And more updates
I just spent about an hour on the phone with Kevin from Fleming South East Sales and we basically went over each picture, where he pointed out what he saw and what he thoughts were.
First of all, this boat was involved in not 1, but 2 hurricanes. First there was hurricane Francis where the boat was slamming into the concrete shore until it sank. It then sat on the bottom, waiting for salvage when the second hurricane (Jenne) hit. In all it must have spent about 1 month in the water and according to Kevin the boat then sat on the land for quite a while.
The moisture in the boat then made sure that everything in that boat could be written off and that is exactly what happened, the insurance did a complete write off and the boat went to auction.
So that is about what happened to this boat, that is 100 % sure, since Fleming was involved in the salvage until it was delivered to the insurance company.
After that we know the boat was bought at auction by Mr Oliver Jones from South Florida. Where the boat went after that is still a mystery. It did leave the States, but no idea whereto.
According to Kevin the reason why these 3208's went is was simple. Fleming had used these engines with great success until they were prohibited in the US for environmental reasons. But in Europe those regulations did not apply, so most likely they were on the cheap. He had no idea whether they were used or brand new, but did state that the engines can do a max of about 6000 hrs or 30.000 gallons. At about 12 kts they will do around 10 gph at 7 to 8 kts they will do 5 gph, so that is the calculation behind it.
The engines were easy to fit in the boat since the 3208 had already been in Flemings and the basic design had not changed. The only difference with the Cummins was a different propshaft and different prop. It is unclear whether they were changed as well or they are still the original. In the last case it would mean that the props are too big for these engines, which would result in loss of performance.
As a result of these engines and the EU registration the boat can never be imported again in the US, so that limits the amount of potential buyers.
According to Kevin all East coast Flemings were standard delivered with Naiad stabilizers. They were an option, but every owner choose them. Tony Fleming himself was against stabilizers and therefore designed a hull that would not need stabilizers.
So this Fleming also had stabilizers, but according to Kevin they were most likely damaged or destroyed during the hurricanes and or salvage. In any case the Naiads were delivered with this block of wood and that is why they probably used it for the Vetus stabilizers that are currently on the boat.
The fuel system belongs to the model of the cummins engines, so his conclusion was that they saved this one since it was better than that of earlier models.
Roof of the engine room has been redone, but it was done OK.
The batteries in the 2001 model were in the ER, but now they are in the lazarette. He saw all new battery switches, so drew the conclusion that most likely the boat has been rewired.
Another reason for that thought is that the lay out of the cabins doesn't fit with this boat. The lay out fits with an older model Fleming, so his assessment is that the boat was gutted and rebuild, which would be good news.
The wood work, according to him has also been redone and seem to look good quality.
The rest of the interior has been changed a lot, was not like that in the original boat, but many of you had also pointed that out.
The reason for the split unit is also quite simple actually. The original boat had all the airco's in the lazarette and then copper lines to the spaces. However, salt water is very corrosive for copper pipes, which meant they either had to install new pipes or route the cold air through the heating ducts. They choose the latter and therefore used a split unit.
The pilot house is also different, but the quality of the work looks to be good.
We then spoke a bit about the reason for a trade in and that I should ask myself who pays the trade in. His reasoning was that most owners will not accept a trade in, since they know what they are selling, but don't know what they are getting in return.
The broker told me a third party does the trade in, but no idea what the interest of the third party is.
Lastly we came to the value of the boat. He agreed with me that the value lies around 400.000 euro at this moment, but that it could be difficult to sell the boat if I want to sell it in a few years for the same amount. In any case he would not take the boat into his inventory without knowing the complete history of the boat.
I agree with that, without knowing what they did with the boat, how many real hours the engines have this boat is a gamble and I don't gamble with that kind of money. Then I rather keep my own Defever.
Long story again, but at least we now have the full story on what happened and what can be deducted from the pictures so far.
Now i need to get the full story on the rebuild.
In any case, many thanks so far to all of you. It is becoming a great 'investigation' and great team work. Without all your knowledge I would have never ever gotten to this point. Nice to read everyone is thinking along.
I will keep you posted of the progress.
