The tribulation of buying a boat unseen...

Nanna's sister ship Southern Cross 35 If everything went well from the sale of Röde Orm to the long and tiring trip with its two border crossings, and the wonderful welcome of my friend, the rest had more or less a cold water shower feeling.. And without the hospitality of friends, the beautiful scenery and warm weather, we would have felt slightly taken aback. Our expectations were perhaps too high, our excitement over powering the reality. The really simple lesson is to see before you act !! The Union Polaris showed well from distance, but as soon as you look closely behind the glossy of the varnish we just realized that this boat has not been at sea for quite a long time, and revealed more problematic issues as the engine, the compatibility of a worm gear stirring with a windvane, some rotten spots that cleary states some leaks and some flimsy set up that could be a nonsense at sea. In short, we were disapointed. This boat is not quite ready to go to sea, and if the old Volvo is dying, what next ? Did we make a big mistake ? Our enthusiasm suddendly dropped. A week had passed, we were technically homeless, boatless, boxless (this one sailing between Portugal and Vera Cruz...hopefully ) and in Mexico.. Nanna on the hard We just went on to see more boats and... the first one we saw caught our eyes and our heart. Nothing flashy about it, a strong built 35 footer, sturdy and fully equipped. A Southern Cross (becoming soon Southern Comfort for Magnus !)35, built as Röde Orm is. price wise... well not a bargain as the other one, but the assurance of a sea worthy boat as soon as it is in the water. Nothing to add. So Nanna is a Southern Cross 35, nicknamed Southern Comfort by the Viking !! Thanksgiving today and we are invited for a party ! By the way, I had the great pleasure to see some friends I left behind three years ago. It was almost like coming back home. But how many homes do I have ? !! Oh and did I mention Magnus first encounter with a tarentula (young one) and a scorpion, in the room ? and the nightly howls of coyotes ? Pretty exotic for a Viking !