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The Search for "The One" Last winter (2002-2003), I had spent some time looking informally for a Lyman online, and had discovered some good resources. When Heidi said we should look seriously for one this year, I immediately turned to the task, not knowing whether we would have success or not. I did a Google search for "Lyman", and began following the various hits. Most of the sites that dealt with Lymans had classifieds sections, and I browsed through each one in turn, taking note of interesting listings. One site, www.lymanboat.com, had more listings than all the others, but there were no dates posted, so it was impossible to know whether the ads were current or hopelessly outdated. I knew we were looking for a boat anywhere from 18'-24' in length, so once I had satisfied my voyeuristic need to view all the ads, I narrowed my search to the boats in the proper size range. I considered and rejected a few as overpriced for our purpose, or too nicely finished (I was looking for a project to complete myself), or too dilapidated. Hoping against hope, I sent off a few emails to the addresses in the ads I was interested in, not really expecting to hear back from any of them. Much to my surprise, later that day I received a response from one of the ads. Indeed, the boat was still available (and in fact had been one that I thought really looked cool). This boat had the added benefit of being relatively close by, located down in Massachusetts south of Boston in Hingham. Many of the other boats for sale were located in Ohio and Pennsylvania--which seemed too far away at the time. (It is interesting to note that suddenly Ohio didn't seem that far when we decided to buy a new trailer from a company there...more on that later.) This is the ad that caught my
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1960 Lyman 23' Inboard/Runabout PHOTO
$ 2,500
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 I
was pleased to hear back, and we soon had discusses more about the
boat and set up a tentative time to meet so that I could see the
boat. Unfortunately, when that day arrived later in the
week (on Sunday), a small snowstorm intervened, and we decided not to
try to travel to see the boat. We left the schedule open, since
the owner didn't know his schedule, but eventually we went down on
Super Bowl Sunday a couple weeks later and got our first look at the
boat. Both Heidi and I knew
that there was virtually nothing that could have stopped us from
buying the boat, given the description and the price, but of course
one never knows.
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 Getting
into the boat was something of a trick, since she was covered in
shrinkwrap. To get in, we cut a small opening at the stern, and
with only the help of a small 2-step stool, I managed to squirm my way
in, however in a most ungainly fashion. The large powerboat
directly behind the Lyman thrust its heavy anchor perilously close to
the opening, so avoiding a skewering was the priority.
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