Motorboat Newbie's Change Of Direction

Has a boat been bought yet?

Just thinking of the two Trader 535's in know locally and both have either had or still have major issues.

If the OP is truly interested my advice is spend some time in the home marina's, have a few beers and get the locals to tell him about the boats.

That prevented me from buying Wolfe Tone from Brighton which had previously found it's way to the bottom of marina. It looked perfect when viewed, but was never a good boat and last seen covered in mould and algae. That could have been mine!
 
Simond: I'd be keen to hear about these two Traders you talk of or their location.

All: I visited one of the boats on my list and had a viewing with the very decent, non-pushy and knowledgeable Broker. Of course there are some issues, mainly cosmetic where some fasteners are not of the best Stainless and have rust blooming around them, but the main larger areas of stainless steel are in fine fettle. The Teak decks are in excellent condition, having thankfully not had any aggressive cleaning done to them, and the caulking is flush with the wood. No plugs are missing either.

The boat in question has been out of the water and had various points attended running several thousands of pounds to cover her engines being serviced, various items replaced - such as exhaust pipe work, clamps and the bottom being anti fouled, new anodes etc.

I was pleased to have 'beat the broker' to the boat so there had been no time for him to have cleaned things, hidden things away etc but the engine room was spotless. No sign of any oil leaks, no standing water in bilges, no discoloured paintwork on the engine etc that may have hinted at overheating in the past all rubber hoses we subtle and not brittle - indeed the engines overall cosmetic appearance was outstanding with very little in the way of corrosion to the paint on the engines themselves, even the gen-set only had some very slight rust along the edges and with 450hrs on her not a great deal of run time.

Other Traders I have seen the engines do seem to have suffered generally with rusting, the metalized exhaust insulation coverings too often have an orange hue of rust covering them, but on this boat they were shiny and bright. The fuel filter was perfectly clear with no deposits/water in evidence, the forward part of the boat under the guest cabin bed was dry and spotless, no leaks evident from water, or hydraulic oil to the bow thruster. Same for under the rear bed where the water tanks are and various pipe work and electrical items - all dry as a bone and spotlessly clean.

The interior likewise was in perfect condition, no scratches or marks to her woodwork, good firm foam in her upholstery, berths and the teak and holly flooring had a great lustre with minimal signs of wear/scratching. She would benefit from a complete external valet and polish mind you and I would consider having her teak decks treated brightened and sealed.

After the viewing I had a wander around the Marina eyeing up some other boats that were on sale and got the general impression that you are not going to find a used boat and it be in 'as new' condition, some late 1990's and early 2000 Princess and Fairline boats had some pretty dull gel coats, but I must say their stainless steel - fasteners, bolts and the like all seemed to have fared better over the years than the Trader has.

I've got another Trader to view this weekend, but I think in my heart I have made my mind up as to what one to go for. I am as certain as I can be what I am doing is not really the right way and will end up with some big issues down the road, so if that happens you heard about it here first and I am 'eyes wide open' to it. I can't help but think to myself that it might make more sense or be a better 'value' to go for something else, I notice a Squadron 55 from 1998 has popped up for £189,000 but then..that is 1998.

She looks lovely outside, but it is back to the planing (I got the spelling right this time #fist bump) hull, 610HP engines and the fact I just would not be wanting to zoom about at any speed. Compared to the Trader she lacks the outside deck space and generally is full of two things: beds and seating so while it might make a better financial choice, may be easier to sell in time I can't let money (or perceived value) rule. It has to be about comfort and practicality I seek.

I know people slate Traders - I recon to sum them up when they were new they looked really top class 'mini ships' but over the years some quality issues and material choices have come home to roost and show, harder to sell on perhaps because of that but also as it is a bit of a 'niche' boat, but if I could sell her in five years for £100k I'd still be happy
 
I am returning to this thread after a long absence. As the person who started the hare running re stabilisers, I thought I would add a couple of thoughts. Before my Trader 54 which has ABT Trac Fin Stabilisers I had an unstabilised Trader 42. I have also spent some sea time on an unstabilised Trader 535. On both the 42 and the 54 I have been at sea in fairly rough conditions with big swells. I have covered more than 7000 miles in the two boats combined. Both are rated for Cat A conditions and I am sure will take more punishment than any normal owner would want to give them.

So, the question of stabilisation is not IMHO a safety issue. It is purely a question of comfort. In a beam sea an unstabilised SD boat at D speed will roll and particularly if it is a tall boat as the 535 is. The effect of roll can be reduced by increasing speed to provide dynamic stability but this depends upon having sufficient engine power and has an unwelcome consequence in fuel consumption. This is what we did in the 42 which had Cummins 480s. Pushing the speed up to 13 to 14 kts made the ride considerably more comfortable in beam seas. If I was looking at unstabilised 535s I would look more favourably at those with enough engine power to push over the hump.

Good luck with your search.
 
Thank you for your insight and post IDAMAY.

As I suspected it comes down to personal choice and comfort, and since most people own boats and go boating for pleasure they tend to want comfort to go hand in hand with that. It is not the same as a job where come what may you are out to sea and have to strap yourself in to the bunk.

On a very different level it is much the same when I have gone cruising about on rivers and spent hours and hours at the wheel alone getting from one place to another and thoroughly enjoying every moment. Upon talking to the family moored next to me of this the look of surprise on their faces was all too evident, they having made the same trip in two days stopping 4 times along the way at 3 pubs.

Each to their own I say.
 
Well, I put my offer in last week for the boat and duly received an email from the Broker telling me it would be passed on to the owner. I then expected some delay tactics whereby I am left to sweat it out, the offer be rejected and a far more sensible high offer countered.

I did not expect to then receive several emails from the Broker talking about everything from date and time of hand over, money laundering, evidence of funds, draft paperwork to peruse and so on - why do all that work and type all these emails if the offer has not been accepted..? Or..was it the case that the Broker had called the owner put forward my offer and it was 'as good as a done deal' but wanted the weekend to think about it and the Broker thought it prudent to then get on with the paperwork side of things sure that the offer would be accepted come Monday.

I went away 'quietly confident' (OK so, rather excited and trying desperately not to count my chickens before their hatched but failing).

You can imagine my trepidation of hearing my phones email notification go off and reaching for it on Monday hoping it would be from the Broker - something, anything but no, just silence. Then at 8:41am today an email came in "I am pleased to say your offer has been accepted" OMG! no counter offers, no fuss, no messing about I am about to become the proud owner of the boat and just need to send the completed documents and money off and all being well this time next week will have completed on her.

There is of course the ‘small’ factor that I have no idea if the engines will even turn over let alone anything else, but it is all part of the adventure for me.

Since the offer I made was £32,500 under the listed price, and this has been accepted, it means I have this additional amount in the kitty – for I had budgeted to pay the full price if needed. There will be a bunch of things to arrange first once the transaction is complete. I have quotes for a lift out/Survey and that will tell me what needs to happen (if anything) under the water so to speak. I also will want a local boatyard to begin with the initial phase which is going to be updating the old Raymaire E-Series ‘hybrid touch’ Plotters to larger more up to date models along with a larger open array radar. Also the hull and superstructure need a damn good clean, cut and polish and will need to get down into the engine room and start going through all the systems looking for issues or things that could turn into problems and getting them sorted. I am not looking forward to the joyful job of seeing what sort of crud is in the fuel tanks as I suspect she has not seen much active service and has sat so condensation, diesel bug and so on may be a problem.

But we are up and running – and have 7 days to send off the funds and I guess not long after this will be complete and the title will be mine.
 
You obviously have the very best of British luck on your side or at least believe so. Good luck either way in your adventures.
 
Yep – no Survey, no sea trial nothing but a 20 minute walk around a couple of weeks ago.

As I said all along the offer I was going to be make would be without a survey or sea trial - and as I explained in previous pages on this thread, my reasoning behind this was simple: the Broker and Seller were expecting things to follow the same old course of action, viewing, offer (subject to survey) negotiations, offer accepted, survey and sea trial take place leading to a possible further viewing and final offer. And yes Jimmy, the offer is accepted unconditionally with the deposit to be paid tomorrow, and full balance in 7 days as per the paper work. Nice and simple. I wanted to trip up the system so to speak but in so doing have taken a risk and that I am fine to accept.

The risk however that I took is I say is fairly well calculated, you see since the last survey was done I had hoped the items that were brought up either had been attended to or had not got that much worse.

When I traveled to view the boat I had told the Broker I was going to meet that afternoon, in reality I went the day before and duly arrived at the Marina where she is berthed. I could see the boat but would be nice to get closer, then noticed a Brokers office near the marina so popped along looked a the boats in the window and went into the office saying I was interested in one of the boats they had up for sale. I duly was escorted down to the boat and had a good chat about her, a look inside and after locking up the Broker said I could have some time to think and look at the outside once again and pop back to the office when I was ready.

I then did what I intended to do all along and popped along to the other pontoon and gave the boat that was moored here that I’d come to see (but was not on the Brokers books based near the Marina) a once over externally. I took some photos and made some notes then headed back to the Broker’s office thanked them for their time and said ‘I will think about things’.

Back at the hotel I drew up a list of points to ask come the following day and raise questions about some cosmetic issues externally on the boat. I wanted to ‘beat the Broker’ come the following day so he would not have chance to ‘prepare the boat’ e.g. clean anything, mop up an oil leak, hide something away and so on. It worked and he apologised for the fact that since I was early he had not the time to clean the boat and excuse the Gull droppings and some items left out internally.

There was a risk of course that I would be seen by the Broker from the previous day – but really, so what - it just would give everyone the impression I am in town and seriously keen going about different Brokers and boats. I asked to take some photos, but actually turned on my camera and just hit record to film. This meant everything that was said I could refer back to, not miss a point and play it back over and over and pause at key points. I also came prepared with my list of points and a good torch and had a pok about, lifting berths, and panels, looking in cupboards, testing bits and switches as I went and looking for any damp, signs of water ingress, hidden patches of work that had been done and the like – but there were none. All bone dry, no damp smell; no mildew all was looking really good. The part I was really keen on was the engine room – and straight in I was as soon as the Broker lifted the steps and door to such from the Galley.

It was nice – warm even, tube heaters had been on (though clearly not needed this time of year) and it looked in excellent order, even the Racor fuel filter’s were looking good with no sign of water in the glass bowl or sediment. No oil under the engines, no signs of leaks anywhere with tell tale signs, all the hoses all subtle and looked very tidy and well looked after. It was explained the engines had been looked at a few months prior, fully serviced and a round of measures were undertaken to not only so far as a usual service went but also various items replaced such as new exhaust pipes and clips, new anodes on the engines, and hull along with new anti-fouling, the dinghy engine serviced, gen set serviced, air-con annual service and some £15,000 odd being spent. Good I thought, and Mr Broker you're being most open here but you have no idea what I am going to do next for my cards have been held close to my chest (the boat I have been leading this very Forum to consider being the one I was after and indeed the boat I had told the Broker I was off to see and more keen on was all actually a red herring). You see it had been told to me that posting things here might get back to people and give the game away, so buy looking at three Traders through three Brokers nobody would know which Trader I was really keen on going for. Anyway, does not matter now of course.

I think he expected the viewing to last longer, me say more even put an offer in so after I was done that was that and back to London I went.

I then got the emails coming in from the Broker about the boat, not pushy but reminding me how good she was compared to others on the market. He had got quotes from a local Surveyor, he had got quotes for sea trial, crew and so on – he was bending over backwards for me so when last Friday I said I would not be needing any of this and my offer was subject to (insert numerous points) and totaled £32,500 less than the asking price for a quick transaction, if it was not accepted then I would have a survey and sea trial and future negotiation may be long and protracted and based on these findings.

It was no what he was expecting, and I presume he would have then said to the owner look this is a lot less than you wanted but its cash up front and we can seal the deal in a week if we don’t accept it this may fall through and goodness knows how long you’re going to have to wait for another serious buyer...Whatever was said and did happen matters not, I got the deal I was looking for.

Now yes, they may have the last laugh when I get the boat lifted and find there is a lot of issues with it, and Broker and owner raise a drink to ‘getting the lemon on to someone else’ but you know what, I like to think that people are genuine and that if you don’t give too hoots about your boat and don’t maintain it usually the first thing to show signs of neglect is where it does not notice – under the floor, the engines and things being ‘hidden’ out of sight out of mind. This I think is a good buy and I am happy for the money I will be paying and the boat I will end up with, and frankly having pitched my tent saying I would be doing what I was going to publically, I was bound to stick to it come what may, so I was all in or nothing.
 
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You got some balls. Best of British luck to you

Thanks Bruce, though not sure why what I have done is seen as so outlandish and brave (or foolish) depending on your point of view, I think I've got a good deal all things considered. I am eager to get things sorted, be given the keys and book her in to have a lift out and get on with the first phase of works.
 
Well I hope that things turn out OK for your. It's not how many of us would go about buying a boat but it's your money and your decision!

What I would say is perhaps postpone doing any modifications until you've had the boat for a few months. Spend a while getting to know it and get a feel for the things that you like and things that you don't like. That nav gear isn't that old and will be perfectly good for a few seasons. Take your time to ensure that you get everything right instead of making costly and irritating mistakes.
 
Well I hope that things turn out OK for your. It's not how many of us would go about buying a boat but it's your money and your decision!

What I would say is perhaps postpone doing any modifications until you've had the boat for a few months. Spend a while getting to know it and get a feel for the things that you like and things that you don't like. That nav gear isn't that old and will be perfectly good for a few seasons. Take your time to ensure that you get everything right instead of making costly and irritating mistakes.

Now that’s how you buy a boat Pete!
 
This approach to purchase is no different to Silver Dee's purchase of his Aquastar 74. JFM and Silver Dee gave it the once over and purchased it without a survey. However, they did have the combined knowledge to survey it themselves. (And the finances if it went tits up) ((so to speak)) :encouragement: Good luck, i hope it works out for you.
 
This approach to purchase is no different to Silver Dee's purchase of his Aquastar 74. JFM and Silver Dee gave it the once over and purchased it without a survey. However, they did have the combined knowledge to survey it themselves. (And the finances if it went tits up) ((so to speak)) :encouragement: Good luck, i hope it works out for you.

I don't think it's quite the same - apart from your point about their ability to self-survey, they did also sea-trial the boat before purchase. So in effect they conducted a very condensed and self-administered survey and sea-trial. What they didn't do was slow the whole process down by using external people to execute these tasks, and they also didn't lift the boat before purchase.
 
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