Finding 'that' boat

Now I'll admit, when I first saw the Hake Seaward 46rk, I was a bit, meh. About it.  I thought it was kinda goofy looking.  The pics of down below were not really talking to me. My spouse on the other hand was positively vibrating about it from the get go.

Well, we had our chance at the Annapolis boat show to finally see Hull 1 in person.  And I was beyond pleasantly surprised.  She wound up hitting both Tim and I's Top 5 in 'things we are looking for in a boat'.  There are some things down below I would change, I was not a fan of the color ultraleather they used in the salon.  While there are some nice handholds throughout, I was surprised that the galley did not have fiddles.  However, a minor thing to change since they are built to order.

So after meeting owner/designer Nick Hake and Sales Manager Rob Parks, we connected to get a tour of the company in Stuart, FL.  A small shop to be sure.  They managed to sell Hull 1 at the boat show--to the couple we were hanging out with on it Friday eve!  And they trucked her back for some TLC before the new owners took her over.

Hull #2 is currently purchased and Rob promised to send us picks of the owner mods they are putting to her. However, we got the fun of playing around in half finished hull and get a cool tour of the inner/inner workings of the boat.

It's not a big company, but they hope to expand to help speed up the production of the boats.  They have Hull #3 almost sold, it's contigent on the cruising couple being able to sell their Passport.  Will we possibly be Hull #4?  Who knows, but I'm thinking probably not, I'm not sure we are ready yet. We are still thinking of getting into an affordable larger boat to make sure a larger boat is really what we want. (Tim says…DUH!)  Since there is a certain lack of faith in the Hunter Marine Corp right now, there's a couple of Hunter 45 DS fully loaded going for a good price.

Who knows?  Maybe I'll win the lottery.  Oh wait, I have to PLAY to actually win, correct?

Here's some pics of Hake Yachts.  Thank you Rob and Nick for your time!!!

Tim checking out the retractable keel while they spruce up Hull 1
for the new owners.

Hull 1. Note how the boom is actually integrated to the boat
and not the mast.
(clouds in back are outer bands of Hurricane Sandy, more on that later)

Rob says if we pick up the larger solid lead keel, we'll get a boat for free.

Rob and Tim discussing specs of Hull 2.

Hull 2 in back. Their other boats either being finished or retrofitted surrounding.