[Jasper Windvane]

Like everyone,, ok .. not everyone.. but anyhow.. I met a fellow sailor
who had just bought an old English twin keel cruising boat at my good old boat boatyard, the end of the summer; 2008. He told me he paid $800 dollars. The boat was dirty, she didn't look like she had been sailed for awhile, but she was sound. Rock solid. Basically, the owner had died, the family did not want to boat, and no one wanted to pay the marina the yard bill. So, he told the marina, I'll give you $800 and get her out of your boatyard.. Vola, he is now sailing in Florida. Now that I'm back looking for a boat, I look on Ebay. Huum, this one looks nice, oops, in Hawaii. Wow, look at this one.. oops, in Texas.. but then one jumps out at me .. not too far away, dirty, will need this and that and on and on. The problem? The auction rules, etc. In this one boat case, the ebay seller does not own the boat. They are just sellers. They tell me how perfect the boat is, and on and on. I do some research. Does not take long to figure out that the ebay seller does not know anything about the boat.
They are reading a ******. I call the boatyard where the boat is kept; no one will talk about the boat because of the ebay seller. Cant figure out; is there tax owed? Boatyard fees? Was the boat sunk/damaged? What happened to the owner? Nothing. Very frustrating. Is there a way around this madness? The boat is too much money as she sits. Too many questions. But if the buyer can't even depend on the seller to know anything? Crazy.. just crazy. Any of you done the Ebay thing? Dealt with these Ebay sellers? If yes: how do you bust through the wall of silence? Get to the basics, is the boat a junk or what? Thanks,, Sailnet is the best.