Real Ships 61' Islander - We did it!

Hey everyone.

I love this group and all the information everyone shares so freely. We are Seattle boaters, with our current boat moored on Lake Union but get out into Puget Sound a lot. We do 200-250 hours/year just up here. We currently have a Tollycraft 53 (63 LOA) which we are selling to move up to our next adventure. Strange to think a boat 2' shorter has SO much more room. Nearly 10' of our current vessel is swim step and bow pulpit. 4' wider beam (21 vs 17) sure helps a lot too .

We are under contract and moving forward with full survey etc on a 1997 61' Real Ship down in FL. We were able to go check it out in person for a few hours this weekend and it was everything we had hoped.

I have been obsessed on trawler style boats (Nordhavn, Kady, Salene, etc), and this boat checks all the boxes at a much easier to swallow price point. Yes, I am aware of the differences maintaining steel. And love the idea of the stronger platform that comes with it. Lots of logs and debris in the water in the PNW.

Current seller has done a lot of work to it, and it shows. Full sandblast of hull and total exterior paint etc. Interior is in wonderful shape as well. I was able to crawl thoroughly through all the bilges and everything looks clean, dry, and free from rust on the interior side of hull.

Now the fun begins. I am hiring Jeff Hahn (at the recommendation from many forum posts) to do the survey, ultrasound, sea trial, and engine mechanicals. (Cat 3116). Will be spending a couple of days with him going through it all and hopefully everything turns out well. In doing searches, it was kind of cool to see this same vessel in various stages of her life in old postings. Even found an ad in a yachting magazine from when she was new. I just seem to have a draw to unique boats.

Although we are Seattle boaters, I think we are going to retain the moorage in Aventura at least through spring and enjoy a different part of the world before shipping her back (or if adventurous bringing it back on its bottom slowly via many trips over a few month span once more comfortable with it). My wife is from Panama so its been a life long dream to do the transit ourselves through the canal.

Looking forward to getting out and seeing the Bahamas and So Florida on the water.

Anyway, wish us luck and I will report back as we move forward. And as always, always open to any advice from others

Jade Panama'

That's the one.

Whats funny is I found this post from 2008 of same boat. https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/real-ships-61-sold.8732/

We ended up not going through with that purchase. His broker has got to be one of the shadiest I have seen in the industry. This was mid covid. Financing was slow. We asked for 5 more days to finalize financing. No other changes. Broker convinced seller to cancel contract as he had another offer where broker represented both ends of deal. It of course fell through 2 weeks later and they came calling for us to come back.
We took it as a sign to move on elsewhere. Glad we did. We ultimately ended up with our dream vessel. A top of the line custom vessel in a total other league. Without the headache of transporting her back home.
There are two 65’ Real Ships here in Seattle. Owners love them.

I talked to the previous owners of your vessel when doing investigation on indigo. They “fixed” the big shortcomings of the indigo with the extended hull and swim platform access.
Best of luck!

wade