1981 Ocean Alexander 440

[SaltyDawg86]

I looked at it last week, stayed for about 2 hours. I opened every hatch spent about 30 minutes in the engine compartment and took a lot of notes. From what I saw, a lot of the rot is easy to take care of, it's just digging into it. I'm also going to go back this weekend. He told me to come back as much as I wanted.

I'd love to offer him $8k, but I'm trying to be realistic. I pointed out a number of things that even the broker was like "Oh, I never noticed that."

I like the idea of finding out who the owner has insurance through. As far as "why insure it" you have to be kidding, right? If I wanted to just roll the dice on 25k plus the money I'd put into it, I'd go to Vegas. And I'm going to keep it at a marina so I'll need more than just liability.

As far as a survey goes, the boat has been on the hard and remain on the hard. What will a surveyor look for that I can't see? He's not going to go into the engine, transmission, thruster, fuel system or anything like that and I can look at electronics and the hull just like he can.

 

[Donsan]

As far as a survey goes, the boat has been on the hard and remain on the hard. What will a surveyor look for that I can't see? He's not going to go into the engine, transmission, thruster, fuel system or anything like that and I can look at electronics and the hull just like he can.

Not trying to argue with you but most marine insurance companies will require an "insurance" survey at the very minimum if the boat is going in the water. They might have some kind of a rider for boats that are on the hard and won't go in the water but you would need to talk to marine insurance agents on that.

 

[SaltyDawg86]

I'm not trying to argue with anyone, I'm trying to get real information.

 

[Gordon J]

Also, the only place I have ever had to provide proof of insurance is in my own marina. In 15 years of boating, a yard has never asked me for proof. Maybe I have an honest face. And having just gone through this, the yard will want you to make good every recommendation by the surveyor.

In my case, with a 2003 boat, the survey recommended several things that were not standard when the boat was built, but is now. He put it in the recommendations and the insurance company wants me to comply --for example, heat shields on the racor filters, which in my mind in dubious at best.

I don't know what the insurance company will require for liability alone, but I would think the standard would be less because they don't have to know the value of boat or worry about replacing it. Perhaps we have an insurance expert on the forum.

AND, in the long run, if he buys it for $25K, the insurance will probably not be all that much, but getting the boat up to snuff for the insurance company might be problematic.

Gordonj

 

[KevinCT]

Salty, the surveyor has accreditation that insurance companies look for. If a boat sinks, it becomes an environmental issue with fuel, oil, etc... This, and other reasons, is why boat insurance companies, unlike automobile insurance, insist on a thorough inspection.

People get emotionally involved in boats, and judgment is sometimes hampered. Some people are apt to take risks that other people wouldn't--especially novice boaters.

32 years ago, my best friend and I bought a Cobia outboard. We were young and in a hurry. We didn't secure the battery. Long story short, bad weather hit us on Lake Conroe, we made a hard turn to head back, battery went rolling and knocked fuel line, lost power, couldn't re-start, boat ended on rocks with two 20 year olds doing things I would NEVER dream of doing now to keep it off the rocks (unsuccessfully). It almost sank before we got it back to Marina. For reasons like this, insurance companies want insurance surveys.

 

[Fletcher500]

The fuel system, and dual Racors looked good, but I agree with everyone else. It would be a money pit. Good luck with your search, and that is a cool profile picture you have.

 

[SHASA III]

When we got our 1989 Transworld 3 years ago, the surveyor wasn't familiar with the brand, so he used a similar OA for value comparison.

Since there are so many similarities between the Oceans and Transworlds of that era, I did some checking, with OA, in Taipei. Both yards were using Ed Monk designs, and in many cases used the same molds, materials, craftsmen, etc., since they were close to each other (TW is in Kaohsuing). We've moored next to some similar Oceans while cruising, and it's hard to tell them apart.

Transworld makes mostly big stuff now, and were unresponsive to my queries -- OA responded quickly, to their credit.

-Vic

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1981/Ocean-Alexander-440-2963113/Chesapeake/VA/United-States#.V2KzhdH2YoA


A little history if you are interested...
With the explosion of Taiwan built "trawlers" in the 70s, Alex Cheu, a retired colonel, put up seed money for a friend to establish a boat yard. In 1973, the friend was unable to repay the loan so Alex became the new owner of the yard.

In 1977, Alex met Ed Monk Jr. through a mutual friend and on a handshake, Ocean Alexander was born. The first boat, the Ocean Alexander 50 Mark I, rolled out in 1978

We all know the rest.

 

[SaltyDawg86]

Well life always has a funny way of throwing curve balls. I was literally on my to get another insurance quote then I was going to make an offer on the boat when I was informed by my company that they were going to give us yet another pay cut and take away even more benefits. So I just up and quit.

I start my new job on Wednesday, hopefully I'll be able to make an offer on it soon, but as of now, I'll just dream.