Houses and Boats

I haven't bothered blogging much about the numerous other boats I have toured since seeing Golliwobbler. Frankly, none has impressed me as much as the old girl. I have seen quite a few beauties out of my price range, but who hasn't?

The other thing is that the housing market has impeded our ability to sell our Phoenix home. We can't get a boat until we unload that house. We have dropped the price from our original of 399k to now 375k. Still no offers, and worse yet . . . the showings have stopped. It's January 12 and no one has come to see it since Christmas eve. There was an open house today but I haven't heard the results. As if the housing market hasn't hurt us enough, last week my bride was laid off from her mortgage processor job. She has 18 years in the business. That cuts like a knife. The bright side is that now she can come to SOFLO to visit me. YEAH BABY!

Today, Saturday, she went to visit our old boat neighbors at Pleasant Harbor Marina in Arizona. So naturally I went to a marina here. Remember I wrote about Burnt Store Marina? Well, their only near competition is Fishermens Village in Punta Gorda. I went there for the first time today. It was very nice. There's a shopping district and restaurant row. It's very upscale and the slip prices match. Their moorage rates are at $16 per foot per month. Wow, last time I saw rates like that I was in the middle of the Arizona desert. On top of the 16 per foot, they charge $125 per month liveaboard fee and FIFTEEN DOLLARS a day if your dinghy is in the water! What in the hell, Bobby? I'll take Burnt Store Marina for 12.50, Alex.

I sat on a bench at FV Marina, blogging and staring out at Charlotte Harbor. Thanks be to God. This is great. Visiting these sites I had previously only seen online is tantamount to stepping into the pages of a story book. This is great. Here's a photo of me at Fishermens Village.