How long have you owned your boat and .......

[Don L]

I have a belief that the biggest issue to boats is the things owners do or don't do to them, which is further impacted by how many different owners it had doing those things. I have owned 2 boats. One was a 1988 that was 20 years old when I got it and the other a 2001 that was 10 years old when I got it. For each I was the second owner, but they I believe had different owner maintenance. The 1988 was owned by a doctor and I think it mostly had "marine tradesman's" work done on it . The 2001 was owned by an exNavy guy with same background as me. Both were well taken care of, but the 2001 was better. Not sure if it was due to the person doing the work or the age, but the 1988 had some things that could have been done better without much effort.

So ............... how old is you boat, how long have you had it, and how many owners have been "maintaining" it? What do you think of the care the past owners did to the boat?

 

[rslifkin]

We've owned ours since 2019, so about 6.5 years. Prior to that, it had been in the family since the boat was a year old, so I know its history well. I was first on this boat before I could walk.

Maintenance wise, most of what was done prior to us having it was done well, with the exception of a few minor electrical things, etc. that I've gone back and re-done. And there were a few things that should have been done and were deferred, but that's expected on just about any boat.

I wouldn't say my maintenance of everything is perfect, but it's at least good enough to keep the boat functional and reliable without finding unexpected urgent issues during the summers.

 

[Mako]

I've owned many boats over the years but an average of about 2-3 years each. This wasn't because of issues with the boats, but because my life has taken me to different assignments constantly. Mostly I've bought used (anywhere from 14 years to 40 years old) and some I've built new.

Hard to say how many previous owners there were on the used ones, but likely about 2-3 each. The used ones had the usual "fun surprises" from previous owners - usually rats nests of wires, leftovers from a half dozen previous sounders and transducers, etc. One lady was more concerned with covering over every little deficiency with fuschia carpet and wallpaper (rot, rust, etc.) instead of repairing. Another previous owner of my big boat took it across the Pacific and gave meticulous attention.

 

[mvweebles]

We've owned our 1970 Willard 36 since 1998. Previous owner had her for only a few years. The original owner, middle person in attached picture, owned here for many years but not sure how many. He was active in the Newport Beach Yacht Club in Southern California. He was the committee boat for many events, including Newport-Ensenada race that was quite popular back in the day.

I was given this picture and a couple other items around 2000 from the then-Owner of Willard Marine. He was also a member of the NBYC and friends with the original owner of Taras (original name of Weebles). Jack was so impressed with the Willard boat that he ended up buying the company. Last I saw, his son still runs the company though they have not made recreational boats since 2002 or so.

Peter

 

[SteveK]

Current boat is coming on to four years, previous boat was three years and my memory is good for seven years. What was the question?
I had a boat once for one year way back. One for 7 years. So between 1-7 years. Two foot itis was a common term in seventies. No idea of how many owners before maintaining it, not concerned with maintenance previously done as I bought a boat based on what I thought it was worth to me.

 

[Shrew]

My boat is a 1999, I've owned it for 9 years. We'll be going into our 10th season this upcoming Spring.

I can't say what has been done by a 'professional' and what has been done by the PO. I can, however make some educated guesses.

DIY work is done with the best of intentions, and the least amount of knowledge.

Yard work is done by anyone from seasoned professionals, to yard laborers who are no better than paid interns. One thing is for sure, all jobs done by professionals were done with the primary focus on completing as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

A previous owner repowered my boat. The mechanic replaced all the cooling hose except the one between the seacock and the strainer. When I removed the strainer the 1 foot section that wasn't replaced, tore in my hands like rotted canvas. This was the tech installing the engine simply being lazy.

The PO did some DIY electrical at the helm. Rather than taking the time to run the new line through the harness, they bee-lined straight to the negative bus bar.........with a short run of wire which prevented the helm access panel from being able to be opened all the way.

When I buy a used boat, I systematically go through, usually replace, every system one at a time. I've rewired every helm on every boat, because electrical DIY is the most popular in the boating industry. It's also typically difficult to access and time consuming, so there are a lot of corners cuts.

 

[DDW]

If we are talking power boats I have only had two. First one bought in 2018 was a 2006 build, second one bought this year is a 2014 build, same builder. Neither had had any significant modifications or additions since they left the factory. Which is how I'd prefer it. The 2006 was meticulously maintained mostly by the owner, a retired navy guy. The 2014 was meticulously maintained mostly by boatyard personnel. The biggest difference in condition was due to the berthing details: the 2006 was kept in fresh water and a covered slip, the 2014 in salt water, open slip. As a consequence, there are a few exterior things on the 2006 in better condition than the 2014 - window gaskets, screens, anything that deteriorates in sun or salt.

WRT aging of a boat, climate controlled indoor storage is best, but fresh water and any sort of sun cover makes a big difference.

 

[Shrew]

.........................meticulously maintained mostly by the owner, a retired navy guy.

I see this comment A LOT and it cracks me up every time I see it. There are many, many jobs in the Navy. Most, have nothing to do with boat maintenance. Even those in the engineering field have little to do with the systems on a small boat. The guys working on the engines aren't working on the electronics, or plumbing.

I'm a computer engineer. Modern cars are all run on computers. I do my own oil changes. So since automobiles are all computers, I am in the computer industry and I do some of my own maintenance my car should be in better shape than others?? LOL!!!! Hardly.

 

[ranger58sb]

Our first boat, 1987 model we got in 1995, second owners. First owners were great.

Second boat, 2001 model we got new in 2001... so we were first owners. First owners were great.

Third boat, 2002 model, we got in 2005, second owners. First owner was OK, although there were a couple things that could have been caught/corrected earlier.

Current boat, 2006 model we got in 2021, fourth owners. Third owner was apparently useless, not sure about the two previous.

I think I gravitate toward preferring being second owners.

-Chris

 

[SteveK]

DIY work is done with the best of intentions, Always
and the least amount of knowledge. Maybe not always

 

[DDW]

I see this comment A LOT and it cracks me up every time I see it. There are many, many jobs in the Navy. Most, have nothing to do with boat maintenance. Even those in the engineering field have little to do with the systems on a small boat. The guys working on the engines aren't working on the electronics, or plumbing.

I'm a computer engineer. Modern cars are all run on computers. I do my own oil changes. So since automobiles are all computers, I am in the computer industry and I do some of my own maintenance my car should be in better shape than others?? LOL!!!! Hardly.

Yeah, I mention it because he mentioned it. In this case he was very competent, and had an impressive collection of self-restored antique outboard motors as evidence. The 2014 boat was owned by a retired career coast guard guy - but in this case a lawyer (JAG) so probably doesn't add to the CV for mechanical competence. And he paid for his maintenance.

 

[Max Simmons]

I've owned my boat going on 20 years now and am the 3rd owner. The fellow before me did a lot of upgrades and kept meticulous records. He was a dot com guy and had an open checkbook from what I could tell. That was a big factor in why I bought the boat. I saw it sitting next to a GB 36 that I was originally interested in, same vintage, but needed a heckuva lot of work. I believe they were closely priced, but the GB need 10's of thousands to get it back in shape.

 

[Comodave]

We have been married for 54 years and have owned 24 boats in that time. Some of them were new when I bought them some were used. Our current boat has lived here for 4 years and it is a 1998. It was in fairly good condition not because the last owner took great care of it but rather in spite of him. He was a boating neophyte and had not a clue about boat maintenance. We did a lot of significant work the first 2 years on it, about $85K in upgrades. I did most of the work but did hire out the cabin carpeting and the canvas and upholstery work. This year our to do list is done and it wasn’t very long because there isn’t much left to do. So if I were younger it would be time to get rid of it and buy a different boat so I could work on it. But I am slowing down and am no longer able to do all that work so maybe we just keep this boat.

 

[SteveK]

We have been married for 54 years and have owned 24 boats in that time. Some of them were new when I bought them some were used. Our current boat has lived here for 4 years and it is a 1998. It was in fairly good condition not because the last owner took great care of it but rather in spite of him. He was a boating neophyte and had not a clue about boat maintenance. We did a lot of significant work the first 2 years on it, about $85K in upgrades. I did most of the work but did hire out the cabin carpeting and the canvas and upholstery work. This year our to do list is done and it wasn’t very long because there isn’t much left to do. So if I were younger it would be time to get rid of it and buy a different boat so I could work on it. But I am slowing down and am no longer able to do all that work so maybe we just keep this boat.

Every time you relate that I go wow,
I cannot remember how many exactly, but less than 10.

 

[tiltrider1]

I have owned my current boat for 10 years. However, our boating mission is changing. We are most likely done with traveling to Alaska or down the coast. We are seriously thinking of down sizing to a fast restaurant cruiser.

 

[Comodave]

Every time you relate that I go wow,
I cannot remember how many exactly, but less than 10.

To me it is just normal.

 

[KnotYet]

We owned the previous boat for 15 years. The boat was 31-46 years old and had once been
cared for but was well past its prime. It taught me a lot about taking on an aging steel vessel.

Current boat has been ours for 3.5 months! The boat is 40 years old. The maintenance was
good for the first 35 or so years but I've been pretty busy with catching up on deferred stuff.

 

[fractalphreak]

So ............... how old is you boat, how long have you had it, and how many owners have been "maintaining" it? What do you think of the care the past owners did to the boat?

NWD is 45 this year. I believe she has had at three owners prior to me. One was, likely the original, owned a prominent roofing company in the Puget Sound region. His las name was Crowe, and he originally named her Old Crowe. I do not know who the second owner was, but her name had been changed to Rejoice by the early 2000's. The last owner had her from 2008 until we bought her in 2018. She has four or five stick on awards from the Seattle Yacht club from the late 90's and early 00's above the stairs down to the aft cabin, so back then she was likely well cared for. The last owner put a lot of initial work in on her, then several years before putting her up for sale he had a stroke and wasn't able to care for the boat much. He had updated the electronics, added a nice RIB with a Yamaha outboard, and a really nice Seawise davit system. From the condition of the engine room and some of the other things we found on the boat, he wasn't necessarily handy mechanically/electrically. He told me he resealed the windows, and that they were never gonna leak. He used 5200 on them. He didn't use some things, and they didn't work, of course. Somehow, he got it in his head he could put a bronze impeller in the raw water pump so it would "never need to be replaced", but it wouldn't prime or pump water (I'm guessing that was post-stroke.) There is documentation of him hiring out work, IE shaft work, engine/transmission work, inverter install, etc and most of that seems to have been on par.

At some point, the entire boat has been painted, and its now faded/cracking and needs to be refinished. Not sure who painted her when. She could have used new paint the day we bought her, but I haven't had the time to do it myself, or the $ to pay someone to.

I think people have changed the oil in the engines and transmissions; they purr along just fine. I put a lot of initial work into her to fix things that came up on survey or that concerned me. Redid the sanitation plumbing, repaired the existing tank, added a second one for the forward he, etc. babied the engine room, moved batteries to better locations in proper boxes, added waterlifts to the engine exhaust, etc.

In short, I think each owner has likely taken good care of her at some point, but then "health forces sale" likely happened at least to the last two owners. I was supplied with the last owner's survey he had done when he bought the boat, and it was obvious it was unused and needed a little TLC. We still found unresolved issues form that survey on ours!

All that said, we were able to pick up the boat in Squiem WA, enjoy a 3 day weekend on her before hauling her in Anacortes for some of the work we wanted to do. Except for the regular radiator hose that had been installed on the generator exhaust elbow. And the batteries could not hold a charge. But that's another story.

Not knowing anything about the original or second owners like you do, I have no idea how the boat was taken care of. It seems mechanically well overall, cosmetically its been in steady decline with some times of renewed attention.

I wish some of the previous owners had done more work that would make it easier to maintain her - like fixing the windows right, etc. But, if they had kept it up a lot better, I wouldn't have been able to afford her, so what do I say?!

 

[Comodave]

Gotta love the SeaWise davits…

 

[lwarden]

We've had the current boat (2002 build) for nearly 5 years. It appears to have had at least three previous owners. The last owner was just for a year, and they didn't really seem to use it. I think from the story from the broker it was a mistake and they were over their head, so I don't really count them.
Prior to one year owner, the boat was owned by a retired Boing engineer and his wife, super nice folks. From what I can tell from the documentation, there was a fair bit of differed maintenance they had performed to bring it up to high standards. That work also included a complete electronics upgrade. All this work was done professionally, mostly and North Harbor Diesel and Diesel Power Specialists. The bills were eye watering from my perspective. From what I can tell it was all very professionally done. In fact, I haven't found any work done post build that wasn't at a very high standard. The original build quality was also exceptional, Jim Lindell knows how to build a boat and I'm continually impressed with the boat.
Since we purchased almost all the work has been DIY by yours truly, just a few more things and it's pretty much done and ready for the loop.

Previous boat, a 2001 Shamrock 260 Express was owned for 7 years IIRC. I did a lot of work on that boat since it was a mess when I bought it. It's build quality was only so-so, but it was a decent boat overall.

 

[Gdavid]

I've owned my boat for 5 years now, it was 40 years old when I purchased it and was in need of plenty of repairs but functional. It has been a work in progress ever since, but I've been able to enjoy it along the way.

The previous owners hired out all the repairs and improvements and provided receipts for $80k in repairs and improvements on a boat that was worth $30k (at best) even in a Covid market. Very little of the money was well spent, the canvas work was good, the minimal electronics were ok, the custom mattress is nice, but every dollar spent on mechanical, electrical, plumbing or fiberglass repair has required re-work since. Fortunately, I recognized most of the needed projects I was getting into, and it is a simple boat to work on, but there is no way I would hire it out.

So far, I have:
Replaced air conditioner - rework due to lose connections damaging controls
Replaced inverter & house bank - rework due to wiring the entire AC system through inverter
Re-cored cockpit - partial rework of incomplete job
Replaced bulkhead - rework of inadequate repair
Rewired DC system
Replaced engine expansion tank, turbo, intercooler, exhaust manifold, oil & trans coolers
Rebuild engine bottom end - Replaced main bearings, oil pump, machined crankshaft main journals
Upgraded electronics - Added navigation to lower helm and installed autopilot
Replaced potable water plumbing
Installed windlass & pulpit
Replaced thru hulls & seacocks

I'm probably about halfway done and the boat is probably worth about $15k now.

 

[Unclematt]

The boat was built in 1990 and I bought my boat in 2019 and I am owner #9. It was chartered at some point which I found out when going through paperwork that came with the boat. I quickly found out that the electrical systems needed help. I was still working and bought the boat to do the Great Loop. I hired a marine electrician to rewire it. That process led to me replacing and upgrading almost everything due to old age. I didn't want to have frequent breakdowns while Looping. Purchase survey value $70K Pre Loop survey for insurance $185K I did spend over $100K and did some of the work myself.

 

[Don L]

that highlights so much or my point, the more owners the more problems

 

[Mako]

True, especially resulting in funky electrical wiring. That seems to be the #1 remnant from previous owners. When I installed a new sounder in my fishing boat I think I removed 3 or 4 other transducer wires. On a good note, tying a line to them made fishing my new wire easy!

 

[Ertyqway]

My current boat (Jackaroo...in my profile pic) was built in 1987. I am (I think) the sixth owner, purchased in 2022. The immediate past owner is also in the same yacht club as me, so I know them and how well they've taken care of it, including numerous cosmetic and functional upgrades (all new electronics, a hydraulic dinghy lift, bow thruster, diesel heater, galley re-do, etc.). It's spent the better part of its life under cover in fresh water, which helps a lot. We're continuing with that stewardship, having just re-done the AC/DC electrical, upgrading it to a full Victron lithium system, refinishing the cockpit teak, and stripping off 38 years of delaminating bottom paint (nearly 3/16" thick!), replacing most of the through-hulls, and re-epoxying the hull when the old bottom paint took the gel coat with it.

We have had to pull out a few legacy DIY projects from past owners, and I will echo the generally poor quality of DIY work vs professional installation, especially on fiberglass. You may think you can do it just fine. It's very likely you can't. Hire someone who can.

But overall, the boat is still in great condition for its age, and has been thoroughly modernized over the years. We love it. Someday, the seventh owner will as well.

 

[Nordlund Xpress]

Starting in 1986, first three boats were sailboats which went from 52, to 47 to 43 feet. We lived 3 years on the 52. Switching to power, we bought a fresh water kept, 59' 1998 Queenship in 2009 becoming the second owners and kept her just over 11 years. Great boat but we were getting worried about high horsepower DD 6V92 engine overhaul costs and eventual hull and house repainting costs. So facing a $300K +/- likely future cost, we sold her in 2020 for a bit more than we paid for her. Then 2 months later bought a 57' 2007 Nordlund and again became the second owners of a very nice semi-displacement boat. Completed a 2021 cosmetic refit upgrade. Five years in, we have no plans to sell as she's turned out to be a fantastic boat. Just completed a upgrade of the 2007 electronics and looking forward to a great spring, summer and fall Southern California season.

 

[Mako]

@Nordlund Xpress it's interesting that you kept downsizing the sailboats, then jumped up big time with your powerboats. So two questions, why the sailboat downsizing, and how much work do you consider it keeping this big powerboat?

 

[Nordlund Xpress]

Insightful question. We lived on the 52 sailboat - very comfortable size for a couple - considered buying a very well built 45' Norseman 447 which would have worked fine, but got hull number 1 on a Hans Christian Christina 52 for less less money and which allowed us to ultimately sell for significantly above what we paid 3 years later. The 47', a Northwind deck salon design with inside steering felt very similar in size and amenities to the 52. By the time we got to boat 3, a Jeanneau 43 DS, we were no longer considering living on a boat and a smaller boat made more sense - and we had boat partners who did not want to go larger and both families had kids and their activities to manage.

We went to power after 23 years of sail as we reached the point that we were more interested in 'being there' versus 'getting there', and spending 10-14 days at a time led us back up in size - and we fell in love with the layout, engineering and build quality of a Queenship. We find the 55-60' range just right for us and occasional guests but my wife and I are totally comfortable handling this size ourselves. The Nordlund is a faster, dryer, significantly more fuel efficient boat, with stabilization, but we gave up having a fly bridge and 3rd guest cabin - neither do we miss.

As far as 'work' it's similar to maintaining a home, we have a gardner (cleans the hull), maids (exterior wash downs and interior housekeeping), handyman (general boat technician) - had all the same crew for last 16 years (helps a lot). Specialists deal with A/C, engines, etc. and the yard deals with bottom paint, stabilizers, etc. We view boats as an integral part of our lives, live on our power boat the equivalent of about 3 months of the year, I manage our vendors and techs, but only do minor installs and maintenance ourselves. Mostly I write checks - but I've had the same service people and yard (except mechanic as we went from DD to CAT) for close to 2 decades, and they make my life easier. Starlink keeps us reliably connected so we can pay for it.

 

[Dougcole]

This is our second "big" boat, though we/I have had a slew of outboard powered boats, mostly serious fishing boats. I still own and use an 18' Action Craft flats boat that I have had since it was new in 2001. I just put the third new engine on it.

We bought the 2005 Mainship 400 in 2013, second owners, so have owned it 12 years now. The PO barely used the boat (less than 100 hrs on the motors and 40 on the genset). He didn't really do any damage, he just bought the boat and let it sit. He was upgrading to a custom boat when we bought Morgan from him.

I like to think if/when we sell her that the next owner will appreciate all I've done. I try hard to keep her in great shape.

 

[Hobbit]

I've owned the Hobbit for 15 years now, I'm the 7th owner, the boat was custom built in 1968. I know the last 2 previous owners did a lot of updates and did most things properly and spared no expense. All commercial grade electronics, northern lights generators, diesel heaters, epoxy barrier coated, etc etc. I have kept up the maintenance, its my hobby, full paint above waterline, new depth sounders, radios, stainless piping in engine room, new anchor cable, house and engine batteries, window screens, new wheelhouse teak interior, etc.

It's a lot of work not sure how I did it while I was still working...but that was 10 years ago.

I personally know of someone who just completely rebuilt a 100' yacht and did it properly no expense spared taken close to 4 years now, they hired experts when needed but managed the majority of the work themselves. They also discovered work done by a very respected yard in B.C. was not done as advertised but only found out a few years later while doing this rebuild, so sometimes the professionals will cut corners unless your they're to keep an eye on things.

I have a mechanical background and can figure most things out. I've also have had a lot of good advice from a lot of experienced and respected boat yards in over 50 years of owning and maintaining them.