Not for purposes intended....

"Not for purposes intended". Seems a rather trite legal term, something you would expect a manufacturer to put on a warning label or something. In my case, this is what you scribe on the back of a cashiers check when you didn't give it to the person it was made out to for the agreed upon transaction.

My son and I drove to Milwaukee over the weekend to look at a very nice Catalina 25. I had spoken with the seller the Friday before and the price I had offered was agreed upon. He knew we were coming, I even told him on the phone that I would call and let him know the Sunday before that we were for sure coming. I did my part. Called, left message confirming arrival and to let me know if anything would change. Got the check too. Made the hotel reservations for Milwaukee and for Tomah for the return as it was going to be a slower trip back and I wanted to take it easy.

We got in to Milwaukee around 4 and checked in to our hotel. Stayed at the Hyatt downtown, was pretty nice and reasonable I thought. Called said seller..... hmmmm, voice mail... well I will leave a message telling him we are here and to call me about meeting on Sunday. As the evening wore on I heard nothing. 

So my son and I went to the Safe House for supper. Fun place, based on 50's James Bond spy stuff. Entrance off an alley, passwords to get in, dial a secret number on the phone to get out, all that sort of stuff. Dinner was great, had fun. Still no call back. 

So by now I know this is not going to happen. No return call, I didn't bother with another as I knew he wouldn't answer. Who knows, maybe he got a better offer, maybe he was busy, maybe whatever... In my book, you make a phone call or something if you cannot make the arrangement work. Common courtesy. He just chose not to be a man of his word apparently.

So my son and I loaded up around 9am and headed home, no sailboat in tow. Just a bitter taste about the boat but, we did enjoy ourselves together which is something. 

Lesson learned is to be more diligent in dealing with sellers, especially out of town sellers. Not sure if I will hold off now on boat shopping or not. The snow will be flying soon and that means winter is very close by. Holidays are coming too, everyone will be very busy the next 6-8 weeks. Who knows, maybe there will be a boat that finds me before spring.....