Wow

[Slayer]

Just lazing around on a Sunday afternoon looking at sailboats for sail and daydreaming about buying one. I have been sailing club boats and other individual's boats for years, but never owned my own. A Pearson 1988 MKII Sloop caught my attention and I showed it to my fiancee.

She said LETS BUY IT!!!!!

I don't have the cash right now, but we both have steady jobs with real good income and credit. I can probably put 20% down. We are going to look at the boat next week. Damn,,,,what an interesting turn of events.

Would anyone be interested in looking at the info I have and tell me what they think? It was surveyed in 2009 and is USCG documented.

[T34C]

Link???

[Slayer]

Sail - Pearson 31`MKII Sloop 1988

[KeelHaulin]

You need to hire your own surveyor and have someone who you are paying for an opinion look at the boat. A survey provided by the seller is usually tailored to the needs of the seller for either purposes of selling the boat or for insurance purposes which will primarily speak to the safety aspects and USCG requirements of her systems and give the insurance provider an idea of the overall condition and if it is an acceptable insurance risk.

A pre-purchase survey will help find any flaws which will show you and the owner what needs to be fixed or will reduce the agreed value of the boat. In general surveys save the owner more money than the survey costs; and it gives you the ability to walk away from a purchase agreement if the survey findings (or sea trial) are not to your liking.

I think you need to take some time to learn about the boat buying process and learn what condition you should expect the boat to be in before you buy one. It might save you from buying the "giant hole in the water you throw money in" which is what boats are in most cases (some holes are much bigger than others). Owning/operating a sailboat has also been characterized as "Taking a cold shower while ripping up $100 bills"; so be sure you don't mind the ongoing expense of upkeep and berthing. If you are handy you can do most of the maintenance work yourself to minimize the ripping up of 'boat bucks'.

[omaho5]

If it surveys as nice as it appears, I say go for it. Not knowing a thing about you, I would say that you are young and ready.
Remember that youth comes only one time, and if you do it correctly one time will be enough.
This web site has a bunch of knowledgeable old farts..not all. They could put a damper on a romp in the hey with a movie starlet.
That said, negotiate WISELY. They appear to be gettng all the money.

[mitiempo]

Get your own survey. The existing one is 2 years old and a lot can happen in 2 years. Your insurance company and probably the bank will require an up to date survey anyway.

The boat looks good, is well equipped and is priced accordingly. It does not necessarily look to be a bargain.

[Faster]

She certainly shows well in the pictures and looks to be a good boat to start with... in that she'll probably do you for quite a number of years.

Without doing any research the price looks on the high side, but if she's in as good conditions as she appears and if she passes survey it looks like you'll be into a fully viable sailing situation right off the bat... as has been pointed out numerous times before, with the right deal and the right boat that's the way to go.

[MarkCK]

I dont think I would buy a boat just because it's a nice day out and you have always kicked around owning one. Maybe you should think about this for a while. 28 foot boats require a constant outlay of funds year round. With a trailer sailor you can just put it in your backyard till you feel like fooling with it.

[tommays]

We looked a few of them and they looked perfect and all came up with wet decks from the stanchion gaskets SO look careful in this area

[jrd22]

Marry her QUICK!!