All Spreaders Completed!

Almost a year ago we attended a nautical flea market in St. Pete at JSI. We went in with a small list of certain things we were looking for within our budget. Then out of the corner of my eye they called to me to come take a look. There they were two sets of beautiful wood spreaders, already refinished and ready to go. Of course when we spoke to the gentleman selling them they were way out of our price range. He proceed to laugh at us when we offered him $100 for both sets. That was to be expected. They were perfect and had come off of a 45' Cheoy Lee Sailboat that he no longer had. Sadly the whole boat had been parted out and the spreaders were the last things he had left. So you can also imagine the emotional cost that went with the price tag. So we continued on walking through the flea market that day and was lucky enough to find the other things we were looking for. We didn't think much more about the spreaders that day and we just carried on. It was nautical flea market season so our list multiplied for the upcoming markets. Then there they were again! The guy selling the spreaders could see us coming and probably wanted to hide. Matthew was relentless with his offer of $100 again. We explained our situation and the type of boat that we had purchased, with no masts. The guy counter offered Matthew's $100 with $600 this time, Matthew then offered $200. Of course the gentleman said $575. We said no and walked around the market the rest of the day. As the day was closing out on the market we stopped in to talk with him one more time. This time we just chatted with him. Then at the end of our conversation Matthew offered him $100 again, lol. But this time he had a different look in his eyes. Instead of looking like he was insulted he said, $350. Matthew said $100. This continued for a few minutes until all the sudden, the guy said $200 and Matthew said $150. We just stood there and waited for a response. He then said "Ok..., sold" and handed them over with a look in his eyes of wanting to cry. He responded back with "Enjoy them" and I said "Don't worry they are going to a good home". I think he was in shock over the fact that he could have sold them for $200 the first leg of the day. As we walked away from the table everyone we went with to the market were so excited for us and called us Pirates the rest of the day. That was exactly how we felt too, like Pirates, RRRRRRR! So to finish out this story we wanted to share a picture of the Coup d' Amour with ALL her spreaders and rigging up. What a momentous day for us and the Coup. She only has one missing piece before we can take her out for her first sail in over 10 years, a triadic between both masts. At this pace Matthew will have that done in no time. Back to work.