How to limit the risk

[davidpm]

I met a guy who has never sailed but wants to start. The deal that is shaping up is that he buys the boat and pays the bills, I teach him how to sail. I get to use the boat when he is not using it. He is about 90 minutes from the boat and has a lot of business and family responsibilities and I am 20 minutes from the boat and will probably be responsible for, provisioning, general care taking and dealing with the yard. In short I'll be his boat concierge,

I have taken him out the last two Saturdays boat shopping. The requirements that have emerged are as follows:

Standing headroom
marine head
Hot and cold water
diesel engine
30' plus
Woody traditional feel (did not like the Catalina 30)
Not a project boat, sail-away condition.

Now here is the tough one:
20,000 max cost

1979 Morgan 321 RECENT SURVEY Sail Boat For Sale -

This boat is in his price range and was well taken care of by the previous owner.
At this price and age there are a few things but nothing too scary.

The thing that really concerns me is the salt water cooled very old engine.
What are the chances of this engine lasting a couple of seasons without major work?

Yes I know it depends on the condition but what would you do next?
1. Pass on the boat because of the age and saltwater model?
2. Just listen to it and if it starts good and sounds OK and can run at max rpm without overheating figure it's good enough.
3. Hire a mechanic to check it out.
4. Do a compression test (or other test)

It has new oil in it so I'm not sure if an oil analysis will do any good.
Who does the oil analysis if and when that makes sense?
Feel free to comment on the deal, as if I could stop you.

[bubb2]

My thoughts on this subject have always been if the boat is good condition why would the owner not take good care of the engine also? They are lots of old raw water cooled engines out there running strong. I think over all engine hours are more of a concern. Run the engine strong and hard at sea trail. Watch the temp. Listen, Listen, Listen!

If being raw water cooled is a concern, there are products out to remove scale from the cooling passages.

[TQA]

My decision would be affected by the make esp. if it was a Volvo [ expensive spares] or an unusual make [ hard to find ] spares.

If it was a Perkins 4/107 that would be a plus.

Run it hard, see if it overheats.

Get someone who knows diesels to listen to it

[WanderingStar]

David, check the engine zinc, it protects the cooling system (you already know that).
Engine oil tests can be bought at better auto parts stores, you fill a little bottle and mail it away. Ideally you send two samples seperated by use, but they can tell what contaminants are in any sample.

[mitiempo]

I think the engine having new oil in it eliminates the effectiveness of oil analysis until it has been run for a while, doesn't it?
Brian

[Jeff_H]

First of all, are you really sure that engine is raw water cooled? I don't see where it says in the listing that the engine is raw water cooled. I believe that while the boat is in salt water, it is not clear to me that that model yanmar is a raw water cooled engine.

If it is not a raw water cooled engine, while not cheap, heat exchangers and risers are readily available for that model and relatively easy to swap out.

Yanmars go for a very long time, and are pretty easy to maintain. That said, a 2QM20 is a very small engine for a 11000 lb boat, and these boats do not sail all that well, especially in light air or heavy air and so livinbg on LIS it may have a lot of hours and been run pretty hard in its day.

Jeff

[fendertweed]

highly recommend Blackstone Labs (Ft. Wayne, IN) over any in-store mail-in oil analysis (unless it goes to Blackstone, LOL)....

Blackstone Labs

[davidpm]

Thanks for weighing in Jeff
The H at the end of the model number means raw water. F would mean fresh.
I called Mack Boring and my guy said that the riser is available but the heat exchanger is not made anymore.
Yes I agree it is a big boat for a small engine.
I suspected it is a bit of a slug for a boat but this sailboat stuff is all about passion. It's the only boat he likes the "feel" of that is under 20k I can find. Just wish I had a better feeling about the engine.

I have this nightmare vision of this old guy who knows all there is to know about this boat and has been maintaining it beautifully for 10 years decides to pressure test the heat exchanger sees that it will not hold pressure. He knows the part can not be bought and the engine will self-destruct in about 30 hours. He put some radiator plug in the system to make it sound OK for the sea trial and is anxious to unload the boat.
Yes I know I'm paranoid. But just because you believe people are out to get you doesn't mean it's not true.
My friend put in really low-ball offer. If it is accepted I'll be even more paranoid.

Originally Posted by Jeff_H

First of all, are you really sure that engine is raw water cooled? I don't see where it says in the listing that the engine is raw water cooled. I believe that while the boat is in salt water, it is not clear to me that that model yanmar is a raw water cooled engine.

If it is not a raw water cooled engine, while not cheap, heat exchangers and risers are readily available for that model and relatively easy to swap out.

Yanmars go for a very long time, and are pretty easy to maintain. That said, a 2QM20 is a very small engine for a 11000 lb boat, and these boats do not sail all that well, especially in light air or heavy air and so livinbg on LIS it may have a lot of hours and been run pretty hard in its day.

Jeff

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by fendertweed

highly recommend Blackstone Labs (Ft. Wayne, IN) over any in-store mail-in oil analysis (unless it goes to Blackstone, LOL)....

Blackstone Labs

Thanks