The one?

Sailor I commend your optimism.
Also being a "frugal Yankee" I know where you are coming from. Nothing you found yet would be a show stopper to me.
Sounds like this particular boat has a lot of positives for you. Just make sure to properly weigh the negatives before you make the final decision.
I know plenty of folks who have taken on "fixer uppers".
So finish them, some don't. You will have to make that call.
Either way, best of luck! And if you're back on the Block 1st week of August, we'll be on a private mooring opposite Payne's and the Basin. Stop by.

Anyone here had a positive experience in taking on a project boat that upon first blush the surveyor walked and said don't do it?

sunchaser said:

Anyone here had a positive experience in taking on a project boat that upon first blush the surveyor walked and said don't do it?

Click to expand...

Oh no. The surveyor did not say not to do it. What he said was that he wanted me to be there with him if he were to continue (I had a work emergency that day and couldnt get there). It clearly needs work and he said he didnt want to waste my $$ continuing the survey if I was looking for a turn key boat.

Jlenoard: I def might be there that week. If I am, I will certainly stop by. =) Remind me to tell you the story of the guy trying to dock in the basin last week. As he was steaming full speed in to the middle section on the west side, my wife said "wow, that guy must realllly know what he is doing to go in that fast" Alas, that was not the case ;-)

It was kinda like this but with a much different outcome:

Funny, I have such a different perspective on this discussion than I had even a year ago. This spring we bought a new-to-us 1996 boat in generally very good shape. The previous boat was also a generally good boat for its age, but it was a 1983 Carver. I like working on boats a lot, and to my surprise my to-do list for the newer boat is just as long as the old boat - but if I had my choice, I sure prefer the tasks now, like upgrading all the cabin lights to LED, instead of re-gluing the v-berth headliner monkey fur because it was starting to sag. There's boat work, and then there's boat work.

A low price can cover a multitude of sins. You make money on the purchase price not the resale.

Surveyor sounds like a keeper.

Yes

sunchaser said:

Anyone here had a positive experience in taking on a project boat that upon first blush the surveyor walked and said don't do it?

Click to expand...

I passed on a Hatteras 48LRC that is currently cruising in Mexico. The boat had so many issues including a delaminated deck that I passed on the boat. A marine electrician from Anacortes called me on it, I gave him my surveys and he came down and made an offer on it and got it for a third of what I had paid for a turn key boat. He delivered it back up Anacortes in March and spent several years refitting it and it's currently in Mexico cruising with his family. This guy had a lot of talent and a lot of industry contacts.

Sailor,

You have gotten some really good advice.

From my perspective, just reading YOUR posts over the last few weeks, you are set on buying thus boat.

Read your last post. You go from many things wrong to just one thing and an unknown in your last post.

All Seacocks frozen.
Every window leaks.
Fuel leak somewhere.

These are not cosmetic problems.

These are indications of a boat that was NOT maintained even at some minimal level.

You are also jumping to a conclusion about the engines. What evidence do you have that the engines were maintained, even though nothing else was?

This boat sounds like a project boat that week never be finished.

How many of this type, model and layout rust you like so much are on the market?
Have you looked at them?

You sound like you and your wife really want to enjoy a boat on the water.

This boat isn't that.

Good luck in any case.

Don't worry, we'll still be around to remind you we told you so

This week be a

Wxx3 said:

Don't worry, we'll still be around to remind you we told you so

Click to expand...

HAHAHAHA!! That will be the first time in my life I will have ever heard that.

I am not dead set on it. I just feel like there might be a good deal in there and that it has some real upside in certain areas. We have looked at every trawler around here. Travelling the east coast to search for boats has a cost too. This boat is already in the boatyard. It's got glass decks. I like glass decks. lol. We could easily keep the sailboat another year while we work on the trawler. I think I am almost more in love with the convenience of the whole thing. All that said, I am having some serious second thoughts right now. The seller started playing some games today and I may even cancel the survey for tomorrow. Here is how I saw the math. They want 20 for the boat. Figure another 20ish for tanks. Another 10 for putting around. We do the windows ourself etc. I think a 40' sundeck with a glass deck, non leaky windows and new tanks is worth 50. The other nice part is that I wouldn't have to lay it out in all one lump.

Make no mistake, I really appreciate all of the advice. Positive and Negative I don't know anywhere close to everything. =)

Thanks for the update

Double your budget as it always happens that way. Buy a better boat. Buyer's remorse sucks.

You've had a hull survey but what about a mechanical survey? Engines, transmissions, Generator. Bet it won't make WOT and that's a whole nother issue. What do the oil samples indicate? You could find yourself behind the financial eight ball if you suddenly have major work to do on the engines etc.

Thank you all, so very much for your help and guideance. We walked away from the boat today. =)

good luck on your renewed search now that you walked from this one

You probably saves your self 3 or 4 years of hard work.

I would rather cruise those years , than have a "project".

Unless of course boat rebuilding is your hobby , not boat cruising.

I believe you made the right decision. Good luck on your next boat finding adventure. It's out there, it just hasn't found you yet.

This type of thread is recurring theme on TF, and I think the OP's never learn.

Well, actually this one seems like he learned, yippee!

The best value in a boat for the dollar is a boat that someone spent a mint to refit a few years ago, or the boat that has had continued money poured into it along the way.

These boats hit the market and they are the boats that you see with listing prices slightly above the average, yet they sell right away.

ksanders said:

This type of thread is recurring theme on TF, and I think the OP's never learn.

Well, actually this one seems like he learned, yippee!

The best value in a boat for the dollar is a boat that someone spent a mint to refit a few years ago, or the boat that has had continued money poured into it along the way.

These boats hit the market and they are the boats that you see with listing prices slightly above the average, yet they sell right away.

Click to expand...

+1 When I started looking at what I thought were trawlers a friend first thing on my list of wants should be "how much work do you want to do or how much cruising do want to do? Can't do both at the same time" Good advice My boat was on the market 3 days when I bought it.

Yep. She is out there and we will find her. This really is a great bunch of ppl. I appreciate all the good advice even if it seemed like I was being thick headed lol. =) I am glad we walked away. Rumor has it the the owner wants to put it in the water now that we are not interested.

SailorFromRI said:

Yep. She is out there and we will find her. This really is a great bunch of ppl. I appreciate all the good advice even if it seemed like I was being thick headed lol. =) I am glad we walked away. Rumor has it the the owner wants to put it in the water now that we are not interested.

Click to expand...

very deep water?

LOL!! Fortunately I believe that the seacocks are frozen in the shut position ;-)

Ouch. Launching a boat with frozen seacocks.. just silly... And desperate.

Glad you walked. Planet is large, but from coast to coast bad boats are like bad pennies. The same one will pop up here, then 6 months later a few hundred miles away. Then a year later..

Im sure you made the right choice. And as time goes on you will surely see that boat again. Especially if its local to you. If new owner puts in 30k for repairs and it is an amazing flagship of pride in ownership thats great. Be happy for them.

Odds are they will have put in the 30k and the boat will look near identical as it did when you looked at it. Repairs add up. Projects stack up. And years under neglected maint add up. The clock never stops.

Meanwhile you will be enjoying cruising somewhere with the Mrs., enjoying your new boat that popped up when you last expected it.

Again. Glad you walked away.

Yes. Wise choice IMO. Many other boats out there.

"This type of thread is recurring theme on TF, and I think the OP's never learn."

Nope , they just cant seem to realize their pressing question has been covered a few dozen times in the ARCHIVES!

FF said:

"This type of thread is recurring theme on TF, and I think the OP's never learn."

Nope , they just cant seem to realize their pressing question has been covered a few dozen times in the ARCHIVES!

Click to expand...

I agree

and although I think I read every thread in the forum some several times and I have 17 book marked for references

sometimes I think people (including me sometimes) want word the same thing in our own way and see if the expected responses are different

but typically they are not

FF said:

"This type of thread is recurring theme on TF, and I think the OP's never learn."

Nope , they just cant seem to realize their pressing question has been covered a few dozen times in the ARCHIVES!

Click to expand...

It is not really practical for a newbie to do a search on this topic unless they want to go through a large number of threads. Those of us that read the threads continually take it for granted a newbie will know what we know. They isn't the case most of the time. Perhaps a topic area on something like "Looking for a Trawler" would send newbies to the right place but I have my doubts even that will work. First experience with these kind of forums has a learning curve and most of us want immediate gratification.

FF said:

"This type of thread is recurring theme on TF, and I think the OP's never learn."

Nope , they just cant seem to realize their pressing question has been covered a few dozen times in the ARCHIVES!

Click to expand...

who cares anyway.. it gives all us old bastards a reason to get up in the morning and do something besides complain at the wife or kick the dog..

not to mention giving some people a soap bob to stand on and shove their whacked out perspectives down our collective throats.



HOLLYWOOD

FF said:

"This type of thread is recurring theme on TF, and I think the OP's never learn."

Nope , they just cant seem to realize their pressing question has been covered a few dozen times in the ARCHIVES!

Click to expand...

LOL


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Glad you decided against it! I'm living in my "great deal fixer upper" sailboat and it's not even close to being finished. Owned her for close to 6 years now. . .so much time spent doing projects that could have been spent on the water At this point, I'll end up letting her lose for a fraction of what I've got in repairs/updates. But the time and money saved will be worth it!

Money is something you can make/save more of. . .time, once past, is gone forever

I hope my next boats projects are only as involved as installing a new stereo or gimbaled wine glass holders

Good luck with your search!

Now that a bit of sanity has returned start looking for a well maintained boat that you can use now. There is a small percentage of boats maintained by fastidious owners that are usually a great buy. With the internet everyone knows the prices of boats and the great ones get lumped in with the bad ones at similar prices.
Finding a great one will require a lot less work than fixing trash.