eBay AGAIN!!!!!!!!!
I'm swearing off eBay Motors.  Don't even tell me if they've got the greatest deal in the world closing in 15 minutes 2 miles from my house.  I don't want to know.
That was the exact case on January 27.  (Well.... maybe not the BEST deal in the world.)  A Catalina 27 at Maryland Marina, just a few miles from our home, closing in 15 minutes and only at $850.  FIFTEEN MINUTES.  Who the hell decides whether or not to buy a boat, sight unseen mind you, in 15 minutes.  I've taken longer than that to decide whether I really have to go to the bathroom bad enough to get up off the couch.
Anyway, Lance said "that could be a pretty good deal", I placed a bid when there was about 3 minutes left on the bidding, and it was ours for $910. 

As soon as the bidding ended, we headed down to the marina to see exactly what it was we had bought.  We cleaned out a mountain of junk, pumped the bilge, surveyed the condition and decided that for the price she wasn't too bad.  Sure it needed work,  but nothing too salty old workhorses like us couldn't handle. 
As soon as the weather broke we started stripping off bottom paint, then sanding, in preparation for epoxy barrier coat.  We found some minor damage on the leading edge of the keel and up on the bow.  Obviously somebody hit something, but the keel seemed tight, so it didn't seem like it was major.  Lance is a whiz with fiberglass.  The rudder needs a coat of glass cloth.  The cushions are shot and it needs a new dining table.  The wood cabinet doors (and frames) are falling off in the cabin.  Everything needs to be rebedded/resealed.  Hoses to replace.  Likely the head needs a rebuild. Some kind of jury-rig job had been done to the engine mount area.  It will be restored to original.  The rigging actually looks good, looks fairly new.  It has a nice Harken roller reefing set-up.  We were told it was only 4 years old.  Good for the rigging, but the sails are original.  It appears they took an old genny and had it modified for the roller reefing.

We thought we might fix it up and sail it a bit.  But this past weekend we purchased our dream boat.  THE boat.  the one we want to retire and sail out of here on.  A gorgeous Cape Dory 28 in awesome condition (that's another entry on another night) that is quickly becoming this summer's magnificent obsession.  So the Catalina is headed to the backyard where we will work on it until it is sellable and off it will go.  The Cape Dory 22 is still under construction also and the Triton is being dismantled and cut up to be disposed of.  Our little Bayliner gives us no trouble and our grandkids love it, but...........  I honestly want to be down to 1 boat.  Just one.  You can't sail more than one at a time anyway, right?  We retire in 4 years so that means we need to get rid of at least 1 boat a year, while sailing and working on the 28 at the same time.  Wish us luck!!