How to Buy a Boat: Part I

Mattapoisett Harbor

You know the saying: The two best days for a boat owner are the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

Well I bought a boat a few years ago and it was the best day. So I thought I’d share with you the process I went through to get there and hopefully help you in your own search for a boat.

The first thing you need to do is decide that you want a boat.

I grew up in Mattapoisett, MA which is a small town on the water near Cape Cod. To know where Mattapoisett is imagine looking down on Cape Cod from the air—Mattapoisett is the armpit. It’s a real pretty town right on Buzzard’s Bay.

We owned (still own) a 30-foot sailboat, an O’Day Intrepid 9 meter, named Sunset.

My family would cruise Buzzard’s Bay and spend weekends in different ports. It was fun bringing friends and exploring with the dinghy—getting a taste of what freedom felt like.

As I write this for you, I can’t help but think about some of the funny stories we had from those trips. Here’s one I’m laughing about:

One weekend I brought a friend with me and we were all in the little 9 foot Boston Whaler. I think we decided to stop and have lunch so my dad asked my friend to throw the anchor over. And so he did. We were still drifting so my dad asked him to tie it off. My friend said “Sure, with what?” Turns out he threw the anchor and the line overboard. Thankfully the water wasn’t too deep and we were able to get in the water and bring it up.

So the first piece of advice is to make sure you’re ready to own a boat. I’ll have more for you soon.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.