6' draft in the Bahamas and Caribbean...

Our boat is very similar to Mimi, we are 55' steel with an aluminum pilothouse. With bilge keels the boat is very stable at sea in most conditions. If the deal is too good to pass up (as was ours) you can add fins (or other system) later if you feel the need.

Our prior owner investigated this option and decided not to go forward. They cruised the boat from San Francisco to the Caribbean (the wrong way) then to Alaska and ended up in the Marquesas prior to health issues ending their cruise.

We also have had good experience w/o active stabilization in our cruising up and down the Pacific Coast.

That said, I'm sure I would feel a smoother ride with the fins, it's just not an issue with us as we cruise today.

Lastly, if you are working with Judy on this sale I can offer a very positive recommendation.

pilothouse king said:

... others have noticed her $500k price reduction.

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So it is the boat I saw in 2012. At the right price provided it fits your needs I wouldn't hesitate. Not for crossing oceans but plenty of range for coastal cruising. Hire a good surveyor who is willing to crawl the bilges and see what he finds. Just because you can put stabilizers on her doesn't mean you should. She's purpose built and designed. If you think you can improve her you should just buy her and run her for a while first. Fwiw this boat made a lot of other boats look better...to my wife. She was parked next to a Garcia and a real ships.


Via iPhone.

To add a short bit, if you do end up buying the boat I would strongly suggest moving the satellite compass. Whoever installed it did it wrong and is going loose heading often.

I was told that to add a gyro to a vessel that was not designed for it is a rather large undertaking as the hull needs to be strengthened to handle the loads imposed by the gyro on a relatively small area. If that was right I think it may make it way more costly than its worth. Adding stabilizers will be more cost effective. Of course gyros steady pitch and roll while stabilizers counteract roll only.

I know how my boat handles with and without stabilizers, and that's what I am basing my opinion on. Doesn't mean your boat would handle the same way, just it may be worth exploring how that boat feels in open water vs. another stabilized trawler.

Mimi said:

I'm looking at a 55' steel hulled full displacement beast. I like everything about her, except the 6' draft. I'm in the Abacos right now and feel like she might be problematic here. On the other hand, I like knowing she has the potential to go anywhere, in any kind of seas. If her draft were 4.5 or 5', I wouldn't hesitate, but that extra foot gives me pause...
Any thoughts?

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Mimi,
Sounds like you are getting a lot of good advice here and that is something I have come to truly appreciate about the members in here. Yea at times you can get a ribbing or two BUT for the most part you will get Spot On Advice !!

Now then all I have to say is..............WOW that is one sharp looking "beast" !! If she runs half as good as she looks then you got your self one awesome Boat !!
The best to you in this find
Jim

Gyros handle roll. But I don't believe they deal with pitch. At least the Seakeeper does not from what I understand.

Bill, you're right I should have been more specific. They CAN handle both but doesn't mean they always do. Depends on how many axis there are gyros running in I would guess.

Well, after submitting a signed offer, and having it accepted; and after having arranged for a survey and sea trial and diesel engine survey; and after rearranging my work schedule, booking non-refundable airline tickets and hotel reservations; not to mention countless hours researching, phone calls back and forth, including from the Bahamas last week while on vacation; after all that, Brad Nelson, the broker for American Yacht & Ship, sent me an email yesterday at 5pm to tell me he sold the boat to another buyer.... He said he hoped I wasn't too upset... I feel I was used and deceived, but, live and learn.
Thank you all for the enthusiastic advice and participation. The silver lining in all the disappointment was joining this forum!

If nothing else I'm sure you are be better equipped to continue the search. Sounds like it's time for a glass of wine and some time on yachtworld

Mimi said:

Well, after submitting a signed offer, and having it accepted; and after having arranged for a survey and sea trial and diesel engine survey; and after rearranging my work schedule, booking non-refundable airline tickets and hotel reservations; not to mention countless hours researching, phone calls back and forth, including from the Bahamas last week while on vacation; after all that, Brad Nelson, the broker for American Yacht & Ship, sent me an email yesterday at 5pm to tell me he sold the boat to another buyer.... He said he hoped I wasn't too upset... I feel I was used and deceived, but, live and learn.
Thank you all for the enthusiastic advice and participation. The silver lining in all the disappointment was joining this forum!

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Sorry to hear, some good friends of ours had this same thing happen to them twice when searching for their Nordhavn! Seems like there are some brokers out there that use the "a buyers flying in today" method to close a deal, what a disgrace to the profession.

Mimi said:

Well, after submitting a signed offer, and having it accepted; and after having arranged for a survey and sea trial and diesel engine survey; and after rearranging my work schedule, booking non-refundable airline tickets and hotel reservations; not to mention countless hours researching, phone calls back and forth, including from the Bahamas last week while on vacation; after all that, Brad Nelson, the broker for American Yacht & Ship, sent me an email yesterday at 5pm to tell me he sold the boat to another buyer....

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Can some one explain to me how a boat can be sold when they have accepted a contract to sell to another buyer? Seems to me Mimi has grounds to sue for breach of contract to cover her costs.

I certainly would not want to deal with this broker or his brokerage.

Mimi

Sorry to hear that

I am with Donsan on this one. As an attorney, I can only see two alternatives here: (1) the seller had accepted an offer but still accepted Mimi's offer and then chose between them; or (2) the seller accepted Mimi's offer and another buyer came at the last minute with a higher offer. In either case, the seller has breached the Agreement to Purchase to Mimi. Even if the Agreement is conditional on survey and sea trial, as virtually all are, the seller cannot unilaterally void the contract. While I cannot offer legal advice here, I would advise talking to your lawyer the very first thing tomorrow morning and have him contact the broker and let him know that you are seeking reimbursement for all your costs from him. If you know the seller's name and contact info, I would have my lawyer contact him directly with the same demands. If I were really pi$$ed off, I would contact the BBB and the Fla State Agency responsible for licensing brokers and file complaints against that broker. Totally inexcusable that you have an accepted Offer to Purchase that was breached by the seller.

I should add that it is unlikely you would be able to reverse the sale to the other buyer. But, being the bit of a vindictive person that I am, I would want to make that sale cost the broker as much of his commission as I could while recovering as much of the money I had spent on the deal as possible.

Apparently the builder has a buyer in Australia. He wants to have a Bering in Australia to show in that market. They used my signed offer to get their buyer to move. If he'd have balked I'd have gotten the boat and either way the Broker makes his deal. Business? Yeah, I guess.
In any event, I've had my say.
And thanks for the condolences ;-)
I'm not gonna sue. I've got the tickets, I booked the room, I took the time off.... I'm going to go down to FLA and look at some boats!

Mimi said:

.... I'm going to go down to FLA and look at some boats!

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... to make lemonade from the lemons.

There's a ton of boat in FTL so you won't have that problem.

Do you have a copy of the contract signed by the seller or his agent?

Mimi said:

Well, after submitting a signed offer, and having it accepted; and after having arranged for a survey and sea trial and diesel engine survey; and after rearranging my work schedule, booking non-refundable airline tickets and hotel reservations; not to mention countless hours researching, phone calls back and forth, including from the Bahamas last week while on vacation; after all that, Brad Nelson, the broker for American Yacht & Ship, sent me an email yesterday at 5pm to tell me he sold the boat to another buyer.... He said he hoped I wasn't too upset... I feel I was used and deceived, but, live and learn.
Thank you all for the enthusiastic advice and participation. The silver lining in all the disappointment was joining this forum!

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Unless the seller had signed the contract and you had a deposit in the brokers escrow account, you didn't have a deal. Brad works for Atlantic Yacht and Ship.
I had a deal snatched out from under me yesterday at the last moment by another buyer, and another broker. IF the boatyard in Marathon had let the buyer on the boat on Thursday as they were supposed to instead of having to wait until today several "domino's" would had fallen. _ _ _ _ happens. No worries mate.
Those Aussies and Kiwi's move FAST. This is something I've warned repeatedly on my website and other forums. Many of them buy sight unseen and don't even survey. That's why all the best boats from the SE are now 'down under'. IF our dollar wasn't so strong now- more boats would be gone too.

Mimi said:

They used my signed offer to get their buyer to move.

I'm not gonna sue. I've got the tickets, I booked the room, I took the time off.... I'm going to go down to FLA and look at some boats!

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I don't think there is anything wrong with letting other potential buyers know there is an offer on the table in order to spur more interest and get folks off the fence.
Although if that broker disclosed "your" terms and price to the other buyer he should loose his licence.

I would look at this as an omen that there are better deals to be had once your there.

Mimi said:

Well, after submitting a signed offer, and having it accepted; and after having arranged for a survey and sea trial and diesel engine survey; and after rearranging my work schedule, booking non-refundable airline tickets and hotel reservations; not to mention countless hours researching, phone calls back and forth, including from the Bahamas last week while on vacation; after all that, Brad Nelson, the broker for American Yacht & Ship, sent me an email yesterday at 5pm to tell me he sold the boat to another buyer.... He said he hoped I wasn't too upset... I feel I was used and deceived, but, live and learn.
Thank you all for the enthusiastic advice and participation. The silver lining in all the disappointment was joining this forum!

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Sorry this happened MIMI, just seems awfully unethical to me !! Going to Fla myself looking at boats this month so I made a note of that broker and brokerage to steer clear of.

Mimi said:

Brad Nelson, the broker for American Yacht & Ship, sent me an email yesterday at 5pm to tell me he sold the boat to another buyer.... !

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I assume you meant Atlantic Yacht and Ship.

I'm going to give one word of caution for the future too. When looking at a boat to buy, don't disclose publicly, such as on this forum, the specific boat or price. I'm not saying it happened this time, as that's probably not what happened, but there have been times where someone read the information and then jumped onto the deal and took it from you.

jimbob said:

just seems awfully unethical to me !! :

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What part of it seems unethical to you?

I'll give you a preview of what I've been working on - it directly relates to the subject of boating services like this.

The screen shots tell the whole story. Almost every broker in the world is loaded into the system and there are a few hundred reviews already. The "(missing)" in the review shown shows a little of what's still left to code. It's all pretty close though - this is real. The review for American Yacht & Ship is real - they'll open with one 5-star review from a real user who had a good experience.

There will be brokers who'll be a little shaken up when they realize that there are going to be reviews on their actions. It's no different than everything we've seen before - the great ones will rise to the top and embrace it. The less-than-great ones will fight it.

But the crowd always wins in this type of thing. And us boaters...we're the crowd.

BandB said:

What part of it seems unethical to you?

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The broker having had a signed and accepted offer in hand long enough for all surveys to be scheduled ,air travel and work rearranged and not go through with agreement, that part

BandB said:

I assume you meant Atlantic Yacht and Ship.

I'm going to give one word of caution for the future too. When looking at a boat to buy, don't disclose publicly, such as on this forum, the specific boat or price. I'm not saying it happened this time, as that's probably not what happened, but there have been times where someone read the information and then jumped onto the deal and took it from you.

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in Mimi,s quote is says american yacht which is correct?

jimbob said:

The broker having had a signed and accepted offer in hand long enough for all surveys to be scheduled ,air travel and work rearranged and not go through with agreement, that part

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I missed that part. Back to Mimi. Did you have a signed copy back? If so, you should protest this. If not, then it wasn't accepted? I'm sorry I missed that part of your post.

If you have a signed, accepted offer then he can't do this and Florida is one of only two states licensing yacht brokers so there is somewhere for you to turn.

Jeffrey S said:

I'll give you a preview of what I've been working on - it directly relates to the subject of boating services like this.

The screen shots tell the whole story. Almost every broker in the world is loaded into the system and there are a few hundred reviews already. The "(missing)" in the review shown shows a little of what's still left to code. It's all pretty close though - this is real. The review for American Yacht & Ship is real - they'll open with one 5-star review from a real user who had a good experience.

There will be brokers who'll be a little shaken up when they realize that there are going to be reviews on their actions. It's no different than everything we've seen before - the great ones will rise to the top and embrace it. The less-than-great ones will fight it.

But the crowd always wins in this type of thing. And us boaters...we're the crowd.

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How do brokers have reviews on sites that aren't up yet? What am I missing?

Link to information on how to file a complaint against a broker in Florida.

LSCMH Yacht FAQ

BandB said:

Link to information on how to file a complaint against a broker in Florida.

LSCMH Yacht FAQ

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thanks for that link, will be in Ft. Lauderdale looking at a boat on the 27th. Just can't say which one