Seattle search finds our little ship
In mid June 2013 we short-listed 3 boats in the Seattle area and made the trek down by car. We imagined ourselves being happy with the first one we saw – a sturdy Benford 41. We reasoned that we ought to check the other two out as well, so the next day we drove further south from Everett to Seattle.
The next boat, a Peterson 44, met all the paper specs, but we just could not see ourselves living aboard comfortably. It had enough room, but the feel was just all wrong.
Unfortunately (or fortunately!) we simply fell in love with the third boat.
But it was all wrong! Arabella didn’t meet most of our our written specifications. Aft cockpit, full keel, heavy displacement, shorter than we had in mind. She was just perfect however! What a magnificent lady! Mature and wrinkled she was, lots of cosmetics needed, but beautiful curves and a lively sheer, very redeemable because she was solid, extremely well built and she had good bones! Arabella, a 1978 Hans Christian 38’ cutter! Hans Christian’s are regarded by the experts as very able and excellent blue water cruisers.
We spent a couple of hours on-board and explored every crook and nanny and felt that we had identified most, if not all, the problem areas. Lots of work was definitely needed, but nothing we discovered was overwhelmingly formidable, and the price was right! We closed the deal there and then; subject to a survey of course. What a pleasure to deal with Paul Jenkins of Elliot Bay Yacht Sales who was patient, courteous and very professional. Everything was painless and went without a hitch.
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