New Owners - Finally!

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coast2coast
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New Owners - Finally!

Post by coast2coast »

Just an introduction here. I'm John and my wife is Sharon and we have just settled on the PDQ MV34 formerly known as "Bermuda Shorts". It has taken a while and we've had some trials getting the deal closed, but it's finally done.

Last September Sharon and I traveled from our home in Gloucester, VA to Baltimore where we used to live . The main purpose of the trip was to see a couple of our doctors. While there we decided to go to Trawlerfest with the intent of taking a couple of courses, but with absolutely no intent of buying a boat. To kill time between seminars, of course we walked the docks where the boats were and went on a few (well, alright, more than a few).

When we walked aboard the Bermuda Shorts Sharon immediately fell in love with her, and I was quite impressed with the condition of the boat and the economical performance she promised at decent speed. We took her out for a ride and made an offer, and ultimately made a deal and took it to survey. A few days after the survey Dick Tuschich was passing through Baltimore and met me at the boat and spent the better part of a day orienting me to the major systems and their functioning, a real gift if there ever was one!

I had been having some cardiac symptoms and had a cardiologist appointment the day after the boat survey and my cardiologist told me he needed to do a cardiac catheterization to see what was going on with me. He said if I needed a stent it could be placed during the procedure. I scheduled it for a week later so I could get it out of the way. I had previously had a stent placed 9 years ago, so I knew the recovery was not a big deal, so we should be able to get on with our boat plans with the delay of a few more days.

On the day of the procedure it was discovered that I had a 99% blockage in one coronary artery, and 95% in another. A third artery was fully blocked, which I knew from 9 years ago, but I had never had a heart attack because the artery had grown new circulation around the blockage which took over once the artery was fully blocked. I needed bypass surgery, in fact the cardiologist told Sharon that I shouldn't be alive. They were wondering how I managed to walk in under my own power.

The next day I had a triple bypass, the surgeon bypassed the new blockages and "while he was in there" also bypassed the old blockage for good measure. We let the boat owner and Beth Simkins (who was handling the deal) know we had to back out, even if it meant losing our deposit. The future was just too uncertain to commit to the boat and then dealing with taking care of and storing a new boat on top of everything else.

While staying with me in the hospital Sharon aggravated a back condition and after consulting with multiple doctors it was determined that she needed spinal fusion surgery. She had the surgery two weeks ago and is making steady progress with just a couple of bumps in the road. Her doctor says she can go cruising within a couple of months. I have apparently recovered well ahead of the curve for my bypass surgery and my doctors say I can do anything I want, so we decided to go ahead with the boat purchase.

Luckily it turned out Bermuda Shorts was still available and the owner and Beth agreed to extend the original contract, so went ahead with the purchase as planned, all be it three months late! We would like to publically thank Beth and the boat owner for their professional handling of our unforeseen circumstances, and ultimately helping us to close the deal.

Once the boat (we're still working on a new name) comes out of storage in April we'll bring her from Baltimore to Hampton, VA and outfit her for some shorter Chesapeake Bay cruises this summer, and perhaps up to Cape May, NJ. If all goes well we'll plan to head south in the fall, then head north for the Loop in the spring. Hopefully our major health issues are behind us and we can Just Go! Wish us luck!
Last edited by coast2coast on Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Regards,
John Watts
Gold Looper 10/11/16
http://c2ccruises.blogspot.com/
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Lady of the Lake
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Re: New Owners - Finally!

Post by Lady of the Lake »

Welcome to the family!

Sam and Gina
Sam and Gina Densler
s/v Lady of the Lake
PDQ36 Hull #15
Punta Gorda, FL
deising
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Re: New Owners - Finally!

Post by deising »

Wow, John. that is quite a story. It sounds like it could have easily been the end of everything for you, but here you both have a second chance. Enjoy it.

Congratulations on getting Bermuda Shorts. We had seriously considered her in our search this past fall, but once she was on the hard and winterized, there was no way to evaluate her except cosmetically, so we wound up with the MV 34 formerly named Valentino (hull 91) as of earlier this month. As with any boat, especially one 9 years old and more, there are a number of little things needing attention, but I have just retired and have enough time to attend to them all before we take off on the Loop and Down East Circle this April.

Once again, enjoy your gift of a second chance.
Duane Ising
m/v Diva Di
Punta Gorda, FL
2006 PDQ MV 34 - hull 91, 75HP, 3-blade
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