I bought a boat! (The YM kind)

[Deleted]

For those of you who haven't seen my previous posts, it's been quite an odyssey.

Listed our old house in the last week of April; it was shown 40 times.  Royal pain since we had to get out of the house for every showing.  We had one offer ($11K below asking price) from a buyer who was self-employed (owned a hotel) and wanted to put 5% down.  DH was worried about finding another house; I worried about everything else including our buyer getting financing.

They closed on Friday, June 26; we bought our new house on a lake last Monday but the movers couldn't get our things in till Wednesday, July 1.  In a way, it was a blessing; both the packing and the moving were brutal processes because the movers won't take liquids and we had to deal with 8 boxes of stuff that we put in the neighbor's garage, and they kept leaving odds and ends in every room that we had to remind them to pack.  Then I had to vacuum the whole place.  We spent the interim days in an Extended Stay hotel; it was actually a nice break before the moving-in chaos began.

Anyway- as soon as I realized we'd be on a lake I started looking at boats.  It's a very small lake, no power craft permitted.  Fine with me!  This is what I got.  (The other passengers are DS and my granddaughter.)

Reasons it's a YM Boat:

1.  I got a great price- somehow caught it on Dick's on-line site for $600 and when I looked at it the next day it was $650, which they said was $50 off.  $600 is the lowest I've seen it.

2.  No boat payments!

3.  A friend with a truck picked it up and delivered it.  I gave her an Amazon.com $50 gift card.  The on-line places wanted $100 for shipping.

4.  Zero costs for gas, repair and liability insurance!

For those of you who are into these things, it's a Pelican Unison 136.   

[TheHaitian]

You go girl!!!!!

May you continue enjoying retirement, the lake house and the boat!

Did you move closer to DS and granddaughter?

[Deleted]

Haitian-

we're actually a little closer by 15-20 minutes, but we love this area and wanted to stay here.

I think we'll see more of DS and DDIL, though.  The house has 2 bedrooms on the main floor (one will be DH's office) and 2 bedrooms "below grade" but the lower level also has a porch overlooking the lake and a full kitchen.  (The previous owner's in-laws lived there for 13 years.)  So, DS and DDIL had the lower floor pretty much to themselves; they even got to watch fireworks in the next town from their porch.  And our granddaughter LOVES the boat!

[TheHaitian]

Awesome, sounds like you've found the perfect house to fit all your needs and most wants

Enjoy!!!!!

I know you like swimming, is the water clean enough to go swimming in it?

[Deleted]

No, it's not- but I found one good bicycle route yesterday, which was my first time out.  There will be more.

[Bonny]

Congratulations Athena!

I want a kayak too but have to wait until we do some decluttering of the garage. No room at the inn!

Enjoy your YM boat and new life!

[skubikky]

Beautiful.
We went kayaking on Canandaigua lake this past weekend.
It was great.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Let's see:  a new house, a new boat -- all within a week of each other.

What's next?  Rooms full of new furniture?  Granite countertops? Stainless steel appliances?  A new car?? 

Let me warn you that you are dangerously close to losing your YM card, missy.  



Enjoy it all -- life is shor.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

[swamp]

Jul 6, 2015 8:57:29 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

For those of you who haven't seen my previous posts, it's been quite an odyssey.

Listed our old house in the last week of April; it was shown 40 times.  Royal pain since we had to get out of the house for every showing.  We had one offer ($11K below asking price) from a buyer who was self-employed (owned a hotel) and wanted to put 5% down.  DH was worried about finding another house; I worried about everything else including our buyer getting financing.

They closed on Friday, June 26; we bought our new house on a lake last Monday but the movers couldn't get our things in till Wednesday, July 1.  In a way, it was a blessing; both the packing and the moving were brutal processes because the movers won't take liquids and we had to deal with 8 boxes of stuff that we put in the neighbor's garage, and they kept leaving odds and ends in every room that we had to remind them to pack.  Then I had to vacuum the whole place.  We spent the interim days in an Extended Stay hotel; it was actually a nice break before the moving-in chaos began.

Anyway- as soon as I realized we'd be on a lake I started looking at boats.  It's a very small lake, no power craft permitted.  Fine with me!  This is what I got.  (The other passengers are DS and my granddaughter.)

Reasons it's a YM Boat:

1.  I got a great price- somehow caught it on Dick's on-line site for $600 and when I looked at it the next day it was $650, which they said was $50 off.  $600 is the lowest I've seen it.

2.  No boat payments!

3.  A friend with a truck picked it up and delivered it.  I gave her an Amazon.com $50 gift card.  The on-line places wanted $100 for shipping.

4.  Zero costs for gas, repair and liability insurance!

For those of you who are into these things, it's a Pelican Unison 136.   

I dont' know if it's a bad picture, but your arms are up too high.  Too tiring to keep that pose up, not an efficient stroke, and you're risking shoulder injury.

I have kayaks, we go as a family.  Enjoy.

[milee]

I'm guessing part of why her arms are up that high are because she has that adorable little cutie pie sitting in her lap right where her arms would normally go to take a good, long stroke. But I'm with Athena, if one of my little cutie pies wants to sit with me, I'll do whatever weird strokes I need to do to keep them happy, close and having a good time. 

Or, looking at the picture, her arms could be that high because she's putting the paddle down into the water to act as a rudder to turn the boat instead of taking a stroke.  Might be the more likely explanation given the fact that her wake looks like it's at an almost 90 degree angle, so there's definitely some turning going on.

[alabamagal]

Plus you save money on joining a gym. It will pay for itself!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jul 6, 2015 9:18:08 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

No, it's not- but I found one good bicycle route yesterday, which was my first time out.  There will be more.

Why isn't it ok to swim in?  Pollutants vs. yucky bottom vs high silt/runoff content? 

[Deleted]

Jul 6, 2015 12:03:55 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Why isn't it ok to swim in?  Pollutants vs. yucky bottom vs high silt/runoff content? 

Combination of yucky bottom and high silt/runoff. There's a small patch of garbage (empty plastic bottles, paper cups, etc.) at one end and the neighbors tell me that's from upstream. We also get anything else that gets thrown/deposited into the water before it gets to us. There are also bass, carp, perch and turtles in the lake although I guess that wouldn't deter country folk.

Thanks for the advice on paddle techniques. I think I was trying to keep from clobbering the munchkin. No need to worry about injury, though- I don't paddle that intensively! I got drenched a few times from DS' vigorous paddling. His technique probably needs a little work, too.

Jul 6, 2015 11:57:05 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

Plus you save money on joining a gym. It will pay for itself!

I actually joined a gym a few days ago. Kayaking does very little for my legs and for me it's more relaxation. I also need it for bad weather when I don't want to bicycle. Coincidentally, a TV in the gym was tuned to HGTV and they were showing "Lakefront Bargain Hunt". One couple bought a $194K houseboat on Cumberland Lake, KY as a vacation home and the wife observed that they'd save money on family vacations. I could take a lot of vacations for $194K.

[tallguy]

One couple bought a $194K houseboat on Cumberland Lake, KY as a vacation home and the wife observed that they'd save money on family vacations. I could take a lot of vacations for $194K.

Yeah, but you don't build up equity in (nor can you pass down) hotel rooms.... 

[violagirl]

I realize it might not be a big lake but every year by my house the coast guard has to rescue kayakers. So wear a life jacket. 

Granted the water in front of my house is choppier than a lake as it is the bay but I've looked out on windy days and in particular I remember seeing someone out there in a red kayak and I thought why are you trying to kayak on such a windy day? A few hours later the coast guard helicopter was looking for the missing kayaker. In that instance it turned out ok. In others it hasn't. 

I have never kayaked but I imagine people head out into the small bay in a Canadian Tire kayak when they really should be in a sea kayak that can handle the waves better. 

[Deleted]

Jul 6, 2015 10:13:21 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Let me warn you that you are dangerously close to losing your YM card, missy.  

I lost that last year when I enjoyed crab legs one night at dinner on our Alaskan cruise.

[justme]

It's probably not very YM, but up at our lake last year I saw someone with peddle kayaks! The same concept as paddle boats but not as bulky so they actually can get a good clip going. I told my parents they need to buy those so I can alter between both for a good workout.

[Happy prose]

That looks like so much fun. Enjoy!