With little time to fix all the issues, I passed that boat on to a friend and picked up a 1973 Marinette Seacrest 41 foot aluminum houseboat. During the purchase of this boat, I thought that I was doing everything right. I had a full survey completed that picked out some deficiencies with the boat, but overall it was reported as a great boat.
My problems began preparing to get the boat shipped home. After being screwed around by the transporter for a few days, they finally showed up to move the boat. When loading the boat, they mistakenly sat the boat down on the port prop shaft and put a slight bend in it. I would not notice this until we launched the boat at home. While in transport, the generator kicked on and ran for a couple hours. This caused the generator to completely meltdown and it was dead. I went that entire season without a generator and the bent prop shaft. On the last trip of the season, I hit a submerged log and bent the other prop shaft. This entailed my blog detailing the full rehab I performed on the boat. We used the boat all last year and loved it, however something was still missing for me.
I found the boat to be very comfortable when there were only a couple of us on board. That quickly changed when having my young daughter and any more guests. You would find yourself on top of each other or not being able to sit in the same area of the boat. This started me thinking on where I should look next. I was always enamored with the Pluckebaum houseboats. A good friend of mine purchased one a couple years prior and I absolutely loved it. However, it was always a little big for my use of a weekend boat. If I was planning on living aboard it would make perfect sense.
There had a been a boat that was listed for sale on the houseboat forum for a few years. It actually turned out to be the very first boat that Pluckebaum made under their named brand. It had extensive work done to the boat by its current owner and has sat dormant since 2006. The look of the boat is definitely an acquired taste. The enclosed pilot house gives it a look of a tug boat. At first glance I was not really impressed but the look definitely grew on me. After more investigation with Pluckebaum and the current owner, I fell in love with this boat. It is the perfect size in my eyes and has all the little extra accessories that I would love in a boat.
It is a 1969 52x18 Pluckebaum
-Twin Cat diesels with 200 hours
-New Westerbeke Generator
-750 Gallon fuel capacity
-Single level layout
-Central air and fully insulated
It sounds too good to be true right? Well, here are my list of issues so far.
-The boat hasn't left the dock in 10 years.
-The boat can't be moved over the road as it is too tall.
-The trip home will be all by river and covering near 1400 miles. (WAIT, that trip will be awesome!)
My worry with the trip home is the unfamiliarity with the boat and the amount of time it will take. I am working on a limited number of vacation days this year. If everything goes as planned, I will be able to make it in 12-13 days.
I have signed the purchase agreement and I am awaiting the current owner to get the boat ready for a sea trial and survey. If all goes well, I will be posting my itinerary for our trip home.
Here is a picture of the new "Figment" if it all works out.
