Boat 1, Bike 0

Well, I went to see the boat after work today, and it was alright! The construction of the hull is really substantial, made from something like 1/16th ali sheet - as opposed to the 1.5mm stuff that they're made of latterly. This is a boat that was launched when Nick was only 3 years old, and its been in the same family ever since. I really liked the man who was selling it. I decided that he was honest, and since he is a mechanic for Mercedes, his assurance that the motor was sound carried some weight. It sounded fine to me.

The surface of the metal is a bit rough to the touch here and there on the outside of the hull, like all aluminium gets when exposed to the elements for a long time. Over the years, the paint has either fallen off or been rubbed off one way or another. It was obviously used well. In the old man's garage (it used to belong to the vendor's father) was a collection of old fishing rods arranged on lateral hooks like Samurai swords, with old plain wooden reels. There was a fair bit of old paraphernalia to do with fishing in there, and it reminded me a bit of the sort of set up of the old fella in 'On Golden Pond' with the beautiful old wooden launch...only a bit down market. (This IS Australia!).

We agreed a price of $2,600 and I'm now a boat owner! 4.3 metres of maritime fun. 35hp isn't really enough to water ski, but its not a million miles off I'm told, so it'll be fast enough eh!

Now I've got to figure out where I'm going to keep it. (No I haven't thought it all through!) I have been giving the justification some thought over the last couple of weeks, and I've managed to justify it to myself. At first, Daile was less excited by the news that we are a boat owning family than I'd expected. She's worried that we need the money, and we do. As it is, the estimates for the house design are all coming out at about twice what we have in the budget, admittedly for a totally architect and builder produced house, and we should be able to make some considerable savings on that . But a boat is an Aussie thing, and the justification for the average Aussie man will run the lines of 'I want one' and perhaps... 'I need one for fishing with me mates'. It isn't likely that they would encounter too much resistance since this is a very male sport oriented country.

Never-the-less, I'm not an Aussie, so I've compromised and agreed that I wont be buying a motorbike.