Why is it, that when you are looking to buy a boat, you can never find one that suits your needs? This is what happens to many people every year and in particular to ourselves. It's just like buying a house. When you are selling, it is a buyer's market and when you are buying it is a seller's market! This year my husband and I decided that it was time to buy our first boat.

Now we have been boating with our friends on their Bayliner for many years. They pay for the boat expenses and we bring the food and drink in exchange. Not a bad deal we figured, until we got the boat bug ourselves. Now we want to own our own boat. After six years of boating and as many seasons of boat shows, we decided to take a boating course. So a couple of winters ago, we signed up for a rather lengthy boating course of 16 weeks. We decided that firstly we wanted to be safe boaters and secondly we wanted to protect our very expensive boat investment when the time came.

Week after week of classes, lesson after lesson of plotting and tying knots came and went and finally it was time to graduate and try our luck at boating with all this new found knowledge. We decided first to try out our expertise on our friends' boat, but discovered that was like having two cooks in the same kitchen. Things don't really run as smoothly as one would like. Tie a knot. Have someone retie it for you! Hang the fenders over the side. Have someone reposition them! So after several weekends of unsuccessful attempts, the decision was made to buy our own boat sooner rather than later where we could tie our own brand of knot and observe the channel markers the way we had been taught!

So we started to look. What happened to all the "For Sale" signs that we had seen only weeks before in every marina that we cruised past? Where were all those perfect boats that we had seen in every cove and tied up to every dock? They were no where to be found. Finally after perusing the yachting magazines and journals, talking to several boat brokers and searching many internet boats for sale sites, we found what we thought to be the perfect yacht for us - right in our own backyard. Only five minutes from our home there is located a marina with lots of power boats. Last year there were many for sale. But as luck would have it, we were not looking then. This year, there were fewer boats for sale. But on this one particular morning as we drove through the marina parking lot, we spied the perfect boat. We hopped out of the car and walked over to take a closer look. The boat had been pulled out of the water, so we were able to look it over from all sides including the bottom.

The information that was posted beside the boat looked very promising. Just the right length. Just the right age. We had already agreed that this boat make was good quality. An inflatable dinghy with motor and seawise electric lifting system was also included. The boat also had a GPS and all the trimmings. But the price, could it be correct? It seemed a bit low for this particular yacht. You guessed it! The twin engine system was gas, not diesel. This was the reason for the excellent price.

We thought that we had found the perfect boat! In fact we had except for one very expensive item. For those of you who own your own boat, you can related to the expense of a gas engine yacht. Gas engines are fast and great for skiing and lake touring in small boats, but on the ocean and in a large yacht, the cost can be prohibitive. (Note: Recently diesel prices and gas prices have moved closer together.)

So once again, our search begins in earnest. And once again, there are no boats for sale. Or is that just our take on the situation? Surely the boat for us is just out there waiting to be discovered!

Valerie Giles owns and operates Boats, Anchors and More http://www.boats-anchors-and-more.com a boating resource site featuring boat accessories, boat chartering, new & used boats, fishing lure manufacturers, inflatable boats, outerwear, thermal underwear & sunglasses. Everything you need for the boating season.