How wrong can we be?

Searush said:
I think he is disappointed that it isn't as immaculate as it was in his dreams. Negative feedback won't make a jot of difference to the marina, they will close their account when these are gone.
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I suspect the marina will be ecstatic! I spoke to several of their staff a couple of weeks ago when I went to look at the Centaur on Dylan's behalf. They were not expecting several of them to sell at any price.
 
Pictures always look better than reality & e-bay is the perfect place to sell a "dream". They carefully made NO claims about condition, recommended inspection (few on e-bay bother to do that anyway) and clearly stated that they were abandoned & had sat for some considerably time. I suppose they could have gone around detailing faults, but that would leave them open to complaint if they missed something. Clearly stating "Caveat Emptor" is obviously the right way to go.
 
It's interesting, but as I understand Ebay, you are protected if the item is not accurately described. I was interested in the Leisure 17 and asked for an inventory to see if the sails and boom were included. The seller could not provide this, which was disappointing, it should be pretty easy to open the hatch and have a look! It is difficult to hide much in a leisure 17!

They said in the description of all the boats that nothing was known about the history of them, but a quick look at this forum would suggest that the sinking of the Centaur was pretty common knowledge.

I know caveat emptor, but decent descriptions would have helped the boats to sell for the right price.
 
Searush said:
Pictures always look better than reality & e-bay is the perfect place to sell a "dream". They carefully made NO claims about condition, recommended inspection (few on e-bay bother to do that anyway) and clearly stated that they were abandoned & had sat for some considerably time. I suppose they could have gone around detailing faults, but that would leave them open to complaint if they missed something. Clearly stating "Caveat Emptor" is obviously the right way to go.
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As I recall, the Centaur description did not say "Has sat full of water for some time". I think that would have been a reasonable piece of information to give. That said, anyone buying one of these without going to have a look has been a little unwise.
 
TSB240 said:
I would then just red oxide that seemed to be the best treatment I found for an old rusty dinghy trailer. It is easier to grind back and touch up than Hammerite.
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+1. I found some nice shiny red oxide paint (Coo-var) in my local builders' merchant which is intended for use as a top coat unlike the matt finish undercoaty version. Slaps on easy, looks fine, touches up well.
 
david_walkerdine said:
They said in the description of all the boats that nothing was known about the history of them, but a quick look at this forum would suggest that the sinking of the Centaur was pretty common knowledge.
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I wasn't interested in the Centaur but I didn't realise it had sunk! (I bought the rusty trailer without pre-inspection so it was a gamble but I'm not disappointed. It had 2 workable hubs which were enough to drag it home and it's now adorning my drive. I had to put two tyres on it and the state of the other hubs time will tell. I'm not working on it for a few weeks as I have a new boat to sort out before Easter.) I'm going to slap some of this on http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Anti+Corrosive+QD+Metal+Primer/p29588 It says anti corrosive but i think they mean anti corrosion.
 
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ghostlymoron said:
I wasn't interested in the Centaur but I didn't realise it had sunk! (I bought the rusty trailer without pre-inspection so it was a gamble but I'm not disappointed. It had 2 workable hubs which were enough to drag it home and it's now adorning my drive. I had to put two tyres on it and the state of the other hubs time will tell. I'm not working on it for a few weeks as I have a new boat to sort out before Easter.)
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I think there is some confusion here.....
Anna Sira the centaur has been on the hard with hatches open for at least a couple of years. It never sank just had a lot of water inside her.
Martlett the Albin Vigggen was afloat until last year and had open hatches for some time so also full of water but she was definitely a floater.
The Octeau MOBO was sunk, damaged and recovered which was disclosed in listing.

I still question the sanity of buying anything for in excess of a few 100 squid without actually viewing it. To then question the sellers motives after an honest listing is just plain stupidity. Keyboard dreamers and keel kickers who should realise they are enterring a binding contract once they have bid. Including the storage on site after 7 days as listed. How often do you see relisted due to timewasters and non payers?
 
JumbleDuck said:
As I recall, the Centaur description did not say "Has sat full of water for some time". I think that would have been a reasonable piece of information to give. That said, anyone buying one of these without going to have a look has been a little unwise.
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Indeed, It would have been reasonable to highlight some of the obvious problems, the phrase "problems include but are not limited too" might have been appropriate. I certainly wouldn't have bought a boat of that size without taking a look, but I was genuinely tempted by the leisure 17, if the boom and sails are present then it is probably worth more than £350, but living 200 miles away It would have been difficult to get up to view it. As it was, there was not enough info to risk a bid.
 
david_walkerdine said:
Indeed, It would have been reasonable to highlight some of the obvious problems, the phrase "problems include but are not limited too" might have been appropriate. I certainly wouldn't have bought a boat of that size without taking a look, but I was genuinely tempted by the leisure 17, if the boom and sails are present then it is probably worth more than £350, but living 200 miles away It would have been difficult to get up to view it. As it was, there was not enough info to risk a bid.
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Its a small world and its even smaller in the yachty world ...

There are probabbly a dozen or so forum members in and around Dinorwic who could have been asked to have a look over for you!

I never really had a good look over the Leisure. From what I casually observed she was another abandoned boat that had been broken into, hatch left open and anything that was worth stripping off her had been taken! You were wise to save your petrol money from Essex and back IMHO.
 
TSB240 said:
Its a small world and its even smaller in the yachty world ...

There are probabbly a dozen or so forum members in and around Dinorwic who could have been asked to have a look over for you!

I never really had a good look over the Leisure. From what I casually observed she was another abandoned boat that had been broken into, hatch left open and anything that was worth stripping off her had been taken! You were wise to save your petrol money from Essex and back IMHO.
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Thank you, that was pretty much the conclusion that I came to, I just have a soft spot for a leisure 17 and i was tempted to make a crazy impulse purchase!
 
david_walkerdine said:
Thank you, that was pretty much the conclusion that I came to, I just have a soft spot for a leisure 17 and i was tempted to make a crazy impulse purchase!
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At £350 you can't really go wrong. At the worst you get a box of useful bits and the hassle of a few tips to the dump with bits of fibreglass. It's much dafter to buy a bigger boat after years on the hard without looking into the problems and costs of recommissioning and launching in great detail first.
 
JumbleDuck said:
At £350 you can't really go wrong. At the worst you get a box of useful bits and the hassle of a few tips to the dump with bits of fibreglass. It's much dafter to buy a bigger boat after years on the hard without looking into the problems and costs of recommissioning and launching in great detail first.
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Absolutely, and had the leisure been closer to home I would certainly have put in a bid, but the distance was to much, it would have cost as much again to get it back to Essex.

Completely agree about a larger boat, it would be daft to buy without seeing, unless there was a VERY detailed description of the condition of the boat....
 
I don't recall seeing any internal pictures last time around. Doesn't seem to be much that a sander and a can of yacht varnish won't cure but it certainly doesn't match the exterior. Always best to be brutally honest on eBay - funny thing is - it doesn't seem to deter bidders. They must like a challenge!
Annoying for the marina though when they had said that personal inspection recommended.
 
ghostlymoron said:
I don't recall seeing any internal pictures last time around. Doesn't seem to be much that a sander and a can of yacht varnish won't cure but it certainly doesn't match the exterior. Always best to be brutally honest on eBay - funny thing is - it doesn't seem to deter bidders. They must like a challenge!
Annoying for the marina though when they had said that personal inspection recommended.
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I've certainly seen worse! Dry her out, sand and varnish! Unless the bulkheads have rotted through that is.....
 
Out of interest, how does the marina go about getting 'legal ownership'?

From their T&C's perhaps? Not sure how that works after the marina has been through several owners. Anyway, just curious.
 
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