Excited and happy ( but a little bit scared)

Malabarista said:
I would like to thank everyone who posted advice on this first ever post of mine. Now please could someone ask a question that I may have some idea of the answer to so that I can pretend I am clever.
Thanks peeps I will surely be back after the Friday survey to let you know whether we own a boat or not.
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You've asked, listened to the answers, weighed them up rather than blindly accepting or rejecting - and you've been grateful for the help. That's a LOT wiser than many already. You've also given others a chance to show off their knowledge and experience - a win-win really. Nice to know the forums still produces threads like this..
 
Hello and good morning all
Apologies in advance if this turns into a long post i have had so much information overload over the past two days i hardly know where to start…
On Thursday we had her lifted out and after a lengthy farce involving disconnected batteries and a key snapped off in the ignition i swear at one point we saw David Attenborough peeking out from the 'undergrowf'. Post jetwashing the surveyor got to work with his little hammer and moisture meter and soon announced that the hull was sound. The anodes on the prop were two amorphous white blobs and he told us that they needed to be changed asap before they fell off on their own. I rushed into to the Chandlers and bought two more mindful of the overrun fees from the boatyard. After we fitted them i suddenly realised that i had just shelled out twenty quid on someone elses boat, bit daft really. But hey, i am (almost) in love. So the good news is that she was delighted after having her bottom tickled and the surveyor was happy with all the skin fittings, prop and rudder.
My first trip on Border Collie was actually a 'flight' when i talked the hoist guys into letting me aboard as they lifted her back into the water. Now how many other people get to say that?
John kindly reconnected the batteries and the yard guys produced a new key and she motored back to a pontoon under her own power. We spent the rest of the day taking hundreds of photos and emptying all the lockers and lifting the soles to make access easier in the morning. My wife also managed a snooze whilst i clambered around with a notebook adding questions to the already humungous list supplied by you lot ( thanks and thanks).
Day two saw John bright and early doing an extremely detailed examination no doubt hampered by my three year old impression. "Ooh what's that?, Is this right?, What does that do?… Are we there yet?"
He was very patient and i like to think i also helped a little by lifting things and generally getting in the way.
ALL the seacocks were seized open except one which was seized shut. This was a blanked off one. The surveyor told us that as they are all Blakes seacocks they would probably survive their neglect and after servicing ( which he also described how to do) would be good as new.
The reconditioned engine was obviously fitted in a hurry as the fitter neglected to refit the seperator, the calorifier hoses or refil the coolant header tank.
He also thought it would be good practice to use a single galvanised jubilee clip on all the hoses regardless of wheher they were the sole defence from sinking at her mooring ( seized seacocks) or not!!
So if we buy her we will need a thorough check carried out by a proper marine fitter to ascertain whether he 'remembered' less important stuff as well. We intend trying to get the current owners to pay for this as the engine was advertised as a 'plus' in the brokers details.
The boarding ladder ( also on the inventory) is sadly crushed and cannot be used.
We haven't had the full report yet so we no doubt will have hundreds of other things but John let us know the 'biggies' in advance.
She will need a thorough check by an electrician ( luckily we employ one).
A plumber ( ditto)
And a rigger
(desafortunadamente no).
So I think although there is a lot of work to be done ( which we were prepared for anyway) the survey didn't throw up anything really nasty ( apart from the seacocks).
John finished up by answering (most) of the cunningly devised questions ( thanks) and shhh don't tell anyone told us (off the record) that " he would".
Then the current owner arrived to be met by my (beautiful sexy etc etc) wife in rotweiler mode who subjected him to a proper inquisición ( aided of course by the 'panel'. Thanks and more thanks).
He turned out to be a really nice bloke and a very good sailor who was deeply saddened and a little bit ashamed of the state Border Collie had been allowed to get to but with some very good reasons which are personal and i won't go into here.
So…the bit you've all been waiting for… ( if indeed anyone is still listening…)
The two rescues. The first was after a small 'mishap' grounding off/on France. They were concerned enough to get her lifted out and checked in a French boatyard. This was carried out by in a fairly cavalier manner and to the owners horror she emerged dripping with the lifting strop directly bearing on the propshaft!
This did an amazing amount of damage to both the shaft itself and the engine and apparently is not to be recommended!!
When they attempted to sail back to the UK for repairs. Obviously not trusting the boatyard where they were, they got into difficulties in bad weather when the stern gland failed
The second occasion was caused by green water over the bows depositing copious quantities through the ( large) hawse hole beneath the windlass and the bilge pump failed but had no alarm. This caused a lot of damage to their engine and electrics. This meant that the second engine had to come out and they replaced it this year ( fairly shoddily as mentioned previously).
The seatrial last night in 20kts and drizzle was perfect. We got the main up ( which after 2 years of sitting idle ) went up so easily i was astounded. The mizzen also hoisted without difficulty as it is very small and really quite cute.
The Genoa is a beast and unfurled easily to three quarters ( after i had balanced on the pulpit rail to reach a forgotten sail tie!)
She is very stable and required very little input from the helm. Much lighter than the Bavaria 38 we sailed around in the Ionian last month. She tracked beautifully and we gybed in a most stately fashion. A couple of tacks were only marred by my clumsiness on a non self tailing winch ( this modern stuff really spoils hard earned skills ?)
Then we headed back in failing light to a perfect mooring pickup ( by him not me) after a brief but glorious sail.
So…all in all we feel that we should go ahead.
Over to you…

Oh before i go … in my best Oscar nominations fashion …
I would like to thank John ( full details available) for being as an efficient, professional, knowledgeable, patient and thoroughly nice a surveyor as one could hope to meet.
The boatyard crew at Universal who dealt with us professionally and courteously amid the chaos of us running around like firecrackers and held us well over the permitted hour without charge.
and finally my wife who will probably never read this but puts up with my overenthusiastic Jack-in-the-box impersonations whenever i get near a boat.
I'm not going to thank you lot again or it will sound sycophantic.
 
Sounds like you had a good day & you certainly sound well pleased.
One thing I noticed was this :
''He also thought it would be good practice to use a single galvanised jubilee clip on all the hoses''
Galvanised ?
Mine are all double clipped SS.
 
Sandyman said:
Sounds like you had a good day & you certainly sound well pleased.
One thing I noticed was this :
''He also thought it would be good practice to use a single galvanised jubilee clip on all the hoses''
Galvanised ?
Mine are all double clipped SS.
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So will 'mine' be soon. "If we buy the boat" which has become the new family saying…
 
stingo said:
When will you put your offer in?
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We are expecting a sneak preview of the survey tomorrow morning. We will then have an idea of the work that needs to be done to bring her up to the claimed state in the brokers details.
It said 'reconditioned engine installed 2016' where we differ is that the engine was not installed properly. Hoses left insecure, separator not refitted, coolant hose and electrical cables left lying across a ( potentially) hot engine, calorifier left disconnected engine oil significantly overfilled etc.
The 'newly installed bilge pumps' are wired in an unholy mess of cables with taped joints left a few inches above the pump itself.
The boarding ladder which was mentioned in the details is also crushed and irreparable. Along with other stuff like the seized seacocks mean that we will have to spend a considerable sum to meet the brokers claim that she is ready to sail. So the original offer will have to be revised to cover the costs of these items. We are hoping that the owners/broker will see that we are not being unreasonable over this in just wanting her to be as she was stated to be. With luck we will come to an agreement whereby either they pay to correct the deficiencies or we lop a bit off their asking and do it ourselves.
 
Id regard the seacocks as a service item and the boarding ladder as "minor" but the botched engine installation leaves some big question marks.What else was done badly?
 
Biggles Wader said:
Id regard the seacocks as a service item and the boarding ladder as "minor" but the botched engine installation leaves some big question marks.What else was done badly?
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No mention of water damage from the 2 near-sinkings, either. And, as it was a DIY boat in the first place, I've a suspicion this might be an ongoing "project".
 
pvb said:
No mention of water damage from the 2 near-sinkings, either. And, as it was a DIY boat in the first place, I've a suspicion this might be an ongoing "project".
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Hi.
The water damage was repaired and was minimal apart from the engine and electrics.
The builders plate was found and states that the hull was made by Helmatic and then fitted out by Moodys. Our surveyor noted that the work on the interior was commensurate with the standard he remembered when he was an apprentice at Moodys around the time BC was built. He commented that she had been built much stronger than was normal at the time and that she was almost 'over engineered!' with regard to her stiffeners etc.
I would be interested to learn where you got the impression that she was a DIY build in case i have been misinformed.
I am sure that ALL boats are 'ongoing projects' and as this one has circumnavigated over two years she can expect a little work thirty odd years later. Ooh hark at me getting all defensive ?
 
Biggles Wader said:
Id regard the seacocks as a service item and the boarding ladder as "minor" but the botched engine installation leaves some big question marks.What else was done badly?
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I agree. We will therefore have to have her completely checked by a competent marine engineer. I would think that it is fair to expect the owner to pay for this as he didn't advertise her as having a 'project' engine but one that had been 'fitted and reconditioned in 2016'
Do you have an idea of what a marine engineer would charge per hour to carry out this type of job?
 
It sounds a if you should have a cracking boat, with some important, but known, problems that have kept her price down. I'm almost getting excited myself.
 
current owner arrived to be met by my (beautiful sexy etc etc) wife in rotweiler mode . .
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Hahahaha what a team sounds like the boat-buyers version of the Nice-Cop/Nasty Cop strategy.

finally my wife who will probably never read this
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If you think she won't just know somehow, you really are the nice one.
Best of luck.
 
Malabarista said:
We are expecting a sneak preview of the survey tomorrow morning. We will then have an idea of the work that needs to be done to bring her up to the claimed state in the brokers details.
It said 'reconditioned engine installed 2016' where we differ is that the engine was not installed properly. Hoses left insecure, separator not refitted, coolant hose and electrical cables left lying across a ( potentially) hot engine, calorifier left disconnected engine oil significantly overfilled etc.
The 'newly installed bilge pumps' are wired in an unholy mess of cables with taped joints left a few inches above the pump itself.
The boarding ladder which was mentioned in the details is also crushed and irreparable. Along with other stuff like the seized seacocks mean that we will have to spend a considerable sum to meet the brokers claim that she is ready to sail. So the original offer will have to be revised to cover the costs of these items. We are hoping that the owners/broker will see that we are not being unreasonable over this in just wanting her to be as she was stated to be. With luck we will come to an agreement whereby either they pay to correct the deficiencies or we lop a bit off their asking and do it ourselves.
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Sounds like you are on top of it, which is great.
 
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