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OK, here we go again...an offer on another boat!

5K views 36 replies 11 participants last post by  josrulz 
#1 ·
I know I'm going to sound like a broken record with my threads. Let's just say we decided to bite the bullet again on another boat this afternoon. I think the offer may actually get to the listing broker in the morning though.

So maybe we'll hear something back tomorrow. I'm excited about the boat, but less positive about the process after our last experience. Fortunately, the last time we found out very early that there was something sketchy going on, so it didn't turn into a nightmare.

Hopefully, our offer will be accepted (at least keep us talking). I guess we'll see...I'll keep you updated. No pics or details of course until we have an agreement on the boat...

Thanks for letting me post a vague post with no real information! :D
-J
 
#2 ·
Arrgghh! What is it! Something Pearson 33ish?

Say, I was aboard a nice S2 11.0a in Deale, MD this past weekend that was in good shape at a fair price. Too deep for our marina or we might have jumped on it.

Best of luck. Keep us posted.
 
#4 ·
Arrgghh! What is it! Something Pearson 33ish?

Say, I was aboard a nice S2 11.0a in Deale, MD this past weekend that was in good shape at a fair price. Too deep for our marina or we might have jumped on it.

Best of luck. Keep us posted.
Hey Delirious, how are things going with that 31-2 in Annapolis? I hope all is well--I haven't been on Sailnet much over the past week due to business travel, so not sure if I missed anything. I ask because you say you were aboard an S2--are things still moving along with the 31-2?
 
#5 ·
Yes, things are still moving. We visited the S2 and the 31-2 same day. Get out your velocity-made-good nomographs and slide rules and figure that one-day trip to Annapolis & Deale & home again. 640 miles in 18 hours with four hours on boats, one hour finding an ATM to pay the surveyor (who preferred cash) and 1-1/2 hour getting a nice oyster dinner. Thank God for caffiene.

We've got a landing spot and winter storage arranged, the funds transferred, three options for a slip in the spring, and the contacts to get the boat hauled, prepped and transported. Just trying to arrange a back-haul to save on transport $$$ and the owner to get the boat to the lift prior to that.

A few more gray hairs for sure.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Yes, things are still moving. We visited the S2 and the 31-2 same day. Get out your velocity-made-good nomographs and slide rules and figure that one-day trip to Annapolis & Deale & home again. 640 miles in 18 hours with four hours on boats, one hour finding an ATM to pay the surveyor (who preferred cash) and 1-1/2 hour getting a nice oyster dinner. Thank God for caffiene.

We've got a landing spot and winter storage arranged, the funds transferred, three options for a slip in the spring, and the contacts to get the boat hauled, prepped and transported. Just trying to arrange a back-haul to save on transport $$$ and the owner to get the boat to the lift prior to that.

A few more gray hairs for sure.
Great to hear things are moving along, but I got tired just reading that post (about your trip)!

We have received a counter offer from the sellers, so at least we're still talking! No official agreement yet, but I'm still hopeful. Stay tuned...
 
#8 ·
Well, in the interests of keeping this up-to-date, I thought I'd hop on and let you know that we've submitted a counter offer back to the listiing broker. I think we adjusted our offer enough to keep the conversation going, but I don't know if it will be accepted or not. As always, we'll see! Sure would be nice! More info to come... :)
 
#10 ·
This just in...

Our offer was accepted today! So we're buyin' a boat! :D

Of course, next we go to survey and we'll see how things go. Hopefully nothing serious will come up.

I'm not sure it's really sunk in that this is happening, but my wife and I are really excited.
Thanks!
-J
 
#11 ·
Our offer was accepted today! So we're buyin' a boat! :D

Of course, next we go to survey and we'll see how things go. Hopefully nothing serious will come up.

I'm not sure it's really sunk in that this is happening, but my wife and I are really excited.
Thanks!
-J
Congrats! Ask the broker for the previous survey and have it faxed / emailed whatever prior to your scheduled survey date. Trust me it arms you with questions to ask and is an aide to the surveyor as well...

Best of luck!
 
#12 ·
Details? Photos?? :)
 
#16 ·
Survey tomorrow morning...wish us luck! The weather is supposed to be in the 60s, some sun, some clouds, and winds about 5 - 10 knots. I wouldn't mind a bit more wind for the sea trial, but I suppose at this time of year at least it's not 40 degrees and raining!

I'll report back after the survey...thanks again for all of your help.
-J
 
#18 ·
No luck!!!

Well, the survey was today, and we didn't even get through it before we called it off and walked away from the deal. Blisters covered the entire bottom of the boat, even the keel. My surveyor said it would need a full peel, at least two layers of laminate deep--nothing you can "spot" fix. So we walked. It seems like we can't catch a break! We don't believe the listing broker knew about the blisters (just based on his reaction), though I don't know if the sellers did or did not (no evidence either way).

I guess the good news is that because we did a survey (as we should), we found this out in the process and can walk away. Still a big bummer though.

SOOOOOO, back to the drawing board again, looking for a boat... :(
 
#19 ·
Josrulz-

Sorry to hear the bad news... It would have been nice if the broker/owners had been open and upfront about the blistering, since that's generally a deal killer...

At this point I'd highly recommend you use the following POST when checking boats out, so you can get rid of the turkeys before paying a surveyor... :) It is really why I wrote that post.
 
#20 ·
Thanks sailingdog for the link to your post. All great information in there. I'm not sure it would make a difference in this case, since the boat appeared to be well-maintained in all other respects, and when we visited it, we went over it in great detail (with many pics and notes). It was one of the better-maintained boats we seen. Today, with the survey partially done, the boat was doing quite well. If not for the bottom, we probably would have still had a deal. And most importantly, I don't know how we could have known about the blisters without hauling the boat. We flat out asked about that before we made an offer on the boat, and the owners said there were none when it was last hauled (this is technically possible, though we'll never know for sure). Thanks again, sailingdog...now back to the search!
-J
 
#21 ·
Good luck Josrulz.. lots of good boats out there...
 
#25 ·
Doubleeboy-

A proper bottom peel and relaminate job is in the thousands of dollars... at a minimum.

To do it properly, they have to use a machine to plane away all the damaged laminate, and then dry the remaining hull out, usually using heat lamps and vacuum bagging, then they have to re-laminate the hull back to the original scantlings....and usually they re-gelcoat and then put a barrier coat over the gelcoat. Most owners aren't going to pay for that kind of work...since it can often be a significant fraction of the selling price.
 
#26 ·
Yep, the price range to do it right is just insane. We figured at best, the owners might go 50/50. But even if they cut the price for the total amount, we'd still be taking on a hassle that we'd rather not deal with. Why go there when there are many other boats on the market, and it's almost winter right now, so why rush?
 
#27 ·
Well said Jozrules...and most owners would only go 50/50 max... and that's a huge financial hit...which is totally unnecessary, especially in today's boat market.
 
#29 ·
You didn't miss it. I don't think I ever said, just because I figured I'd wait to see if the survey went well. I don't think there's any harm is saying it was a Pearson. I've seen others that had no bottom problems, so it's nothing against Pearson of course. We'd still consider one if another comes along.
 
#30 ·
Sorry to hear about the letdown, josrulz. Yeah, there are plenty of boats out there, but by the time of the survey, you are mentally invested. But you dodged a bullet and did what you had to do! Good job.

The two big "breath-holders" for us during our survey was after the haul and power wash, and as the surveyer tapped out and metered the deck looking for wet core. Extensive problems in either area would have been disappointing show stoppers.

Good luck in your search!
 
#31 ·
Thanks, arf145. You're right about the mental investment. In regards to holding your breath about the deck and bottom--for us, that was one of the frustrating things. The surveyor had already gone over the deck and it was in great shape!

Oh well, we feel OK about the situation today. As you said, we did what we had to do. On to the next boat!
 
#32 ·
Hang in there!

Dang, I feel like you are walking a mile in my moccassin's. About this time last year, we found a super sharp Catalina 34 with all the bells and whistles that we were very excited about, only to find the boat had a blister problem. The boat was pristine otherwise, and the surveryor felt it was a good candidate for a full peel, being above average in every other way. Unfortunately, the owner was not willing to adjust the price enough (frankly he wasn't willing to negotiate at all) to warrant us taking on the problem, so we moved on. I know two other deals on that boat feel through and don't know if it ever sold or was just taken off the market.

By the way, I was quoted about $300-350/ft for a peel and relaminate job. Here is a link to a fairly detailed explanation of that process for anyone interested.

http://www.zahnisers.com/blisters_hydrolysis.htm

At any rate, we toughed it out and found a boat we couldn't be happier with. Just hang tough and you'll find the right boat.
 
#35 ·
Dang, I feel like you are walking a mile in my moccassin's. About this time last year, we found a super sharp Catalina 34 with all the bells and whistles that we were very excited about, only to find the boat had a blister problem. The boat was pristine otherwise, and the surveryor felt it was a good candidate for a full peel, being above average in every other way. Unfortunately, the owner was not willing to adjust the price enough (frankly he wasn't willing to negotiate at all) to warrant us taking on the problem, so we moved on. I know two other deals on that boat feel through and don't know if it ever sold or was just taken off the market.

By the way, I was quoted about $300-350/ft for a peel and relaminate job. Here is a link to a fairly detailed explanation of that process for anyone interested.

http://www.zahnisers.com/blisters_hydrolysis.htm

At any rate, we toughed it out and found a boat we couldn't be happier with. Just hang tough and you'll find the right boat.
Thanks for the support, midlifesailor. We had a previous deal on a different boat that also fell through for reasons on the seller's end, and that one is still on the market too. Just out of curiosity, did you end up with a Catalina 34, or a different model?

-J
 
#33 · (Edited)
Yeeeee. Nasty.

There's blisters, and then there's blisters. Some are merely cosmetic dimples under the gel-coat and others are rotten to the core (so to speak). I'd run screaming from a boat the surveyor recommended a full-blown peel job, but a few (50 or less) SMALL dime or nickel sized blisters on a 20 year old boat are not a deal breaker (for me, anyway). As long as the underlying hull is sound it's a half-day to "zing" them with a grinder, time to let the spots dry (non-sailing months - we have five of those up north) and then a half day to fair in with epoxy resin.

If you find blisters on a 3 or 4 year old boat - that's a bad sign.

Here's a report written by someone not trying to sell you a "peel"

Reparing & Preventing Blisters
 
#34 ·
You're right Delirious, and in this case it was BLISTERS. If it had been a dozen or two, and small, we would've been OK with possibly discussing some price adjustments. These blisters were much more numerous, and several inches in diameter. Eeek. We may be off to see another boat or two this weekend, so it's not all bad, right? :)
 
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