Why, you might ask, do I need to know any of this?

There are several good reasons. The first being that if you are contemplating a purchase and commitment of this magnitude, you may want to kick the fenders and look inside the Dragon. It would be good to know where she lives. If you are coming any distance, you might want to stay more than a few hours and see some of the local sights. If you are truly interested and are a qualified buyer you might even want to take the time to do a day sail (sea trial), a weekend cruise or a week or two in the Florida Keys or Bahamas. All this can be negotiated and arranged with a proper, reasonable financial commitment. The most important reason to know where the Dragon lives may not have occurred to you as yet. The Dragon needs a home and you will need to provide a home for the Dragon. I am not talking about you providing a “good home” for Millennium Dragon. I am talking about a place to moor or dock the Dragon once you purchase her. Even if you plan to move aboard and sail off into the sunset, you will need a good deal of time to prepare yourself and the vessel for this adventure.

Where will you keep the Dragon
until you are ready to start
your live aboard adventure or extended cruise?

Any vessel capable of world cruising or living aboard requires adequate mooring. The cost for mooring any world class vessel can get into thousands of dollars per month. You need to look into your cost for keeping any vessel you purchase at a dock or on a mooring while you prepare yourself and the boat for your adventure. You may want to read or reread my log of our first year sailing Millennium Dragon. The boat was commissioned a few days before January 31, 1999. My wife and I began full time preparation for our extended cruise in early April 2000. What was planned as a short three week final preparation turned into 6 months (to October 18, 2000) of final fitting, refitting and sorting out major issues. Anyone who has purchased a new vessel will understand. Over the past seven years we have sorted out what works and gotten rid of things that didn’t. The point is that simply stepping on a boat and sailing off into the sunset is very difficult and really only accomplished if you are chartering for a week or two. If you are to make the Dragon your own a bit of time and effort needs to be spent to get to know her. Even if you are extremely efficient it will take you a month or two getting ready for the adventure. So what is the answer and where will you keep the Dragon?

I am planning to build my next boat and take several years to do so. When the Dragon sells, I will not be using the dock at my home for several years. I am very willing to talk about either short (up to 3 months) or long term (6 month renewable lease) use of my dock with any interested, qualified purchaser. I am assuming even a live aboard couple will need a month or two preparation time before starting the big adventure. There may be a prospective buyer who wants to do some extended cruising but needs a place to keep and refit the vessel between vacations. I am willing to talk about a docking arrangement that could last up to two years. Alternatively you might want to look into some of the marinas that are converting to “Dock-O-Miniums”. I have seen some of these priced between $200,000 and $750,000 in South Florida. When my wife Kathy and I transitioned from living aboard for two years to land based shorter term cruising she wanted a place to come home to. We had traveled both coasts looking for a proper place to keep the Dragon keeping in mind, “If coconuts don’t grow there, we don’t go there”. Our search lead us to Punta Gorda on Florida’s west coast. We looked for a home for several weeks. Our timing was good. We sold our home in Miami and went looking at property with Nancy Andreae. Before I walked through the house I checked the dock and the available turning basin. As we walked around the corner of the building and saw the dock and sea wall, I knew we would buy the place. I have always told people we purchased a dock with a house attached. Prices have gone up. The empty lot across the cull du sac from us is for sale at $950,000. It has a great view and lots of dock space. The ongoing cost of keeping a boat does put my asking price into perspective.

Another major concern is insurance and insurability. Millennium Dragon was hauled in Spring of 2007 for mechanical work and bottom paint. The bellows / diaphragms for the Volvo Penta Sail Drives were replaced. At that time an Insurance Survey was performed. This vessel is now insured. The insurance also requires filing of a “Hurricane Plan”. An Acrobat file of this plan may be reviewed below. This should provide you with additional information regarding the value of the extended dockage I offer to negotiate with purchase of this vessel.