My Story of Learning

Jay2 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-27-2009

I tried jumping in with both feet and got bit. I drove all the way to Vegas (18 hours one way) from Calgary to buy a sailboat after looking for months. The last thing I said to the seller is I will buy it after we sail it in Lake Mead with no troubles. I took a friend of mine with me who had a small sailboat a few years back. It did not start off that well when I met the guy because he tells me boat stands for Bring Out Another Thousand!

While the boat was still in the parking lot I went over the boat as best I could and this was a very well kept boat with alot of extras. When inside I noticed a 5" screw in cover in the floor. I asked the guy what is under there and he said it is an inspection hole and there should not be any water in there. We continued to go over stuff and my smile grew wider and wider.

We finally got to the water and things were good. We were motoring out to the middle somewhere to go over the rest. I remembered the cover, I pulled the cover off and there was water, it was slopping around in there. My jaw hit the floor and he looked like a pirate caught in a museum! He came up with every kind of excuse and ended with a little bit of water in there is ok. He sponged it out and filled an ice cream bucket. Within 5 minutes it was filling up again. he pulled out a $7 tube of silicone and said I could fix it myself when I got home. From a guy that says boat stands for bring out another thousand.

This was a 1993 W.D. Shock called Scarlett and is from California. It is currently listed on Schocks website, last I saw anyway. I called a manufacturer before I left for the trip and a guy said yes the boat was recently in for some maintenance and it was a great boat.

I called him when I got home and told him what I had found. He then proceeds to tell me that his guys recently repaired the boat from an accident and he thought it was all fixed. The current owner was a noob as well. He fumbled his response when I said why did you not tell me about this accident when I called him before I drove 18 hours one way. The owner told me the boat was in for 'improvements', when infact it was repairs.

It is a swing keel boat and the water was coming from the area where the rope went through to attach to the bottom of the swing keel to lower it. I watched to see if the water was coming from the rope hole and couldn't quite tell. I didn't like his desperation after we found the problem. It bothered me alot when I first thought I may not buy the boat and by the time we got to shore I had made up my mind not to buy a boat with a problem. It would have been better with an axe stuck in the side of it because at least I would have known where the leak was coming from.

As a noob I have realised this might be a blessing. I have resolved to renting a bunch of times at the local reservoir, offering to help on anybodys boat hopefully for a 7 day tour to learn some more and take the local course. Oh and for my first boat, just buy something local.

CalebD · #2 (**permalink**) 02-27-2009

That is probably a nice boat that you are taking a 'pass' on but stuff happens.
Sorry you had to drive so far to get such ambiguous treatment - surely you could have got the same responses from someone closer.
B.O.A.T. does mean bring out another thousand. If you are not clear with that then had best rethink your ideas. It is not B.O.A.H. or hundred dollars; a boat buck is up to a thousand dollars even if you do the work yourself. Trust me on this. The only B.O.A.H sailboat I own is a trailer sailor that is a 19' Lightning and even now that is a low balled estimate.
You don't say what make or model boat you were looking at just that the boat leaked. WD Schock is a respected designer of boats of which there were many.
Leaks can be fixed. Repairing the hole in your wallet after you buy a boat may not be so easy to repair. Think about it.

Jay2 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-27-2009

Trust me after racing cars for 15 i know how to burn a hole in the wallet. Also, i never said schock made a bad boat, it had an accident and unrepaired damage. The guy crashed the boat. I mentioned the boat is on the schock site, if your curious have a look there.

As a new guy you could never be too cautious. And your right on one thing it can happen anywhere.

Have a great day!

JohnRPollard · #4 (**permalink**) 02-27-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay2

Trust me after racing cars for 15 i know how to burn a hole in the wallet. Also, i never said schock made a bad boat, it had an accident and unrepaired damage. The guy crashed the boat. I mentioned the boat is on the schock site, if your curious have a look there.

As a new guy you could never be too cautious. And your right on one thing it can happen anywhere.

Have a great day!

Hi Jay,

Sorry to hear your story, but sometimes a lesson like this can prove pretty valuable in the long run.

As a beginner into sailing, I would suggest you try to confine your search as locally as possible, so that you don't have to "invest" so much into viewing prospective purchases. It is really helpful if you can browse around and look at lots of prospective boats before getting too involved with any single offering.

Don't let this experience set you back too much. Live and learn, then move on undaunted. And thanks for sharing your cautionary tale -- other new sailors may well learn from your experience too.

P.S. I think you may have misconstrued the tone of Caleb's note -- this often happens on internet forums. From my perspective, Caleb was just sharing some casual observations and suggestions, trying to be helpful.

MIKEMCKEE · #5 (**permalink**) 03-25-2009

Jay,
Don't be too upset, when it comes sailboats there's almost always something that needs to be done. Glinda & I just know (been sailing since 1971) that when ever you start a project there's going to be another item you hadn't saw or didn't know about. A 1 hour job will take 3 more than likley.

Good Luck,

Mike

CalebD · #6 (**permalink**) 03-25-2009

Jay2,
I found a picture of the 1993 year Santana 2023 model boat called Scarlett that you looked at on their website: Brokerage
Santana sailboats have a pretty good reputation but I think you were right to walk away given the price they are asking. $11K sounds like a lot of money for this size boat even with a trailer. Since you found the leak in the centerboard pennant tube it becomes a run, don't walk scenario.

"Recent factory service & engine tune-up.
$11,000 But worth much more!"

Hmmmm? "Recent factory service"? Why??? That is more of a red flag then a sales pitch.

Good luck with your search.