We have been looking to add to our boating options

[zipper]

4/9/18-We had Capt. Stan Walker perform a marine survey on the above 1991 Beneteau FIRST 35S5. http://www.marinesurveyorconsultant.com He goes thru all the systems on a boat, 120v AC, 12v DC, potable water system, raw water system, propulsion, prop., Cutlass bearing, stuffing box, rudder post and steering linkage. He goes over the whole deck and hull looking for moisture and hidden repairs with a phenolic hammer and a high quality moisture meter. The boat "sounded" dry with the exception of the cockpit aft of the binnacle where moisture was found. Two potential causes 1. Teak strips on the cockpit sole need replacing/rebedding and 2. The binnacle needs to be released and rebedded. A non structural bulkhead under the starboard cockpit lazzarette had some rot. That is what happens when your winter cover is only a loose tarp over the boom. The seller, who bought the boat 1 year ago had the marina winterize the Volvo diesel but did the boats water and drainage system himself. I HATE when people do not learn about everything on the boat after they buy it and then decide to try their hand at maintenance. He said he "winterized" the water and drain system with antifreeze which was visible in the port water tank and the bilge sump. But then I showed him the water tank in the bow under the v-berth half full, dirty and iced over. He looked at me and said he did not know it was there. The antifreeze in the bilge sump was ok, but he never energized the pumps to circulate the antifreeze thru the system. The freezing water broke both bilge pump strainers and possibly the float switch or one of the bilge pumps. Only one was working! The rudder needed the lower bearing rebedded or replaced. The lower bearings are known to come loose from their bedding. Dropping the rudder is the only fix. I have a long punchlist of small things in addition to cleaning, compounding and waxing, mod/ electronics install, 3 blade feathering prop. So looks like we may be buying a little more of a project boat than we thought, but I am up for it. She will be a nice boat when I get done with her. And some of the work can wait until she is back on the hard in the fall. Just waiting for Capt. Stan to finish his 30 page report tomorrow. Interested to see what fair mkt. value he gives her. Talking with him after the survey, it will be lower than the 40k value another surveyor came up with a year ago. NADA list her at $42k. I read his report before we made an offer, and he missed some things. Will have more info tomorrow when we get the report. In the mean time here are a few pic. taken at the survey.
cockpit
broken bilge pump strainers
2 bilge pumps
rotten bulkhead non structural
thru hull transducers for depth and speed, replacing one with forward scan sonar transducer.
I look at this and shake my head, WTF. Definetly going to fix this mess forward of the mast.
the keel bolts and some epoxy paint patch work

lead keel good with a draft of 6'5". Air draft is just under 52'
I dont mind working on stuff and maintaining it right, after all we are "buying our second sailboat, FIRST.

 

[zipper]

@Scottintexas @tdonoughue Thank you, I am glad someone else is not getting tangled up in that mess of a thread going on right now. Plenty of other good stuff going on around here, no kidding.

 

[zipper]

@swatski Thank you Dr. Swat. You sir, have been awesome.

 

[Jgorm]

My dad had a 25 Catalina, then a 30 Catalina. Both were super fun boats. The 30 could sleep 7. They are slow, but have a nice wide beam for interior space. Once we got protested out off a race by Dennis Conner. (They handicap based on boat speed) we still say he was wrong, but high school kids vs world cup winner... You'll consume 5 gallon of diesel every few years. Sailing is super fun. I've probably spent 1000+ hours sailing. I taught sailing for a few years when i was young. Best job ever! Get one, you'll be stoked. Check for blisters and check the keel bolts, rigging, pulleys ($), and lines.

 

[zipper]

Wow, that is pretty wild. In the late 70's-80 I went to college near Newport R.I. when America's cup races were held there. Had a blast back then hanging out at the bars near the marinas. A lot of $$ there. I am still learning the ropes (sheets and halyards) but I am motivated to learn all I can. ISS classes start soon, next to the marina where the boat will be slipped, but the ice has to go out first. I am pretty new to sailing but I plan on paying attention and learning first hand and try to keep the mistakes to a minimum. A couple of our friends are instructors, so I am sure we will be in good hands.

As far as the boat...no blisters, not much of a problem in these colder waters I am told. The standing rigging is rod rigging so yes we will have it checked out up at the spreaders. Keel bolts are good. Harken hardware is good, running rigging all good but one line.

 

[zipper]

This is why you guys should always hire a marine surveyor for a pre-purchase boat survey and not rely on one the seller shows you, even if it is less than a year old. Some surveyors are more thorough than others. I know, our boats have fewer systems than a 1991 sailboat, and I must say, we did not have one done when we purchased our Yamaha. Here are the spec./valuation sheets for both.

1. Seller survey done 4/27/17

And now the one we had done on Monday 4/9/18.

Pretty big difference in value, in the reports done in less than a year apart. In order for us to get a surveror on board, we had to make an offer that he accepted. And in this case it was $38k using the seller valuation on the survey of $40k, asking price $42k. We started negotiotion at $33k. We will now retract our offer and re-negotiate the price. If he does not budge on the price we will walk spending $700. But it is better than throwing $4400 into the lake.
Like Stan said, the seller is not going to be happy with his evaluation, but tough $hit, we are not paying $38k now that we know what this boat needs to be commissioned this spring.

 

[DBamaC]

I've really enjoyed reading about your journey buying this boat. I've never had the opportunity to operative a sailing vessel and it seems like 2 or 3x as many things to learn.

 

[Jgorm]

It's hard to come up with a price for a boat. If it's a nice boat, and you have been watching the local market for 6 months or more, i wouldn't hesitate about paying more than one appraisal.

 

[zipper]

It's hard to come up with a price for a boat. If it's a nice boat, and you have been watching the local market for 6 months or more, i wouldn't hesitate about paying more than one appraisal.

Our surveyor, Capt. Stan Walker, is very thorough. He also surveyed the '85 ODay we walked away from last Sept., had been in a pretty hard illision that became obvious during a short haul. I agree with getting a second opinion on large purchases like this. But this is the 3rd survey we have paid for and no boat to show for it. We have grown to trust his evaluation. We are getting surveyed out at $1800 spent already. We hired Stan again because what we were looking at did not add up to 40k. Now we have recinded our offer, sent the seller a copy of the survey in hopes he is willing to renegociate, if not he will have to do it all again, advertise, show, survey sell. We are buyers at 35k, because I know I can fix most of it myself.

 

[PEARCE]

That is certainly a big change in values. I hope the seller is willing to negotiate. We've been through the surveying process twice with the same surveyor buying our cruisers so I know what you're dealing with. It's certainly a process and it does take a while. Thankfully there wasn't many major issues with our current cruiser that needed dealt with to make us happy to get the deal done. I hope this one works out for ya'll and it makes for happy boating memories.

 

[veedubtek]

@zipper - I truly wish I had your patience and dedication. Thoroughly enjoying following your journey, but dam I hope you find what you want (at an amicable price) soon!

 

[zipper]

@veedubtek Ya, it has been an education in both sailboats and sailboat sellers. We have not found a seller yet who is not hiding something, waiting for a sucker who does not think they need a surveyor. My issue with this boat is the lower rudder bearing being shot, about a $1200 fix that his surveyor missed. My analogy is the seller thinks he has a 930 when it really is a 914. You know what I mean. No really, he bought a boat 1 year ago with a shitty survey and paid too much and now he is trying to get his money back. He will need to come down or have the bearing repaired as well as the broken parts in the un-winterized potable water system before we will pay the $38k agreed price before survey. I think he is in shock with our valuation, we will give him the weekend to think about it. If he does not accept, he will have to repeat the time consuming process with the next buyer all over again.

 

[zipper]

Update...Our search for our sailboat has ended. Today we purchased the 1991 Beneteau First 35s5. She needs some TLC but we are willing/able to give her what she needs. Mostly a good cleaning, oxidation removal and wax. The seller agreed to pay for the rudder bushing replacement. We had a local shipwright https://www.darlingsboatworks.com drop the rudder and they discovered a missing lower rudder bushing. The boat must steered a course with much difficulty. It will be fixed next week. A few other things to fix but nothing major. Looking forward to the launch date of 6/5 and sailing her 4 hrs. north to her slip in Malletts Bay. My work load just increased. Spring farm work pulling taps, blueberry field work, major rust repair surgury on the tow rig/farm truck but that is another thread. Since we bought the boat a newer truck is out. I wanted the boat more, and can fix the truck. A couple of pics. Willow giving a thumbs up, the rudder is laying on the ground awaiting the fix and the Dutchman self flaking mainsail being laid out on the lawn this afternoon for inspection. Still cold up here, at least Willow thinks so. Thanks to everyone who replied along the way. She is a nice addition to our fleet with our Yamaha Ar230. That reminds me, I need to change my signature.

 

[Scottintexas]

congratulations, can't wait to see the pictures and hear the stories of your first trip

 

[zipper]

Thanks @Scottintexas I will post along the way. As its been said before..." What a long strange trip it's been". I have learned a lot in the last 9 mos.

 

[swatski]

Congratulations! Renaissance Man!

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[zipper]

@swatski Just like the Yamaha, this Beneteau is going to be fun, fast and well not so maintenance free as there are more systems on board. Some serious elbow grease is going to be applied between today and launch date. This boat will allow us to visit more of the lake as she can handle the waves on the broad lake better than the Yamaha. On fair weather days, when we want to hang at the beach, we will use the Yamaha slipped literally 100yds. away at a neighboring marina. We are both pretty stoked! Let the mods. begin!

 

[tdonoughue]

So... I have a really dumb question: How do they get the boat on that rack/stand thingy? And off again? Crane? Did the stand come with the boat or is that something owned by the marina?

 

[zipper]

So... I have a really dumb question: How do they get the boat on that rack/stand thingy? And off again? Crane? Did the stand come with the boat or is that something owned by the marina?

No questions are dumb...The "cradle" comes with the boat, yes it is ours. I will later truck/trailer it an hour north to the farm after the boat is launched. Then in the fall bring it to the shipyard for winter haulout. As far as moving the boat, they use a Travelift with slings, not the fork type, to transport from cradle to water. https://marinetravelift.com

 

[zipper]

@swatski We are both pretty stoked! Let the mods. begin!

Decided existing anchor, chain and rode were insufficient for this boat, we ordered this from the lewmar factory outlet, with free 2nd day air, and recieved this today.20' of 5/16" G4 galv. Chain and 200' of 9/16" twisted rode braided to chain, no shackle. The existing was 12' of 1/4" chain and 125' of 1/2" in rode. The existing anchor was a 16# Danforth, pretty much brand new, that we replaced with a 22# Lewmar Delta plow style.


Yes, that is a windlass in the background, and the gypsy is matched to the G4 chain and 9/16" rode.

Gypsy, 90a bkr., contactor and the motor.

Going to mount the windlass on the shelf in the anchor locker under the hatch

This pic. is pre-purchase...much cleaner now. Next mods. coming are Auto Pilot, a 42" folding wheel to replace a 48" fixed wheel that takes up a lot of area in the cockpit and a feathering 3 blade prop. to replace a 2 blade folding known to be insufficient in reverse. Hmmm, sounds familiar.