Chapter 7: A Decision to be Made

I'd pretty much put the matter of the boat being destroyed out of my conscious mind while Ardele and I used the Internet to search out potential replacements. We had made a mutual list of the things that were must-have, should-have, and would like-to-have on our next craft. The more things we listed, the more we realized we were going to need a boat bigger than fifty feet. While we were going to have to make compromises, we were in agreement about what the most important features were.

Late in August, I had a call on my cell from the RCMP detachment in Campbell River. The constable wanted me to know that they had identified the two dead men on my boat and it turned out both had criminal records. They were going to e-mail me pictures of them to see if I could identify them. A few minutes later two mug shots appeared attached to an e-mail on my laptop. I opened the jpeg files and looked at the two men. Ardele was right beside me when their images appeared.

"Well, well, Pat," Ardele said. "Those are two of the guys who chartered from us in July. Surely you remember them."

"Oh yeah. I remember all right. Randy, wasn't it?" I said, pointing to the one on the left.

"Yeah," she said. "I think the other guy was Corey. I'm pretty sure that was him."

I walked to my file cabinet and pulled out my charter booking register.

"Here it is. Booked by Terry Shatzenberg and listed Corey Butler, Fred Lepper, Randy Brezinski, and Chad Lepper. I wonder if all five were on board when it was stolen?"

"You better call the RCMP," Del suggested.

"Right away," I agreed. I picked up the phone, checked the last number called and pushed send.

My conversation with the constable was fairly brief. I gave him the names and contact phone numbers for the five men who had chartered with us in late July, advising him I had reported them to the detachment after they left the boat. I identified the two pictures I had been sent and was thanked for my cooperation.

"I should have guessed it might be them. What the hell were those guys up to?" I grumbled. "And why did they want my boat?."

"We keep asking the same question," Del replied.

We sat in silence for a while.

"To hell with it," I concluded. "We'll just have to be more careful who we accept in the future."

She nodded agreement, but in truth, I wondered how we would know in advance. I certainly didn't have any clue or hint beforehand that these guys were undesirables other than my niggling thoughts while cruising.

The Internet yielded a large number of potential replacement boats; however it was going to be necessary to see some of them in person before we knew what would suit us. Our first objective was to find something on the west coast, eliminating a long transportation problem. That would narrow our search to start.

I was getting a little bleary-eyed looking at boats for sale, and had flopped on my sofa with a beer while Del continued to peruse the possibilities. I had almost dozed off when I heard her call me.

"Pat, come and have a look at this," she called, her back to me, not turning away from the laptop screen.

I rose from the sofa and stretched before approaching her from behind, putting my hands on her shoulders.

"Whatcha got?" I asked, looking at a set of specifications.

"It's a 54 foot Bertram," Del said. "According to the specs, it sleeps eight. Two staterooms and a bunk room with four singles. It was built in '82 and is sitting in Astoria, Oregon. It has no engines. What would a pair of diesels cost? They want $199,000 for it as is. The photos show it's in good condition if they're current. It's got all the electronics, plus some extras. What do you think?"

"Let's have a look at the pictures and specs, Del. If we're interested, it isn't that far to go to have a look at it. I can phone around and see what a pair of reconditioned diesels would cost. It's probably not out of our price range if it's as advertised. Hard to sell a boat with no engines, so that may be why the price is so low."

"There's a comparable boat for sale in Marina del Rey that's listed for $358,000 US," she continued. "If we could get the Astoria boat up here and re-engine it for less that a hundred grand, we'd be ahead, right?"

"I'm pretty sure we could do it for that kind of money," I agreed, "but it might need some other work as well, so we'll need an expert opinion. Do you think you could do the survey? You have the education."

"I know the technical aspects, Pat, but I don't have any experience. I don't think we want to take a chance that I miss something important."

"Okay, I understand. Let's do a little homework first and then decide if we want to drive down to Astoria and have a good look at this canoe," I kidded.

"Who are you going to call?" she asked.

"Damned if I know as far as the engines go, but Baldur Gerhard did the survey on Captain's Choice before I restored her and his assessment was right on the money. I'd want him to look this boat over too before we made a commitment."

"Yeah, of course. I know who does know about engines. Hec Taylor, my old boss at Inlet Towing could put us on to the right people."

"Great, give him a call. You know what we're looking for. According to the specs, this boat is about thirty metric tons, or 65,000 lbs displacement. That should give them an idea of what we'll require. The draft is a little over five feet and we'll want a cruise speed of twelve knots at least. I'm guessing we need six or seven hundred horsepower. If we can keep the consumption rate down below fifty gallons-per-hour at cruise, we should be okay."

Del was scribbling notes and nodding as I talked. She ripped the page off the pad and pulled out her cell phone, punching in a familiar number. I went back to the laptop and looked over the specifications and features on the boat once more. She was right. It had everything we needed for charter work. It had a crane and inflatable with outboard on the bow deck and plenty of room for another on the transom.

In addition, there was plenty of room to fish from the stern on this model. Apparently there was a live bait tank built into the deck at the transom, along with an ice locker. It wasn't a sport fisher design, but it had some of those features that we could use when needed. In addition, there was plenty of room on the command bridge for the crew to bed down if we stayed out overnight. We had accommodations for six to eight clients for overnighters. That was a bonus.

I was getting excited again. This looked like a good possibility. If we could get it cheaply enough and bring it up to our standards, it would be an ideal charter boat. Even if we didn't, I knew where we could buy one just like it in California. I'd have to pay a premium, but I'd have a boat that on surface examination was just right for our needs.

Most of the Bertrams for sale were on the east coast, with a couple in the Great Lakes. I carefully examined both the Astoria boat and the Marina del Rey boat for differences. They were only a year apart in build date, so the structures should be similar. The electronics were quite different with seemingly more modern equipment on the Astoria boat.

There was no indication of why the engines were pulled on the boat, but I assumed it was to have them rebuilt. They would have been nearly thirty years old if they were the originals and maybe the owner ran out of money.

Del had been on the phone for some time before returning to the living room.

She was smiling as she approached.

"Hec says we should be able to pick up some very good rebuilt engines for less than ten thousand each with a trade-in. He said we should only buy rebuilt by manufacturer-approved shops. That way we'll have a warranty. If he's right, we'll have a lot of room to bring that boat up to our standards."

"What about new?" I asked.

"He thought, depending on brand, that you could double that estimate, or more. He said he hadn't bought new in a long time. He was trading in his tired units for re-built, keeping the cost down. He's been happy with that."

"Okay, that's a big help. Looks like the Astoria boat is the first one we want to look at," I said.

"Let's do it," she grinned.

"I'll call the number and see when we can view it."

It turned out that we could see it almost any time as long as we gave the broker a "heads up." We decided that sooner was better, so we planned to drive to Astoria the next day, leaving early in the morning. We should be able to see the boat by late morning the day after. I called the broker back and told him when to expect us. He called back a few minutes later confirming that he and the owner would be waiting for us to arrive.

We stayed in Longview, Washington, overnight before crossing the Columbia to the Oregon side and making the run down to Astoria. The broker had given us good instructions and my Blackberry GPS led us right to the site. The boat was out of the water on the hard, and we boarded by ladder after Ardele and I had inspected the hull, the rudder and props.

We discovered that the owner was a sixty-something widow whose husband had died unexpectedly some months ago and left the boat's refit unfinished. Although a number of people had advised her to have engines re-installed before trying to sell it, she wanted no part of that. I got the sense that any reasonable offer for the hull would be accepted.

"What do you see," I asked Ardele.

"It's in good condition, Pat. The galley could be updated and some of the furnishing and fabrics need to be replaced, but I don't see anything major so far."

"I agree," I nodded. "The hull has been cleaned and bottom painted. The props and rudder look good externally - don't see any signs of abuse or damage. And, a bonus, did you see she's even got a bow thruster."

"I talked to the woman and she said they had four children, all grown now, of course. That was the reason for the bunk room. They bought the boat new in 1983, so they've had it almost thirty years. She said there weren't that many places that they wanted to go. There isn't much sheltered water around here unless you go up the Columbia."

"Yeah, no doubt about that," I said. "Anyway, I like what I see so far and I think this is a good opportunity. How about you?"

"I agree," she nodded. "Let's get Mr. Gerhard down here and have him give us an opinion."

"I'll call him now," I said, pulling out my cell phone.

I arranged to pick Baldur up at Portland International the next day and bring him over to the boat. It was fortunate he was available that quickly.