Well the stars finally did align.  A quick whirlwind trip to Marmaris, Turkey, revealed a very well cared for Catana471.  Christine made it all happen, with perseverance and diligence that I would never have completed.

Working with Phil Berman of the multihull company was also key to making the whole transaction possible.  Its definitely not easy to buy a yacht, especially during these economic conditions, let alone one that is half way around the world.   After chartering a couple Lagoon 440, Jaguar 36, and a Catana 47 over the past several years, visiting the Miami boat shows  and keeping an eye on YachtWorld, it was time to see what the market was really like.

First, Yachtworld is an okay place to “watch” some of the boats on the market, but beware the listing are not that accurate, or complete and far too often are duplication mess of whats out there.   Having honed in on the Catana watching them on YachtWorld and seeing many duplicate listings with different prices, and various equipment list.   Visiting the boat shows is also a great place to see various boats.  The seminars are also worth checking out, that help solidify the arm chair internet surfing information galore that is out there.

Purchasing a vessel outside the US waters, Registration, Transportation – sort of makes buying a house a trivial matter, again So thankful that Christine took care of all that headache.  More than once we asked if it was really worth the hassle.   In the end, the stars did align, arriving at a purchase price, quick weekend trip to Marmaris, with Surveyor from London we all arrived without too much hassle.   And the survey was pretty much un-eventful as Marvin has kept the boat in impeccable condition.

A few things that we’ll probably update:

The interior color is a bit dated, the exterior cushions, and solar screens will be the cosmetic upgrades that will happen in short order.  The only mechanical issues revealed in the survey that need attention is that rudder and collar on the port side had fused together and the collar needs to be freed and epoxied to the hull after its freed.

Interesting things, this boat has an office – the aft port state room has 2 desks and plenty of storage.  The bunk folds up over the desks for when the stateroom is needed for sleeping.   The boat is pretty electrically self sufficient with the solar panels and the large house battery bank with close to 1000ah and high output alternators on both engines.

Plans??  The boat is currently in the water at the Marina in Marmaris.   With everything boat, there is a sliding schedule.  Current plans are to take a quick vacation to the Mediterranean over 4th of July to sail for about a week, saving as much vacation to return for the annual November vacation with a twist.  The twist being a 2700nm journey from the Canary Islands to St Lucia over the Thanksgiving break.  We have arranged for the previous owner to captain the boat across the Atlantic to impart his experience and details on the boats systems and maintenance.

Here are a few of the pictures from the survey.

• 2010 Survey Photos

2010 Survey Photos

Photos taken during the survey of Toucan Tango in Marmaris, Turkey before we bought and renamed her Sugar Shack

236 Photos