The Two Best Days

The two best days - you have surely heard the line before, often referred to the joys of boat ownership. I, however, have never been an advocate for that way of thinking.

If the first best day is the day in which you purchased your boat, what were the reasons that made it so? And if the day the boat was sold was truly the second best day, then maybe the boat was not the best fit for the owner's needs or maybe those needs changed. Either way this is not the fault of boating or the boat. The key to a joyful boating experience is fitting the correct boat to the correct needs.

As many of you may know, my family and I own a wonderful Sea Ray 240 Sundancer that we have spent much time aboard and totally enjoy. The VERY best day was the day that I arrived home, 'new' boat in tow, and backed it into the driveway - my wife and kids running out of the house to greet me. Since then we have enjoyed many overnights, long weekends, and trips aboard our boat. Many memories were made. It was all we needed to have loads of fun. Why would we need anything else? This boat fit our needs perfectly.


As it happens, we discovered that over time our needs are changing. The kids are getting bigger, our level of cruising experience is expanding, and our desire to cross bigger bodies of water is exceeding the capabilities of our 24' boat. Therefore, the inevitable day arrived - the day we sold our boat.

Some would say that this is supposed to be the second best day of boat ownership. However, as I showed the boat to two wonderful and excited prospects and explained about all the upgrades and personal touches that I did to the boat over time, I discovered that it was hard to let go. The memories of our family fun came rushing back. I could see myself at the helm cruising up the lake. There was my wife and daughter at the cockpit table enjoying a game of Yahtzee with the sun shining and the warm breeze blowing their hair. I could almost hear my son screaming that he caught another fish, an action that seemed to take place with every cast. I once again began to get excited about being out on the water. I convinced myself that if the boat should not sell, then back in the water it will go.

Reality came quickly crashing back as the words came out of my customer's mouth, "Looks great! We'll take it."

That is when the supposed second best day turned suddenly sad. Our boat is sold. I almost felt like saying, "Are you sure?" But I knew this was for the best. Had we kept this boat for another season we probably would not have been as happy as previous years. Our needs are changing. We are outgrowing our boat.

Now we have the freedom to concentrate on finding the next boat that better fits our changing needs and experience that first best day all over again.

Ted Shelson