The Purchase

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live” - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

I don’t know about you, but all too often, I get stuck in the dreaming phase of life. Kirstin could make a list as long as the Harry Potter novels of all the things I have dreamed of doing. Some outlandish, some reasonable. Most remain in the dustbin of my mind.

Determined to make this dream - a dream of freedom and education through travel - a reality, we got to work… and bought a whiteboard. Baby steps, right?

Anyway, from whiteboard to purchase, this is the tale of All Hahns on Deck becoming the new owners of Magic Dragon.

Aiming to learn more about a Gulfstar 44 (“GS44”) in Ohio, I joined the Gulfstar Ownership group on Facebook in April 2021. The Gulfstar Ownership group is filled with wonderful Gulfstar enthusiasts. They love their boats and the brand. Post after post people dote on their boats and help each other out. But, as I scrolled through the group seeking information on the GS44, one recurring post continued to catch my eye.

“1980 Gulfstar 50 For Sale - Magic Dragon”

Jim and Sally* published their for sale by owner post everywhere. We continued to pursue the GS44 in Ohio, but I also opened a dialogue with Jim about Magic Dragon.

“Hey, I’m reaching out on your GS 50. “ - Andy Hahn 4/30/2021

We were officially pursuing two boats, both Gulfstars.

Within the next five days, Jim and Sally gave Kirstin and me two virtual tours of the boat, totaling ~90 minutes. We liked what we saw. Magic Dragon appeared to be a reasonably well taken care of Gulfstar 50 (GS50) that checked a lot of our boxes. Watermaker. Two cabins. Two heads. Newer navigational electronics. Nice sails.

I wanted to keep Magic Dragon available as an option, but we had gone under contract on the GS44 in Ohio.

The GS44 also checked off quite a few boxes. It had the added benefit of being on the Great Lakes. We were hoping to buy the boat and sail it through Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan back to Chicago, where we could have easy access and refit the boat close to home. I had a vision of slowly refitting the boat through the winter and spring, then cruising the Great Lakes during the summer season, and taking off down the Mississippi River towards freedom and adventure in the Caribbean before the harsh winter set in up north.

That beautiful vision came to a screeching halt on inspection day. We called the survey off about halfway through - on the recommendation of the surveyor and diesel mechanic - because the boat was in such a state that a complete survey and engine inspection was not possible. The sails were not fully on the boat. The diesel mechanic couldn’t inspect the engine because they failed to obtain an appropriate starter battery. The electrical systems were not hooked up. The surveyor found significant soft spots in the deck. The comedy of errors was longer than I care to list.

We backed out of the GS44 contract.

It was an incredibly disheartening experience. It was time to turn our attention back to Magic Dragon.

“Hi Mark. Sorry for falling off. We have not purchased a boat yet. We put a contract offer on a Gulfstar 44, but the survey revealed extensive water penetration in the deck’s core. … Are you still looking for a buyer?” - Andy Hahn 8/5/2021
“We are still looking.” - Jim

That simple conversation unleashed nearly two months of constant communication that slowly inched towards a deal. For various reasons, it almost fell through multiple times, but, patience and persistence won the day. We got Magic Dragon under contract and scheduled a survey in Port Charlotte, Florida, on September 21, 2022.

Survey weekend was a whirlwind of activity. We flew down from Chicago to Fort Myers. We knew that we were in for a long weekend. The big issue was that Magic Dragon needed to be splashed, surveyed in the water, sea trialed, hauled out to complete the survey, and then readied for a return to hibernation. We only had two full days to accomplish all of these tasks.

We had an atypical survey experience. Typically, the prospective buyers are not expected to do much work on the boat to prepare it for the survey and to ready it for storage again. But, we volunteered to help Jim with some of this work to make sure the survey could get done within the allotted time. Also, we looked at the work as an opportunity to explore the boat a bit more than we otherwise would have.

The survey was mostly non-eventful, and most of the issues identified by the survey were expected. The electrical should be rewired. The deck had a couple of soft spots that should be repaired, etc. The survey also highlighted many great aspects of Magic Dragon. The sails were in great shape. The rigging was relatively new and sound. The layout was fantastic. The only surprise is that the surveyor expressed some reservations about potential blow-by on the engine.

We flew back to Chicago to wait for the report. The report confirmed our thoughts and opinion on the day of the survey, and we had a decision to make.

On the one hand, Magic Dragon largely lined up with our expectations. On the other hand, the engine issue was a red flag. I am pretty confident in my ability to fix things or learn how to fix things, but engines are different. We took our concern back to Jim and negotiated a reduction in the contracted price to account for potential engine issues, and the deal was ready to be finalized.

In November, Jim and Sally drove up to Chicago, and we finalized the transaction in person.