To buy a boat in Queenstown

Whilst Lisa, Erik, Kevin and I were scouting Dingleburn and Ahuriri, Max and Kevin went to scout Lake Manapouri.

But as they say in the military, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

The enemy being, in this instance, a closed road, which made it impossible to reach the lake canyons they wanted to scout without kayaking over 20 km one way. While that’s doable, it’s not really viable when carrying gear and food for a week.

Since they had already been driving for over two hours, they decided to check out Lake Hauroko instead. There, they spotted at least three nice-looking creeks within a 20 km loop, with more potential further up the lake, as well as two promising creeks by the road on the way back.

That meant we’d have to get a boat, which turned out to be easier said than done.

Rentals are quite scarce in New Zealand, and you’re usually not allowed to take them to lakes other than the one they’re rented from. However, we did find one and were expecting to hear whether we could rent it once we got out of the Greenstone Valley and reached a place with cellphone service, which was, of course, Mrs. Woolly’s General Store in Glenorchy, a place we’ve never passed without stopping for cake and coffee.

We can't even be bothered to walk out of the store before attacking our order

When we didn't see a message pop up when we got back, we already knew this rental option wouldn't be our answer. Lets see if we can get a boat second hand instead.

A full day of ploughing through facebook marketplace and sending out numerous messages, we arranged to look at 2 boats the day after, at 5pm.

When Max, Kevin and Me got to the first boat, it was quite clear that this was wat we were looking for.  

A 6m long, aluminum boat equipped with a 25 horespower outboard motor that had mostly been used fo fishing and diving trips. The size of it means we'd have to make 2 trips across the lake everytime to take everything and everybody across, but that would be the case with any boat that falls within our budget.

The hull is in a good state and motor starts easily,

"It looks good, we'll make a short test trip across the lake, and if it's good we'll take it, Max says to Doug, the guys who's selling the boat.

This is when it gets a bit weird, since the seller kind of doesn't want to let us take a test drive. At first it seems like he didn't expect us to want to test it straight away, and has plans for the evening which make it complicated, but after a while, the truth comes out.

"I don't really know man"

"What, if you can make time for us to test it tonight?"

"Nah, I don't know if I wanna sell it, let me call my brother", and he disappears into the house for a bit. We're looking at each other flabbergasted, and consider just showing him the money and saying we'll take it straight away to try to change his mind, but ultimately decide not to rush him, and us. after a minute or so, he comes back outside.

"Nah, I don't think I wanna sell it man, I wanna keep it".

This was obviously not how we expected this to go, and we left feeling a bit taken aback.

Alright onto the next boat then, it's only a 20 minute drive.

This one has a way stronger motor and a fiber optic hull, which is not as sturdy, but could work as well. We're not as enthusiastic, but since we don't have too many options, we'll try it anyway.

After about 10 minutes of the motor not starting, we drive back to base a bit lost, but then the seller of the first boat texts us again. I changed my mind and my plans. Let's meet in 20 minutes for a test drive at the Queenstown marina" he says.

When  we get there, Doug is waiting for us with the boat on the trailer.

You can go and test it on the lake, but I'm not getting in with this weather" Doug says, looking at the waves are getting bigger and bigger.

Alright, we'll go, Kevin and me say, already getting in the boat, when Max says he's not going in either.

"I've never sailed a boat like this, and I'm not doing it for the first time when the waves are coming in like this".

Kevin looks at me, at the lake, and back at me again.

"Well, I think its possible, but if our whitewater maniac won't go in, maybe this is a bit over our paygrade as well", Kevin says.

Even after trying really hard, I can't really disagree with that logic, but that brings us to another dilemma. Are we going to buy a boat we haven't tested in the water yet?

Yes we are

After this it's only a matter of connecting the trailer to max's car, realizing that's impossible, calling Pepijn to come pick it up with his car, realizing that yes, his tow hitch matches, but his trailer plug is completely missing meaning we won't have rear lights, settling on Max driving really close behind us to keep it safe only to lose him on the first turn before finally making it home with the boat, meaning our Lake Hauroko mission is going through.

Us finding out the boat trailer doesn't match Max's tow hitch