boomerang
Guru
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2016
- Messages
- 1,402
- Location
- united states
- Vessel Name
- Wandering Star
- Vessel Make
- PSN40
I haven't been on the forum much since we sold our Mainship 34 classic late last fall.
With the Mainship, I always had something to post with regards to improvement, since there was lots of stuff that needed doing during the time that we owned it.
Which brings me to the story of how we got lucky and found a turn key used boat when we decided we wanted a boat that was a little larger with more creature comforts than a 34 foot boat was able to provide. This forum is a good resource for lots of things and I have always used it a tool from which to garner boating information. After joining in 2016, I soon figure d out who had actual boating experience versus google boating experience.
One of those members with real experience is PSNeeld. I paid attention to PSN's posts which is how we happened upon his prior/our present boat. In the fall of 2021, I noticed some of Scott's post mentioned the possibility of him selling his Albin 40 trawler. I reasoned that a boat that he owned stood a good chance of being in better shape than other boats of a similar vintage. After he made a few references to the possibility of marketing his boat in the near future, I decided to send a message and let him know we would be interested in the boat when he decided to put it on the market.
Apparently, I was not the only one who was covertly following his posts because he informed me that there were two other parties interested in the boat ahead of us! Even though it was a 12 hour trip, I felt it was worth the effort to drive to Fort Pierce to take a look, despite the fact that there were potential buyers ahead of us. We made the trip and Scott gave us a three hour walk-through which barely covered the improvements and maintenance that he had done in his years of ownership. He showed the "new this", the "new that", the "changed this", the "upgraded that", what he did to "improve this", and what he would have "done differently" to that, etc., etc.
My poor head was in a foggy cloud when he finished with his abbreviated overview of the boat. What I gathered was that Scott is in person just as he is on the forum. An honest, straight-shooter that doesn't tolerate BS, but if he likes you, will give you the shirt off his back. Without a sea trial or even seeing if half of the systems worked, we left him a a deposit. Normally, I would now buy anything with a more formal survey, but we had a feeling that everything he told us he believed to be true. If I had to identify a fault of his, it would be that he is too honest. He spent almost as much time pointing out the things he was unhappy with as he did the things that he was happy with.
When we returned, he said he had not heard back from the person who had looked at the boat ahead of us and the boat was ours if we wanted it. We went ahead with the purchase and I will admit, I was a bit nervous about buying a boat without even seeing if it moves!
Scott was very very kind and offered to deliver the boat to St. Augustine from Ft. Pierce after the closing. That saved us several days of time we did not have. And I figure if something broke on the trip to St. Augustine, he would be the guy who knew how to fix it for us!
Well, he delivered it and the boat did fine! We kept the boat in the St. Augustine area for the next few months, doing things to make it ours and learning the systems, but never even leaving the slip! Come the departure date of April 9, we started the engine and took it as a good sign that the boat backed out of the slip with no issue!
Five days later, we arrived at our halfway point just south of Myrtle Beach, SC; where it stayed for six more weeks until school closed and Liz was off for the summer when we had time to bring it the rest of the way to Virginia. Fast forward to May 29 and here we are at our home in Virginia. For the maiden voyage, the boat ran flawlessly without a single system failure or issue for the entire 900 mile trip up the East Coast.
So, the point of this post is: if you are ever in the market to buy anything that Scott Neeld has to sell, I would recommend buying it! You won't be sorry!
With the Mainship, I always had something to post with regards to improvement, since there was lots of stuff that needed doing during the time that we owned it.
Which brings me to the story of how we got lucky and found a turn key used boat when we decided we wanted a boat that was a little larger with more creature comforts than a 34 foot boat was able to provide. This forum is a good resource for lots of things and I have always used it a tool from which to garner boating information. After joining in 2016, I soon figure d out who had actual boating experience versus google boating experience.
One of those members with real experience is PSNeeld. I paid attention to PSN's posts which is how we happened upon his prior/our present boat. In the fall of 2021, I noticed some of Scott's post mentioned the possibility of him selling his Albin 40 trawler. I reasoned that a boat that he owned stood a good chance of being in better shape than other boats of a similar vintage. After he made a few references to the possibility of marketing his boat in the near future, I decided to send a message and let him know we would be interested in the boat when he decided to put it on the market.
Apparently, I was not the only one who was covertly following his posts because he informed me that there were two other parties interested in the boat ahead of us! Even though it was a 12 hour trip, I felt it was worth the effort to drive to Fort Pierce to take a look, despite the fact that there were potential buyers ahead of us. We made the trip and Scott gave us a three hour walk-through which barely covered the improvements and maintenance that he had done in his years of ownership. He showed the "new this", the "new that", the "changed this", the "upgraded that", what he did to "improve this", and what he would have "done differently" to that, etc., etc.
My poor head was in a foggy cloud when he finished with his abbreviated overview of the boat. What I gathered was that Scott is in person just as he is on the forum. An honest, straight-shooter that doesn't tolerate BS, but if he likes you, will give you the shirt off his back. Without a sea trial or even seeing if half of the systems worked, we left him a a deposit. Normally, I would now buy anything with a more formal survey, but we had a feeling that everything he told us he believed to be true. If I had to identify a fault of his, it would be that he is too honest. He spent almost as much time pointing out the things he was unhappy with as he did the things that he was happy with.
When we returned, he said he had not heard back from the person who had looked at the boat ahead of us and the boat was ours if we wanted it. We went ahead with the purchase and I will admit, I was a bit nervous about buying a boat without even seeing if it moves!
Scott was very very kind and offered to deliver the boat to St. Augustine from Ft. Pierce after the closing. That saved us several days of time we did not have. And I figure if something broke on the trip to St. Augustine, he would be the guy who knew how to fix it for us!
Well, he delivered it and the boat did fine! We kept the boat in the St. Augustine area for the next few months, doing things to make it ours and learning the systems, but never even leaving the slip! Come the departure date of April 9, we started the engine and took it as a good sign that the boat backed out of the slip with no issue!
Five days later, we arrived at our halfway point just south of Myrtle Beach, SC; where it stayed for six more weeks until school closed and Liz was off for the summer when we had time to bring it the rest of the way to Virginia. Fast forward to May 29 and here we are at our home in Virginia. For the maiden voyage, the boat ran flawlessly without a single system failure or issue for the entire 900 mile trip up the East Coast.
So, the point of this post is: if you are ever in the market to buy anything that Scott Neeld has to sell, I would recommend buying it! You won't be sorry!
