The lead up to Venture - Part One:

'Dick' (The name has been changed to protect the idiot)... rocks by job, rocks in his head by nature... the Great Tayana 37 Saga of 2012 ….

For several years before Venture (or Anthem as she was known then) came along, we each had our own ideas on what we wanted in a boat. For example, the first thing Dave wanted in a boat was himself... the major problem was, we were diametrically opposed because the first thing I didn't want on a boat, was me. In my own way, I thought I could talk him out of it but as time went by, I knew it was futile because I found myself scanning through used boat ads and wondering what had happened to my sanity.

A small part of me had not yet become ready to develop my jelly legs so there was still much argy-bargy at times, many disagreements and the odd blurted promise that I wasn't going to do this and it wasn't fair and pout, huff, whine and grizzle. All for nought really because in a way I did want to, and once my brain had finally decided that it would go over to the dark, watery side and that it wouldn't be too bad, the hunt was on.

Much research and searching had gone on to find our ideal boat. Dave looked avidly and had even written computer scripts to automatically search for particular boats throughout Australia and email him each day with the results. He looked at the spec 'n' tech sides of things, poring over facts and figures, seaworthiness and comfort scores, equipment and inventory. I, on the other hand, looked at all the nice stuff.... storage, seating, comforts and pretties. If the boat didn't look nice from first glance, with classic lines and nice windows (okay... portholes then!), it was crossed off the list. There were other consideration as well... must be GRP, must have full keel, less than 40'... stuff like that. We had to find something upon which we agreed.

Anyway, after months and months of constant searching we finally found a boat that we really liked... an old Tayana 37 yacht moored in Brisbane. We loved the look of it and wanted to go and see it. Through the yacht brokers, Dave made an offer, which was accepted by 'Dick' (the owner). This was in May, 2012.

Waaaahhhhhh!!!! How exciting! We may have found our dream boat! We immediately booked flights, a car, a hotel and flew out the next day from Adelaide to Brisbane.

When we saw the boat, we loved it at first sight. It was ideal for both of us and we spent the next few days going back and forth to the marina, taking inventory, checking safety equipment, paying the deposit, signing the contract, organising a crew and insurance and just sitting in the cockpit smiling... it was all good. I had never seen Dave more excited. But sometimes things happen that mar your perception of people. 'Dick' showed his true colours and proved to be an idiot!

When we disembarked at Adelaide airport, Dave switched his phone on only to find a message from the broker... 'Dick' (a geologist), who had bought the boat for peanuts only months before and stood to make a pretty decent quick profit out of us, had changed his mind and didn't want to sell after all. We were gutted. He used many different excuses to justify doing it, and we were thousands of dollars out of pocket and boatless (the man didn't even have the decency to offer any type of refund). We were angry with him, his brokers were furious and said they may threaten legal action. *sigh* It took us weeks to get over it. In the meantime the search continued.

After a couple of months, in July, we happened across another Tayana 37, this time in New South Wales. We were cautious but rang and talked to the broker, explaining what had happened with the last Tayana we had looked at. She was very reassuring and so we made an offer. This was accepted and a flight was booked for Dave to go and see it in a couple of days. Then, astonishingly, the broker rang on the morning he was to leave and said that the owner had gone behind her back and sold it to a mate. She was furious, we were dumbfounded. How could it have happened again??!! We felt so downhearted, it was difficult to find enthusiasm for a while. Then, whilst doing a search, I came across the first Tayana for sale again... three months after the guy had yanked it from us! This time up in Cairns after he'd moved it further north. Un-be-lievable! Though he was reluctant, Dave contacted him again but it seemed that the 'problems' the man had were greater than we realised and in the end Dave refused to communicate with him. It came down to me to be the reasonable voice because I still wanted the boat.

Our communications started on a very calm level and it seemed that all would be well after all and the voice of reason was speaking up loud and clear. He re-accepted the original offer and was seemingly quite happy with the arrangements... for a while. Because he was dealing with us again, 'Dick' was also still obliged to the broker who had handled us in the first place, so Dave and I communicated everything with him as well. As days went by however, it seemed that something was amiss as 'Dick' wouldn't commit to anything and started becoming a little ..um... odd, especially when we said we needed to have a survey done in order to get insurance. He also began insisting that we pay one month's rental for the marina berth in Cairns, despite the fact that he wouldn't sign the boat over. Then he began saying that we were taking too long, despite the further fact that I had asked, in almost every correspondence, whether he had signed the contract yet. I was starting to feel sad for him. It seemed that geology was a dangerous occupation. The rocks in his head had done quite a bit of damage to this poor man's brain. Was he challenged? Possibly.

Eventually, despite me thinking that it may be okay, and reassuring Dave that he wouldn't possibly do it again, 'Dick' proved himself as completely weird as he had been previously and did it again, sending an email that simply read that he and his wife had decided to withdraw the boat from sale and 'thank you for your interest'! I wasn't gutted this time, I was furious, emailing my opinion of him and in doing that, something had been decided for us. We would never look for a Tayana again, even if one threw itself at us and all I could hope was that Karma bit him in the arse someday. The broker said we were better off. He was fed up too. The Tayana owners (all 3 times) were rude, uncaring and/or unhinged. I hope I never come across 'Dick' in our travels, because I may just kick him where it doesn't tickle. :)