We didn't buy the Hunter because of the woodwork, we bought the IP because it was more pleasing to the eye inside and out. In fact, I didn't know what kind of boat they just dropped onto its cradle at the brokers yard, only that the lines out of the water were very pleasing to both my wife and I. (FYI, we are talking all of this happening in about a 2-hour time span).

We had looked at the Hunter a couple of times in the previous fall. After much discussion over the winter and the fact that our Islander was stuck in the bottom (again) when we launched in the spring, we decided to purchase the Hunter. The Islander sold within 2 weeks and we were looking at the Hunter one more time with the broker before we signed the papers. I was more than pleased with the boat, being that I am the mechanic, maintenance guy and boat boy, being able to get to everything was really cool. I was willing to overlook some things to get others that would ultimately make my life easier. We left the marina and headed back to the broker's office, when we got there a boat was sitting dripping in a cradle. The lines were very pretty, the beam was fat and the keel was shallow. Hmmmm, what's this? We each looked at the boat separately as we were talking with the broker about selling and buying. We had driven down separately and when we got home and compared notes we both liked this other boat. We looked at it closer and found it was an Island Packet. I read about them before, there are only 3 here in town so it's not like they are easy to find and look at. I went back, put a ladder on the side and climbed aboard, it was very nice. We sent the broker a text that evening with an offer on the IP. He was shocked as we had "decided" on the Hunter.

Had I taken the time to look past the pretty boat and all the teak, I would have found that it would be difficult to maintain.