

teshannon · #2 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Congrats on the sale. What boat do have in New Jersey and where in New Jersey do you keep her?

sailingdog · #3 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Congrats on the sale and the new hole in the water.

Faster · #4 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Nice to get out from under two burdens... As a Canadian with a boat in NJ - are you heading south or bringing her home?

We bought our boat in the US when the dollar was around $.75 and considered it a reasonable deal still... sure wish we were shopping now. But as you say it's a double edged sword.

Stillraining · #5 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Know what ya mean...I bennifited from the situation with the purchase of Eagle Knight last year...but have 2 power bosts I cant give away..

killarney_sailor · #6 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by teshannon

Congrats on the sale. What boat do have in New Jersey and where in New Jersey do you keep her?

We bought a Bristol 45.5 in Rhode Island and keep it in Jersey City. The boat had been very well-equipped when new (basically the whole option page +) and has been somewhat ignored since. We are slowly getting things done to modernize it and make it look as it should.

killarney_sailor · #7 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faster

Nice to get out from under two burdens... As a Canadian with a boat in NJ - are you heading south or bringing her home?

We bought our boat in the US when the dollar was around $.75 and considered it a reasonable deal still... sure wish we were shopping now. But as you say it's a double edged sword.

We put the deposit it at $1.08 (if we had only known) and paid the rest at about $1.02.

The plan is that we will be here for three years since the Admiral was offered basically the same job as in Toronto for a lot more money. After that we will head south for the winter and then likely take the boat to Europe for an indeterminant time.

teshannon · #8 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by killarney_sailor

We bought a Bristol 45.5 in Rhode Island and keep it in Jersey City. The boat had been very well-equipped when new (basically the whole option page +) and has been somewhat ignored since. We are slowly getting things done to modernize it and make it look as it should.

Thanks. I'm a bit further south in Longport, New Jersey. If you ever head down to Atlantic City or Longport let me know. Good luck with her, a very nice boat.

Valiente · #9 (**permalink**) 06-18-2008

Glad to hear of it, Bruce. We finally got your old Portabote out and about and I am pleased to report that it is dry as a bone, not as tippy as I had feared and goes about five knots with our new little Honda 2 HP, an engine my wife can single-hand onto the transom.

The only mod I'll have to make is to that transom: the Honda's tiller arm is so close to the bracket that it scraps a bit and the whole engine could sit two inches higher for clearance!

Re: currency. I bought a fairly large sum of U.S. dollars when the Canuck buck grazed $1.08 U.S. last fall and it was about the best investment I've made in years. Now that we are more or less at par, I am finding that I can buy solar panels and other big ticket items in the U.S. about 20% cheaper than in Canada, and about 30% when I factor in the "bump" I got buying devalued U.S. dollars in the first place.

Euros...not so much! Glad to hear the Bristol is coming together.