My Imperfect Boat

Sometimes Settling for Less is Okay

“Our boat just isn’t out there. Maybe it’s not meant to be.”

Every so often someone will write on boating forums that they have been searching for months, even years, for the perfect boat. They despair of ever finding one and ask others for the fairy dust they used to find theirs.

My husband Glen and I were among the perpetually disappointed. During the pandemic we drove across the country at warp speed to not let yet another “perfect” boat escape from our grasp. Only to discover that the boat we raced to inspect had been underwater in a hurricane — a showstopper. Or had high engine hours — expensive to replace. A search that began with enthusiasm and excitement became drudge and disappointment.

Boats, Boats and More Boats to Inspect

Finally, we let go of our quest for the impossible and decided to look for one that was less perfect. Almost immediately, we were successful. You could say the height of imperfection; it broke down during our sea trial and there were 34 gigs on the survey. Each major gig implied a raft of mystery problems nested beneath. But problems we could fix with sweat equity, a few thousand dollars and Glen’s mechanical skills. The design shortfalls we…