Novice question: should I get a survey?

[mrsmurph]

Hi all, novice question here. I am looking at buying my first boat - an old Orkney Longliner for sale locally for £1k. The owner bought it before lockdown, hasn’t really used it and now wants to sell it. It has two engines, one Johnson Commercial 15HP of unknown age and engine hours and one Mariner 5hp that was a year old when he bought the boat and has done very little.

Should I get a survey? So far as I can tell it will cost about £400-500 which is a lot in the context of the purchase price, but I should think that it might be important to save me from buying a bargain that turns out to need thousands spending on it.

Any thoughts gratefully received.

 

[Poignard]

Personally, I wouldn't get a survey on a boat like that at that low price but would rely on my own judgment.

Although you are a novice you should be able to form a reasonable assessment of the state of the boat and the trustworthiness of the seller.

Does the boat look a mess? Has it been kept ashore properly covered up or has it been left afloat to fend for itself? Is there a large amount of water in it? Is any woodwork soft and unproteced by sound varnish ?

Have you seen the engines running? Did they start easily, emit smoke, sound rough?

Would you be happy to launch it as is and take your family out in it or would you be ashamed to be seen it or worried it might not be safe?

 

[gordmac]

Generally well respected and popular boats. Not an awful lot to go wrong, check the transom is sound and the engines go ok. If it is on a trailer check it looks roadworthy. At that sort of money not worth a survey, the cost of it would likely be more than any work needing done.

 

[mrsmurph]

Generally well respected and popular boats. Not an awful lot to go wrong, check the transom is sound and the engines go ok. If it is on a trailer check it looks roadworthy. At that sort of money not worth a survey, the cost of it would likely be more than any work needing done.

Thanks very much. At the risk of sounding completely foolish what should I be looking at in relation to the transom?

 

[mrsmurph]

Personally, I wouldn't get a survey on a boat like that at that low price but would rely on my own judgment.

Although you are a novice you should be able to form a reasonable assessment of the state of the boat and the trustworthiness of the seller.

Does the boat look a mess? Has it been kept ashore properly covered up or has it been left afloat to fend for itself? Is there a large amount of water in it? Is any woodwork soft and unproteced by sound varnish ?

Have you seen the engines running? Did they start easily, emit smoke, sound rough?

Would you be happy to launch it as is and take your family out in it or would you be ashamed to be seen it or worried it might not be safe?

Thanks very much - I have asked for a test drive (sea trial?) so I will bear in mind what you say about the engines.

 

[Poignard]

Thanks very much - I have asked for a test drive (sea trial?) so I will bear in mind what you say about the engines.

I hope it tuns out to be a genuine bargain and you get a lot of pleasure from it.

 

[ontheplane]

I wouldn't get a survey, but I wonder if you will need one for insurance?

 

[jakew009]

Thanks very much. At the risk of sounding completely foolish what should I be looking at in relation to the transom?

Definitely don't waste any money on a survey, put the money towards life jackets instead.

Post some photos on here if you have any?
For the transom, grab the end of the outboard and lift it up and down and side to side with it locked (as hard as you can). See if it moves around on the bolts at all. If when you lift it, the mounting plate appears to 'squidge' into the transom at all, it's knackered. There should be absolutely no movement anywhere, the whole boat should move.
You are trying to work out if the wood inside the GRP is rotten or not.
When you check it, you can be really quite aggressive.
One tell tale sign is if any water seeps out around the bolts holes after you have moved it about.

With regard to the rest of the boat, as long as both engines run, they are probably worth a grand on eBay even if the rest of the boat is scrap.

Expect to spend another couple of grand before you are ready to take it on the water...

 

[gordmac]

As Jake says for the transom. A 15hp engine won't put a lot of strain on the transom.
Sounds like it could be a bargain if it is halfway decent, a bit of untidiness isn't the end of the world as long as the engines are sound.

 

[jrudge]

Don’t bother with a survey but get someone to look at it.

If it is knackered if will cost you £ to fix and to moor up

 

[jon and michie]

Not worth a survey if its only going for £1k - at worst you would probably recoup some money back from the engine alone