Buying First Yacht

[HoffaLives]

I know about the importance of a survey, but when making up an offer for a boat what kinds of subjects are prudent to include? I don't want to offer someone 100 grand and find out later I should have...

Also, is a mechanical survey different than the overall survey? What I mean is do I get a different surveyor for the mechanicals than for the hull? SHould a good surveyor be able to do both? Or do I just get a marine mechanic to look at it.
We will be making an offer on a CS 36T. Kicking out the kids, selling the house, and moving aboard. Somebody pinch me.

[PBzeer]

Think of a surveyor as a general contractor. He has the overall picture, and knows what goes where. You then have a sub-contractor (so to speak) look at the engine, and if necessary, one for the standing rigging. Nice choice of boats, good luck.

Regards,

[Jotun]

The surveyor I just used did a general inspection of the engine. She checked the oil, the transmission oil, etc.... But if you are concerned about the motor you should hire a diesel mechanic to do an inspection. I did not during my inspection, but then I felt like I knew what I was buying.

[camaraderie]

Hoffa...when making an offer you should simply offer somewhat what you feel a boat with NO major issues is worth on the market today given the general condition of the boat you have observed. If there are major issues that you are aware of you should reduce your offer accordingly. For the CS36T...it appears that the current asking prices vary from $46K to 70K US and numerous sales have been made in the $50-60K range so you may want to start on the low side of the scale and negotiate accordingly. There are vast differences between the used boats on the market so if an owner has a very up to date boat that has been well cared for, you should be prepared to pay the price. All offers should be subject to survey, mechanical inspection and sea trial.
1. Survey should be done by someone of your own choosing and NOT someone recommended by the broker.
2. Mechanical inspection should be made by a good diesel mechanic who should also accompany you on the sea trial.
3. The sea trial should test all systems that cannot be tested on land...engine in gear at full RPM, transmission shifting, electronics, sails etc.

Once you have completed the survey you should re-negotiate the price to reflect any significant items found or walk away if there are grave issues that you are unwilling to undertake. (i.e. blister repair, engine rebuild etc.).
Hope this helps a bit...good luck, they are nice boats!

[sailingdog]

cam pretty much covered it all.

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by HoffaLives

...wwill be making an offer on a CS 36T. Kicking out the kids, selling the house, and moving aboard. Somebody pinch me.

As a happy CS 36T owner, I compliment you on an excellent choice. I think other posters have covered your survey question, you may know that there is an active CS owners group at http://www.closereach.com/csoa/. If you know the current/former names of a particular boat or the owner(s) you might search the news groups to see what items the former owner(s) have posted regarding - some boat histories get pretty well discussed over the years. You can also see what the common subjects of interest are for the 36T.

Good luck.

[HoffaLives]

Thanks all, this is exactly what I was looking for. One thing about the CS36 that I wonder about. The broker has sold these since the beginning, and he talked (quite frankly) about hull stringer delam problems that can occur after a grounding. Apparently when the forward lower edge of the keel hits something, the leverage causes the back upper edge to oilcan the hull, breaking away the grid, which is tabbed (not glued) into place. I have not heard this being a problem with other makes. The broker's answer is that with different boats, you will have problems after a good grounding but they just happen in different places. On this boat it's along the grid, on a hunter it would be elsewhere.

Any comments about this? Everything I have read about Cs talks about the quality of the boat.

[Sailormann]

CS is an excellent quality boat. And the broker is right, different boats have different issues. None of them are perfect. Curious the broker would mention this to you. Might indicate something about the particular boat you are looking at...and then again, maybe I'm just being overly suspicious as I have been dealing with a lot of liars and idiots
trying to sell me boats. Anyway, if the boat is in good condition, and the stringers are not loose already, it would have to be a pretty hard grounding to bend the hull to that extent. As I said, CS built a quality boat. Check out the CS Owners Association Yahoo Group for general info on the boats.

[HerbDB]

A little off topic, but amusing story relating to the title of this thread. I was visiting an elderly aunt a few weeks ago, when my cousin dropped by to see his mother. I had been telling her about boating on the Chesapeake. After he sat down with us, my aunt told me "Bob has a boat too". His reply was "I have a yacht." He always was a little pretentious. The thread title made me remember this conversation. I noticed that all of the posters here refer to their "boats and boating".

[HoffaLives]

Awww, cut me some slack! I've had this dream since I was a teen and I'm 46 now. I know it'll be a boat soon enough, but for now, I'm buying my first YACHT. WHoopie!