Note to potential buyers

We are receiving a lot of interest in Sokari, lots of emails and phone calls. We respond to all emails received and are always happy to discuss her with anyone who is genuinely interested and to show people over her. If you are only browsing the boats and not really serious about buying, we would appreciate it if you would tell us. We'll still give you advice over the phone or by email if that's what you are after. If, on the other hand, you are really interested in Sokari, and wish to arrange an inspection, we'd appreciate it if you would do us the courtesy of giving us advance notice so that we can make arrangements to travel down to meet you.

We understand that everyone is looking for a bargain and there are some to be found. While we are negotiable on the price we have a limit and it's obviously not as low as some would like. We would, however, look at a real estate trade. But talk to us. Our phone number is 0418 886 794 so if interested you can ring us and have a chat. We do occasionally receive emails instructing us to "ring me" but we simply can't ring everyone who contacts us. If you can't afford a phone call, you can't afford the boat. If you're not prepared to ring, you aren't really interested.

Computer glitch

Boatpoint relisted Sokari today. There must have been a computer glitch that knocked it off the site. We must go in and note that she is at Cardwell now and that we are including a new Netbook and USB GPS Dongle in the sale.

SOKARI IS STILL FOR SALE

John received a huge shock last night when he logged in to do his regular check of our listing on Boatpoint and SOKARI WAS NOT THERE. There was simply a sign saying that the boat was no longer available. BS. So for anyone still interested in Sokari SHE IS STILL FOR SALE.

The other notable fact is that Sokari is no longer in Cairns. We have moved her to Cardwell.

Hopefully, Boatpoint will do the right thing and reinstate Sokari. We didn't cancel the listing. John is fanatical about renewing every month, despite the fact that Boatpoint is often lax in sending the renewal notification.

So, rest assured SOKARI IS STILL FOR SALE

2010 Sokari on the move

A couple of weeks ago Cyclone Olga fizzled over the coast with little effect on us as we sat in our favourite cyclone hole but when we returned to our mooring the strong northerly winds gave us a bit of curry for a couple of days. Olga wandered west then reformed heading SE and sent heavy rain and galeforce winds over Cairns. We were able to check out the boats on Cairns webcam and from our home on the Tablelands it appeared really horrendous. Phone calls and text messages were flooding into us from friends on their boats, and John considered racing down to be onboard in case of problems. But when he rang Cairns Met. he was told that they didn't expect anything higher than 20-25 knots. They were wrong and reports of 38 knots were reported from boats on the piles and other very experienced yachties anchored near our mooring said they experienced up to 50 knots. Many boats dragged damaging many more but Sokari's mooring held fast. Thank goodness. But perhaps that is due to the fact that John has the mooring serviced at least twice a year. It had only just be redone a few weeks prior. John drove down the next day and found no damage except the winds had done a job on her side covers so I guess I have another job, making new ones. John had wrapped line around the main and boom cover before the cyclone and left it there for security. He had also removed the wind generator to give it a service.

We recently purchased a new Netbook, loaded a navigation program on it and with one of the USB GPS dongles that we import plugged in, he headed off a couple of days later, taking Sokari south to haul out. He enjoyed the sail, with northerlies the first day but the second day they dropped out to absolute calms with light headwinds coming in a little later. He dropped the pick on the southern side of Dunk Island where he spent the afternoon and night and pulled into Hinchinbrook Marina the following day. For the moment, there she sits. I drove down by car to spend a few days onboard but the heat was so unbearable that we decided to return to the more civilised climate on the Tablelands until it is time to pull her out of the water.

Murphy is alive and well and living with us.

Well, Murphy's Law is working overtime again. John was recently working on our house and injured himself, tearing the bicep muscle in his left arm off the tendon. For a week we didn't know what he'd done to himself. All we knew was that he was in tremendous pain. The options were broken arm (the most preferable scenario), burst muscle or bicep tendon torn off the bone. When the surgeon examined him he announced that it was the latter and John had emergency surgery two days later in Cairns. Five days later he was told by the surgeon that the tendon had torn off the muscle not the bone - still not good but certainly better than the other. So here he is, now in a full cast from shoulder to wrist and he is going nuts. He can't work on the boat, he can't work on the house - although he tries to do a few small jobs. With a number of people showing interest in Sokari it is very inconvenient not to be able to get some of the cosmetic jobs finished. John was so depressed at his inability to do these jobs that he decided to drop the price from $260K to $248K for a month only. I know that as soon as he feels better, he will realise that we shouldn't do this and the price will go back up. He's just feeling a bit down right now. Sokari's a good boat, she has been our home for a lot of years and has always looked after us. We would trust her to take us anywhere in the world.

We're still in rainy Cairns

John and I had planned on sailing Sokari down to Cardwell to haul her out, clean her bottom and give her a few coats of antifoul. Unfortunately, the fates have been against us. A couple of months ago, the afternoon prior to us setting sail, bushfires threatened our home on the Tablelands burning to within 15 feet of the back wall. So, we hightailed it from the boat up the mountain, straightening out all the bends on the Gillies Highway and reaching the property in record time. Luckily, a couple of friends had spent hours there fighting the fire until firies could arrive, saving our home. Our sincerest thanks to these heroes. By the time we were able to go back to Cairns the weather had turned bad. In between trying to build a house and organising our departure date around house jobs we haven't been able to get away. It seems that when we are busy on the house the weather is calm and when we can arrange to get away it starts blowing a gale. So here we are still sitting on our mooring in Trinity Inlet. But we hope to get away soon. Our apologies to those who were wanting to inspect Sokari in Cardwell. We will get there as soon as we possibly can and will let you know.

Inventory

Description: Catamaran, off-white hulls, cream decks, green & gold logo, gold names.

Contact: John & Rosemary Ph: 0418 886 794 or 0427 855 838
Email: svsokari@hotmail.com

Location: Lifted out of the water in Cardwell on February 1, 2010. Sokari will remain on the hard for the cyclone season.

Year Launched: 1993 on the Sunshine Coast

Designer: Roger Simpson, Simpson Design

Dimensions: LOA 43 ft 6 ins; Beam 24 ft; Draft 3 ft.

Power Generation: Petrol Generator; 5 solar panels (2 x 74 and 3 x 40 watts); Air Marine wind generator; Inverter 1 x 1200 watt and 1 x 300 watt.

Engines: Kubota D850 x 2. The originals gave 15 years loyal service but were replaced by two more low hour motors in February 2008.

Accommodation: 2 Kingsize forward cabins; 2 singles in aft cabins. Port aft cabin is currently used as a workroom.

Shower: Yes – in port hull. Bathroom includes shower, toilet and vanity unit. Original instantaneous gas hot water service will be replaced with stainless steel brand new system – still in its box.

Toilet: 2 electric – one in bathroom, one in bow of starboard hull, forward of cabin and aft of crash bulkhead. Both replaced in 2008.

Sail Wardrobe: Main; furling headsail – replaced in 2006; tri radial spinnaker 1½ oz.

Ground tackle: 45 & 52 lb. CQR; 30 metres 10mm chain, heaps of 20 mil rope, Orca electric anchor winch.

Safety Gear: Yes

SALOON:

Chart Table: Yes

Electronics: VHF DSC Icom M502; Kenwood 680 HF & Tuner; GPS (3) – Apelco; Navman and USB GPS for your computer. Innovatek DVD/Radio/MP3 Player with Monitor; Kross LCD flat screen TV; Depth Sounders (2) – Autohelm Seatalk (port hull), Lowrance X29 (stbd hull), Autopilot – Autohelm 3000.

Tender: 10 ft. aluminium Stessl dinghy and 2 outboards (3 h.p. & 4 h.p. Yamaha)

Gas Bottles: 2 x 9 kg.

Computer: Purchased January 2010 new Netbook with Navigation software and USB GPS dongle.