The Beginning of the End

On July 30, as we’re bringing our car from Nashville TN to Florence AL, I get a call from a Power Squadron friend in New Orleans asking if our boat is still for sale.  Turns out that they have a friend of a friend who just retired & is looking for a power boat to do the Great Loop.  Sounded exactly like us, only 10 years later.  So I call Floyd & set up a dinner get-together with his wife Ethel & our Power Squadron friends, to coincide with our upcoming doctor appointments in New Orleans.

Had a good first meeting, with Floyd asking several hundred questions (at least it seemed like it).  They are interested enough to ask to come see the boat while we’re in Florence, which they do.  Their first look was so-so, and they said that they wouldn’t buy a boat for a couple more months.  Sue & I promised to stay in touch, but in the meantime, we’re headed for Goose Pond Marina, another 100 miles upriver.

We depart Florence for the hot 3-day trip to Scottsboro AL, with temperatures at the helm reaching 102 in the shade.  We anchored for the 2 nights, since we enjoy the freedom & independence of it so much, with the second night at Honeycomb Creek especially noteworthy.  It’s another off-the-beaten-path cove with crystal clear water & drop-dead gorgeous scenery.  We went swimming to cool off & to clean the algae from the waterline, grilled salmon on the aft deck for dinner, and sat on the swim platform dangling our feet in the water while drinking our mango-rum frozen drinks, just listening to the quiet surrounding us.  The following morning, we had our coffee on the aft deck watching the morning fog cover the mountain tops, enjoying the total quiet.  THIS is why we anchor out!

Our last night at anchor, although we didn't know it

We finally made the last 30-mile trip upbound & found Goose Pond Marina exactly where we had left it last summer.  As we tie up, we wonder whether this last trip was going to be our last trip, considering the uncertainties in selling a boat which is also your home.  We get kind of an answer in mid-August when we see a surveyor on board Clint’s boat, which is in the process of being sold.  The surveyor states that he is under contract to survey our boat the following week, in preparation for a sale.

I call Floyd & Ethel to see what’s going on.  They are indeed serious about buying our boat, but since both of us are acting as individuals (not going through boat brokers), and Floyd had never bought a boat like this, we were both unsure of the paperwork & the buying process.  But yes, he has fallen in love with the boat & will pursue its purchase.  By the end of August, the boat has had a survey, sea trial, & haul out.

The boat being hauled, and I didn't have to pay for it!

We now set the date of purchase as September 24, primarily to give Sue & me time to move off the boat.  And we start packing.  In hindsight, I’m still amazed at how much personal “stuff” we were able to store aboard that boat!  We are very fortunate that a Power Squadron friend in Chattanooga has a rental house that we can get into immediately, which we do, while we start looking for a house to purchase.  Looks like we’ll be living in Chattanooga from now on!

Early September we make an offer to buy a house & during the next 2 weeks, we continue negotiations on the house, generate massive amounts of paperwork seeking a home mortgage loan, make minor repairs to the boat, drive to upper Michigan to visit Glynn & Jenny at their cabin, & make numerous trips between Scottsboro and Chattanooga to move our personal gear off the boat.

September 24 comes & goes smoothly; Floyd & Ethel experience the happiest day in their lives; Sue & I experience the second happiest day in our lives.  It has been a long tiring two weeks, but everything has finally come to FRUITION!

During the following week, Sue & I make several trips back to Scottsboro AL to show the new owners how things work aboard Fruition.  Floyd learns quickly, having been a tugboat captain for many years.  Two weeks later, we help Fruition tie up in downtown Chattanooga, with the new owners having made their first overnite trip, as well as going through a lock with their new boat.  By mid-October, Fruition is headed south back to New Orleans, of all places, where the new owners will keep her.  Maybe we’ll see her again in her new home!

"Fruition" coming into downtown Chattanooga

without us!

Floyd & Ethel, the happy new owners

of "Fruition"