Buying a Boat

[Art]

Dear CFG,

I understand your take on things. But:

Crazy as a survey may be and nutty as a boating adventure may be I feel it is up to the person as long as they do not infringe on others or expose them to harm... in other words - a single handed, solo journey!

I'm in total agreement:

As far as a surveyor talking out of both sides of their mouth... to dealer, buyer, or seller - That IS PURE CRAP - It is dishonest BS!!

 

[GFC]

Mick, OK, perhaps I was a bit harsh with the language in my critique of your post, but I'll stand by my comments about a person (any person) taking on a trip such as this, on a boat he is not at all familiar with without taking what most people would consider adequate preparations. Things can happen at sea...people can fall and break bones or hit their head, or fall overboard or any one of a bazillion other things. If you're out there alone, who ya gonna call? Or if you can't get to the VHF, HOW are you going to call for help?

The first week of his trip could of been a series of day hops it very sheltered conditions that are common in So Cal ( We based in Santa Barbara for 8 years and while it can be stinky it can also be very nice). So the small or large issues will start to make themselves known and can be dealt with.

Hollywood, had Mick done this I would have viewed the trip a little differently. He didn't though. He was out there at night, solo, on a boat he didn't know. Nuff said about that.

Crazy as a survey may be and nutty as a boating adventure may be I feel it is up to the person as long as they do not infringe on others or expose them to harm... in other words - a single handed, solo journey!

Art, I would agree with you up to the point where he runs into trouble and starts calling out a MAYDAY call on the VHF. At that point he's getting the USCG choppers in the air, their boats in the water and likely other boats coming to his rescue. I always shake my head when I read a story about some dimwit attempting to cross oceans in a skiff (as an example) because the odds are high that someone, somewhere is going to have to put his life in jeopardy to rescue him.

It's all well and good to believe we're ten feet tall and bulletproof and can take on anything the world dishes up to us and make it through. Fortunately, most of the time we survive. Unfortunately, too much of the time we don't and others have to pick up the pieces.

As to your multiple references to me as a "senior boater", that title probably fits me well. I got my first boat over 60 years ago...it was 9' long and came with a pair of oars. In terms of miles traveled on the water I'm sure I'm FAR below what many of you are, but I'm working hard to catch up.

Mick, lest you think I'm a total jerk, I too am looking forward to your writeup about the trip. I'm sure I will learn something from it, and to reiterate what I mentioned in my first post, I'm glad you made it home safe and sound. Good on ya for that!

 

[Peter B]

Funny story - sort of checks out with some of the comments re surveys made above in a way. When I purchased Lotus, nearly 12 yrs ago now, I had a survey done, mainly because the insurance co I wanted cover with insisted. However, I had done my own reading up on the important items to look for, and had done one myself when she was out on the hard being anti fouled. So, I was pretty sure she was tired, needed a lot of cosmetic stuff done, and had a few issues which might well have put others off, but which I felt I could live with, some ultimately change, many I could improve myself, but that she was basically sound in the areas that mattered, and good to go, as it were.

Well when the surveyor did his number, he was pretty ruthless, and I could see the PO's face going paler and paler as he saw his sale going down the gurgler, or so he thought. I was impressed when surveyor scratched the bronze seacocks, and muttered, "yes, although frozen, and needing working, they were genuine bronze and showing no de-zincification" ( I think was the term he used). I remember thinking 'aha, clearly he knows his stuff', as I remembered reading about how important that was in an article I had read on the subject. You can imagine the laughs when I later mentioned this, and he then informed me he was aware of the article, as he wrote it..!
Laughs aside though, if anything, his survey was rather more negative than it could have been, and could have put me off, but I knew enough that I could cope with the negatives, and remedy most of them myself, thereby saving a lot, and thereby making her affordable for me with no need to borrow, whereas if she had been a younger, smarter, neater vessel, she would have been out of my price range.

The point is, I could have literally just gone by my own examination and gut feeling, knowing she was not perfect, and she would still have been a good, (better by the cost of the haul-out and survey actually, if I could have avoided the survey), because she has proved this over the succeeding 12 yrs down the track.

Would I have set off on my own to deliver her 100nm away? - I think not - not then, but with more experience I would, (and she would have made it, as in 12 years her engine and running gear have never missed a beat), as long as I could harbour hop, as I understand Trawler Micki did GFC..?

 

[Trawler Micki]

Mick, OK, perhaps I was a bit harsh with the language in my critique of your post, but I'll stand by my comments about a person (any person) taking on a trip such as this, on a boat he is not at all familiar with without taking what most people would consider adequate preparations. Things can happen at sea...people can fall and break bones or hit their head, or fall overboard or any one of a bazillion other things. If you're out there alone, who ya gonna call? Or if you can't get to the VHF, HOW are you going to call for help?


Hollywood, had Mick done this I would have viewed the trip a little differently. He didn't though. He was out there at night, solo, on a boat he didn't know. Nuff said about that.


Art, I would agree with you up to the point where he runs into trouble and starts calling out a MAYDAY call on the VHF. At that point he's getting the USCG choppers in the air, their boats in the water and likely other boats coming to his rescue. I always shake my head when I read a story about some dimwit attempting to cross oceans in a skiff (as an example) because the odds are high that someone, somewhere is going to have to put his life in jeopardy to rescue him.

It's all well and good to believe we're ten feet tall and bulletproof and can take on anything the world dishes up to us and make it through. Fortunately, most of the time we survive. Unfortunately, too much of the time we don't and others have to pick up the pieces.

As to your multiple references to me as a "senior boater", that title probably fits me well. I got my first boat over 60 years ago...it was 9' long and came with a pair of oars. In terms of miles traveled on the water I'm sure I'm FAR below what many of you are, but I'm working hard to catch up.

Mick, lest you think I'm a total jerk, I too am looking forward to your writeup about the trip. I'm sure I will learn something from it, and to reiterate what I mentioned in my first post, I'm glad you made it home safe and sound. Good on ya for that!

GFC, you have no clue what I did to prep the boat for her trip. How could you? I've written about purchase/ inspection only.

How could you know my skill level, or even any formal training I might have under my belt? Would that matter? Does a 9' rowboat 60 years ago matter?

So far you know nothing about the actual trip details - except I planned to go alone and keep relatively close to shore. (Your retention needs some work, I did mentioned my intent to run in the daylight only).

You say I wasn't at all familiar with the boat... Yet I've already mentioned studying every record since she was sold new AND spending an entire week prepping her for the trip. We're talking a 42' Grand Banks here, a very, VERY simple vessel... How much time were you thinking it really takes to "know" a little boat like that? Yes yes, I agree; probably more than an hour (but certainly less than a week).

GFC, we DO have something in common; seems that I'm a senior boater too. And here's something I've noticed since I got my first little sailboat about the same amount of years ago: Many people love being on the water but they're scared of it. Some even a bit too scared, I think. That's sad because fear can often be very limiting.

As I get older I think of the lyrics to an old Pink Floyd tune; "All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be" - my thought is that fearing (or more accurately misunderstanding) risk does little to make you safe but PLENTY to keep you from living your life. To each his own I guess.

-No more banter, next post is about what matters - the trip!

 

[CPseudonym]

Good thread, great story! Keep it coming Micki. Minus the distance from home and subsequent delivery my purchase story really isn't much different at all. Of course I needed an insurance survey after the fact anyway but that held no great revelations either.

Common sense and the balls to pull the trigger when the time is right are often your greatest assets in life.

 

[Art]

1. - Minus the distance from home my purchase story really isn't much different at all.

2. - Common sense and the balls to pull the trigger when the time is right are often your greatest assets in life.

1. - Ditto!

2. - Ditto and Bingo!!
Happy Boating Daze!!!

 

[GFC]

Micki, you made some valid points. Thanks.

Now I'm looking forward to reading about the trip.

 

[Trawler Micki]

Next Post - Getting Micki Ready