Origins (Part 2)
During that period I came across a catamaran in the Bahamas that fit loosely within the budget and would double the size of our business platform. Cats sacrifice some sailing strength for living comfort, but we weren't going to be crossing the ocean in this thing anyway. I'd been on but never sailed a cat, and I certainly wasn't comfortable bringing one up myself from the Bahamas, so I looked around for delivery captains to at least get a quote. That's when I (digitally) met Ed Radonic, a professional captain familiar with both the waters in the Bahamas and up here in Lake Ontario. I reached out and we chatted briefly, him asking what my dream boat was for this purpose. I told him "Honestly, I'd love a newer Jeanneau in the 38-42' range, but those are outside our budget."
It just so happened that Ed used to own a 39' Jeanneau, a real beauty, and that he thought the current owner might be interested in humouring a conversation about selling it. So, Ed put me in touch with Paul, who had purchased the boat from Ed and took it down to the Bahamas in 2015. Paul was a semi-retired consultant and did a lot of bouncing around but, serendipitously, was based just outside of Toronto and spent a lot of time in Niagara visiting family. We agreed to get a beer at Bench in March, to shoot the shit about boats and breweries.
Beth wasn't available to join us that day (she was busy earning our income while I was on this nautical sabbatical), but Paul and I hit it off immediately. I brought some of my old sailing notebooks and Paul brought a whack of due diligence on his boat, Black Diamond. We chatted for a long time. We had a beer or two. We were like college buddies catching up after a few decades even though we’d just met. Total bromance.
Paul had enjoyed Black Diamond in the Bahamas for eight years, spending a few weeks every winter on her, and getting good use out of the boat (rather than just leaving it at the marina). Now, though, he was getting restless, and wanted a new adventure, so he had considered putting the boat up for sale, either in the Caribbean (where it would sell slower, but for more money) or on Lake Ontario (where it wouldn't pull the same price, but would probably sell pretty quick). He asked if I'd be willing to help sail it north from the Bahamas to Ontario. I said yes, with minor caveats. We chatted about those details for a while and came to a loose gentlemen's agreement, that regardless of what happened with the purchase, I would fly south and help him sail the boat north. If I ended up buying the boat, then I had effectively got a delivery captain (or crew...) for free, and if I didn't buy the boat, then he got the same. It was the kind of good faith, good karma deal that I like - I firmly believe that you get back what you put out, and we were both willing to put something out there.
Now, I had started the conversation with a frank comment about our budget. Paul had waved that away and then we went on this rambling storytelling journey. But as things started to wrap up, he said "Well I guess we should talk about money." He told me a number that, were we to offer it to him, he would have to walk away. That number was exactly our budget. I reminded him of that. He paused. "Oh. Hm. Well, let's bring her north and see what happens."
That was good enough for me.
I did some due diligence and then booked a flight to Palm Beach, where I would meet Paul again and Black Diamond for the first time.