[Fr. Frank]

"Somebody upstairs is looking out for you".

Always.

I recently signed a contract to purchase a new 33rd Strike Group 18' Bay Cat, and the day before I was to take delivery, the dealer filed for bankruptcy. Then I learned that the bank had given the entire loan amount to the dealer BEFORE I signed for the boat, and before I ever SAW the boat that was to be mine. (I had only seen the dealer demonstrator). Now the bank wants me to pay for a boat I never sea-trialed, received, or even laid eyes on, and I'm out my deposit, too. (although I will likely get that back eventuallly because I used a credit card just in case something like this happened).

So I mentioned this after church during the fellowship hour that I needed to sell my boat because of all of this, and a parishioner who is building a new house on the water offered to buy Sunday's Child after I told him I was only asking $2700. (He already owns three other boats: a 41' and a 34' Hatteras, and a 15' Hobie Skiff. The Hobie sits on the foredeck of the 41')

I'm still looking for a new boat, but my budget is only $200 per month in payments maximum. For the time being, the SeaCraft runs very well, and I just put in new Faria Chesapeake gauges, too. But with this boat and the age of it I'm not real comfortable running out to one of my favorite grouper fishing spots which is about 80 miles offshore. I'll fish it comfortably up to 12-15 miles, but further offshore I'd want to repower and restore it first, and my health no longer allows me to do all the work myself, so I can't afford it.

So the wife says get a new boat. :-)