I needed to start the boat Documentation process right away because the Bank would require it to register their lien on the asset. Paul Montgomery had documented his boat in the USVI for $60, and ten minutes of his time, so I concluded that I could do the same.   Much to my surprise, the USVI requires that the boat be physically present!  Paul purchased his boat in the BVI, so he was not aware of the details surrounding his stroke of luck.  My boat was at least 3 days (and $3,000 delivery cost) to the south.  I would also likely have to make the trip down myself.  The “lead balloon syndrome” had just kicked in.  Suddenly, I was not feeling well.

I began to research other options.  U.S. National Documentation was out because I was not an American.  This left a whole raft of countries that modeled their documentation processes after the British system, one with a very strict set of guidelines.  Basically, you need the following (bear with me here, I want to share with you the full agony of these requirements):

• Notarized Bill of Sale
• Certificate of de-registration (previous owner’s registration)
• Certificate of Survey and Certificate of Gross Tonnage (following $$$$$ expensive on-site survey by a registered surveyor that lives very far away from the boat)
• Blueprints for the boat
• Umpteen million forms filled out, signed, notarized.
• Ridiculous amounts of money for a whole series of “fees”.
• About 3 – 4 months elapsed time, optimistically.
• Establishment of an incorporated company (required by some countries - Caymans, Turks & Caicos, St. Vincent).

In the end, I chose good ol’ Canada because their requirements were no worse than anybody else’s, would be slightly cheaper over time, and the thought of the Maple Leaf flying across the stern instilled a sense of National Pride.  The next three months would call into question my love of country, as I discovered that Transport Canada is dedicated to making the Documentation process as difficult as possible (See 1 Year Anniversary Report for all the painful details.)

You can search for, buy, and arrange all sorts of activities for the boat easily by E-mail, but proving the thing exists on paper requires an Act of God.  Bureaucracies need to pull themselves out of the Middle Ages here, given that we now live in a Global Village where International transactions are the norm.  Besides, this was a production boat, not a supertanker.

The Bank

These people deserve their own section. 

Prior to purchase, I had discussed this plan with the Account Manager at my Bank  to ensure that they would be there when I needed them.  Since I had been a long-standing customer of the Royal Bank of Canada with all my accounts, mortgage, RRSPs, and testicles on deposit in a vault somewhere, I was assured it would be no problem.  Besides, I was providing a 60% down payment.

It was now crunch time, and I could sense that their enthusiasm for the deal had waned.  My calls were not getting returned promptly.  I cannot blame them – their Small Business Loans Department is in the business to write $5 million deals to open retail institutions, manufacturing operations, and service organizations that hire people, not front puny deals on some “money pit” floating in an obscure Lagoon in some country they’ve never even heard of.  How would they secure the asset?

When I finally cornered my Account Manager, he went off to figure out what steps would be needed to make this funny transaction possible.  He came back a day later and informed me that they could not release the funds until the boat was Documented.  I knew that Documentation was 3 – 4 months away, and that it needed a Bill of Sale, which of course would only be provided once funds were received.  The classic Catch-22.  “We’re screwed!” he said.

I hung up the phone and wandered the streets for a few hours before I was able to get my heart restarted.  I felt like I had been hit by a train.  Great - after a year of bending the ear of countless people, actually going through the process of making an offer, I would now have to back down.  While I had not placed any money down with the offer, I would likely have to honor that commitment, else be banished from the Caribbean forever.  And, if I ever did get the problem straightened out down the road, who would take me seriously in the future?  I was quite irritated, to say the least.

I sent Seth an E-mail detailing the problem.  Fortunately, his brain was still operational and his patience very much intact.  He sent out a few E-mails to some associates (a Bank manager, a Yacht Broker, and a Lawyer) in the business asking for their opinion.  They all responded the same – “This is Bullshit!”

This type of response provided the necessary support to pick myself up and get tough.   I left a very firm voice message for my Account Manager, indicating that the health of all my ongoing business with that bank was contingent on this deal.  I also indicted that I was prepared to “go upstairs” if I did not get what I wanted.  Next day, when noon rolled around and I had not heard from my Account Manager, I did indeed “go upstairs”.  I called management.  In the middle of that conversation, Line 2 lit up on my phone – it was the Account Manager, and he had the good news I was waiting for.  He had apparently been offsite all morning and was unable to contact me to tell me he found a simple way to complete the transaction.   Apparently, I misunderstood the “we’re screwed” comment, and that there was never really a problem.  Gee, silly me.

Now that we were still pals, he set up the deal with a local lawyer who would draw up the papers in a day or so, and I was home free.   He would get around the Documentation problem by having me sign a Letter of Intent stating that I would Document the vessel “as soon as possible”, and that they would register the lien at that time.  Basically, they were trusting me for an interim period of time.

I have to hand it to these guys at the Royal Bank.  In the end, they really came through for me, considering that they were handing me a large sum of money to spend on a boat (always a questionable investment) located somewhere “away”.

Meanwhile, Back in the Islands

On Friday, June 4, I waited in front of my computer screen all morning.  The boat was being hauled and the survey completed.  I received several updates from Seth.  He had been there at 10 A.M. and completed the inventory list.  There were many things to iron out.  The surveyor had begun his inspection and would be done in a few hours.  Seth would meet with him then and decide if there was any reason not to accept the boat.  I would get a written report on Monday, but there was an opportunity to get some refurbishment work done while the boat was out of the water, effectively saving me the cost of a second haul out, if it was a “go”.

At 5 P.M, I received a note with the subject: “Good News on Survey”:

Hi Rob

OK, I just had a talk with Joe Brown who has finished the survey. His comments are:

a. Value of the yacht is in the region of $US 130,000
b. No signs of osmosis
c. Minor repair needed to top of rudder to stop water ingress
d. A couple of nicks under the stemhead where an anchor fluke has hit the hull - needs filling and fairing off
e. Hull needs buffing
f. Stainless work needs polishing

He says that the yacht is in very good condition overall - “cosmetically dull but no structural problems” - basically nothing that a damned good hull polish couldn’t cure. So this is all good news.  He is writing up the report over the weekend and I should be able to fax it to you on Monday.

While she is out of the water I suggest that we arrange for the rudder repair to be done, for the nicks in the hull to be filled, for the hull to be polished and buffed and for the bottom to have a couple more coats of paint.  Should be able to have it done by Tuesday.

The surveyor’s report will contain a few small recommendations of things that need doing, but there’s nothing major or of any concern.

So it looks like this is going to go ahead Rob - perseverance has paid off.  You’re getting a great yacht.  I will try and Fedex photos to you early next week and on Monday I will be sending you bank details for Sunsail.

Let me know if there’s anything more you need from our end (I will get you the registration stuff tomorrow).

Best wishes
Seth
Barefoot Yacht Charters

And with that, I shut down my computer and went out for a celebration drink.  Actually, quite a few.  I was a new boat owner.

Gulp!

Once the lawyer drew up the papers, I met with the Account Manager at the Bank.  This deal was intriguing to him, given the fact it was so off-the-wall.  He wondered what kind of nut would spend so much money on something he did not inspect personally.  With that, we shook hands, and he escorted me over to a teller who would transfer the funds.

I cracked a few jokes as the teller filled in the necessary information.  We reviewed it one final time before she pressed “Enter”.  That was it – easier than grocery shopping!  I had just wired a boatload of cash to some unknown bank in the UK in payment for a piece of fiberglass allegedly sitting in a boatyard half a world away.  All I had to show for it was a bunch of E-mails, bits of electromagnetic particles scattered across a hard drive.

The fact that I really had nothing more than E-mails was a small concern to me.  The idea that the whole thing was an elaborate scam to defraud me did cross my mind.  This was all happening very fast and my brain was not operating properly at that point - the boogey-man had taken up permanent residence in my closet.  Fraudulent scams do happen, every day, and the victim usually doesn’t see it coming.  I wondered if I was about to become one of these people.  Remember, all I had were the E-mails!

I reminded myself that Sunsail was a reputable worldwide outfit, and that the St. Vincent outfit would not logically go through such an elaborate plan for relatively few bucks.  Get a grip, Rob!

Charter Preparations

Once Sunsail confirmed that the money was in fact in their account, they released the boat.  The underwater work, application of new antifouling paint, and a good polish had been completed.  Seth arranged for someone to dinghy over and move it from a Sunsail mooring to a Barefoot mooring, about 50 feet.  That was it, and I followed this exciting activity through a series of E-mails with Seth.

There were a number of things that had to be done.  The boat came very well-equipped, but like all Sunsail purchases, a dinghy and outboard motor was required.  New linens, a few galley items, insurance coverage, and application of the Barefoot livery were all that was left.  Barefoot arranged all of this and put it on my account.  By the 23^rd of June 1999, I had myself a charter-ready boat.

Travel With Tin Tin, ready for charter.