Exciting news! We have a "new" sailboat!

Bob saw an ad in the local paper advertising her for $500.00, which is a really good price ... fixer-upper or not, it's a good price. We went to look at her and saw she'd need some cosmetic work, so Bob asked the owner, Frank, if he could knock $50.00 off because she'll need paint. Frank offered to cut the price in half and we jumped on that like a duck on a June bug.

When we went to pick up the boat, Bob had a stack of twenties with two fives on top ... totalling the $250... and Frank said, "Could you give me that five dollar bill?". Bob looked puzzled, but handed him the bill. Frank said, "The state requires you pay something for the boat, so we'll call it even and you don't owe me anything else." Needless to say, we were stunned. Bob tried to talk him into taking the money, but Frank wasn't interested in the money -- he just wanted someone to take the boat and use it. What an amazing experience! And what an extraordinary man -- I won't even go into the whole he-works-with-the-doctor-Phil-show-and-was-recently-interviewed-by-60-minutes thing. Way, way past all his accomplishments is the undeniable fact he's a really nice guy -- what we like to call "good people" -- and a pleasure to chat with.

Anyway ... THIS is how she looked when she was sitting on Frank's property. You can see she needs some TLC. Her paint is faded, her teak is bleached out and she's got a few minor chips here and there.

We knew the exterior needed some lovin', but the condition of the interior came as a complete surprise - peeling paint, mildew, crud, old dirt dauber and wasp nests.A good scrubbing and some paint will do wonders, right?

So we took her to the Krum Car Wash and scrubbed her good.

SURPRISE -- A CREAMY-YELLOW BOAT! It's amazing what a power wash can do -- including removing the oxidized outer layer!

BTW, her name is Rising Sun. Bob immediately thought of the whole Japanese / Michael Crichton book thing. And I immediately began to sing, "There is a house in New Orleans..." LOL! For your entertainment, here's the you-tube Animals KARAOKE version of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRV9QCXLtHQ

Gonna have to go for now, but I'll keep you posted on her improvements as they come along. In the meantime, we'll be on Lake Ray Roberts this weekend! Woo-hooo!!!