It's a Boat!

Hi All,

After 40 years of boating in various and sundry craft, I've decided to slow down and take it easy...

Introducing Thurman, Susan, and Headwind.

Headwind is a 48' Steve Seaton design made by Mar Marine and launched in 1984. She's currently on the hard, but we hope to have her launched and ready for the sea trial on the 25th on this month. Her new home will be the Chesapeake Bay. My current feelings about all of this are a mixture of and ...

Hello!

Thurman

Welcome aboard, Thurman. Best wishes on your commissioning! Love to see some pics.

Hello Thurman,

Your "current feelings" seem accurate enough.

The Seaton boats are very heavy duty heavy cruisers, trawlers and usually passage makers. Blue water boats to be sure. Pictures would be very nice. Especially hauled out. They all seem to have a "little ship" aura about them and well earned.

Wondering what you "slowed down" from.

Welcome Thurman, hope to make it down your way this year. Look forward to your pictures.

Come-on Thurman: Don't tease us with talk about a Seaton. If Eric likes them, this must be somethin. Pics?

healhustler said:

Come-on Thurman: Don't tease us with talk about a Seaton. If Eric likes them, this must be somethin. Pics?

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I'll post some pictures as soon as I can, but for now, here's a link to the Yacht world ad for our boat. It doesn't say "sale pending" yet but it should, as we've gone though offer, acceptance, and survey, with only sea trial left to do yet. That and getting it home to the Chesapeake from St Marys Georgia...

1984 Seaton/Mar Custom LRC Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Seatons are indeed very heavy craft; ours is 48' LOD, has a beam of 15'11", and a draft of 6'6" with 2,471 gallons of fuel on board. She has a maximum displacement of 50 tons.

As to what we slowed down from, it was a classic woodie, a 38' 1967 Chris Craft Sea Skiff Corinthian. That was what I owned last; my most recent experience has been crewing on a Navy/Luders 44 yawl. I'm kinda varied when it comes to boats...

Looked at the sister ship a year ago in Savannah. They are truly built like tanks. Hope you have a very diligent surveyor. The sister ship had lots of projects that needed attending to. The draft was the deal breaker from the start. Was still fun to poke through the boat. Was out of the water when I went to see it. When you look at the picture on YW, and then visualize there is almost 7' more below the surface.......wow!

Yachtworld ad says it is a single diesel but wheelhouse pic shows 2 sets of engine controls and 2 sets of gauges? Nice boat.

On set of controls could be for the controllable pitch propeller. Larry

LWW said:

On set of controls could be for the controllable pitch propeller. Larry

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Yes your right Larry, Headwind has three power controls. One for the engine torque, one for the clutch, and one for the CPP. She also has 2 gensets, with a set of gauges for each, plus an engine set. Stabilizers, watermaker, 4 AC compressors, cold plates for fridge and freezer, plus all of the expected trons. The PO was into toys and things that move and go flash. Good thing I've got marine electronics training and experience.

Well, it turns out that we will not be buying headwind after all. She totally failed the sea trial. The is no way that boat will ever move from the yard she's in now without either a large infusion of cash, or a tow rope. Among the lowlights;

The primary hydraulic system, which is used to shift gears in the transmission and to change the pitch of the controllable propeller, is according to the mechanic, "shot". The pump has failed, and the (approximately) 50 gallon reservoir has rusted out. The boat cannot move under power until this system is operational.

The primary (15kw) genset is not functioning, nor is it repairable. The previous owner told me "it wasn't working when I bought the boat. I don't know why it's in the listing".

The secondary (8kw) genset is damaged. It took 2 hours to make it run. It either has a failed preheater, or it needs rebuilding. No attempt was made to verify it's output.

According to the surveyor, the water in the bilge is "dangerous" because there is 110 volts AC in it from somewhere. He flagged this as a safety problem...

The stabilizer hydraulics have failed, and the stabilizer system contains no hydraulic fluid. As that system was not functional, it was not tested operationally.

The radar, according to the owner, is non functioning, and requires replacement.

The rudder was not movable until fluid was added to the steering reservoir, which was empty. It then appeared to function normally.

I had a preliminary survey done prior to sea trial, but none of the above items were mentioned. I'm not certain what I expected from the survey, but that wasn't it. I guess we'll keep looking.

Sorry to hear of your disapointment. Keep us in the loop on your search for a boat.

What a bummer! I'm kind of confused, though. Do you mean it failed the survey, rather than failing the sea trial???

John

So did you even get a guess as to what amount of $ it would take to get the boat right!

Good grief that rundown sounds like a horrible April fools joke! So sorry.

I looked at a few "fixer uppers" that where in "very usable" shape. Usable for artificial reef structures I assumed.

Shop locally became my mantra after that.

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies and condolences. The survey I commissioned stated [FONT=&quot]"THIS VESSEL IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN “AVERAGE CONDITION” THROUGHOUT." [/FONT]On the strength of that report, I proceeded to sea trial. You know how that turned out...

I didn't get any info on what it would take to get the boat right. I can guess that a new hydraulic pump (custom fitted to the Cummins NH-250M engine) would be co$tly, as well as a new hydraulic reservior, radar, and a new 15kw genset. Not to mention repairs to the stabilizers. These are only things that I KNOW are wrong. I don't have a clue as to the condition of the transmission, CPP, or the other electronics.

I did make a low offer that compensated for the known problems, one that was 35k less than my first offer. That was pure guess on my part. That offer was ignored.

thurman said:

I did make a low offer that compensated for the known problems, one that was 35k less than my first offer. That was pure guess on my part. That offer was ignored.

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Count your blessings!

On the sister ship that I looked at, I came away thinking that every system mechanical, electrical, or plumbing related was going to need to be gone through with much replacement / repair. Just wasn't impressed with the installations and choice of overly complicated components.

Ted

I went to the Yacht World link and recognised the pictures were taken when the boat was at at National Liquidators after it had been repossesed quirte a few years ago. I looked at the boat then for a client and suggested he stay away from the boat. My guess is that someone bought it on the cheap and did not have the money to upgrade and refit, then let it fall into disrepair.
The surveyor should have done a closer inspection before your sea trial unless he was being paid for only a quick look.

yachtbrokerguy said:

I went to the Yacht World link and recognised the pictures were taken when the boat was at at National Liquidators after it had been repossesed quirte a few years ago. I looked at the boat then for a client and suggested he stay away from the boat. My guess is that someone bought it on the cheap and did not have the money to upgrade and refit, then let it fall into disrepair.
The surveyor should have done a closer inspection before your sea trial unless he was being paid for only a quick look.

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Dam. Wish I'd known that. I told the surveyor it was a pre purchase inspection for financing, and insurance. I wanted a full inspection.

Thurman,
Welcome to the world of boating, surveyors, and disappointments. There are some good ones out there just keep looking.

Can anyone recommend a GOOD surveyor in the Savannah, Ga. area?

Thurman, I'm going to offer a little advice here. Something I'm guessing you're figuring out very quickly.

When it comes to boats, there are few, or no "bargain passagemakers" out there for sale. If and when they come on the market I'm certain their time on Yachtworld is measured in days, or even hours.

The boat you made an offer on was just too good to be true. A 50+' passagemaker, in good shape for an asking price of >150K. Something had to be wrong. The boat is just too cheap for what you'd be getting.

I'd look at boats, then figure out the "average" listing price for an actual good condition vessle of the type your looking for, then buy the best condition example you can find.

I know this might sound redundant right now, but it is true, and experienced boat buyers know it. Yes there are bargains out there. You'll see them listed on YW and then they are gone. I'd venture to say that the best bargains are the ones that never make it to YW.

Best of luck boat hunting. Every failed survey is a lesson learned. And in big boats the lessons are never cheap.