New Boat Owner
Well, it’s official! I’m a boat owner!
Now I need to get it into better shape and make it mine. I’ve made two trips to remove ‘old’ food. My tastes for boat food at the previous owners aren’t the same: I removed alot of raman, some Hormel Chili stuff, rice, and spaghetti. I also found a hidden cache of fabric paints. Tomorrow, I’ll take in some camping dishes. I’ll wait a bit on the food.
The first repairman has been on the boat and gone. I no longer have a coolant leak. Tomorrow, I’ll meet with the persons who can fix the rigging and do the odd jobs: put an anti-siphon valve in the line for the head, replace the ‘house’ electrical wiring with something more appropriate for a boat, and fix my steering pedestal. The person to fix the deck will meet with me next week. I’m hoping to get all the major items taken care of before I move the boat to its permanent slip. The rest, I should be able to do myself.
The new slip is close enough to home that I can take the bike. Haven’t figured out how to tie it onto the boat yet. 😀
Survey Report
I received the boat survey report this morning and have just finished pouring over it. No surprises. Most of what was in the report the surveyor and I discussed at the time we were on the boat. Today, I’ll try to get some estimates on repairs, then tomorrow I’ll negotiate with the broker to see if we can shave some more off the price. Ah! I must be related to Benton!
Not too worried about the negotiations, though. The value of the boat came in at $1500 more than what I offered for it.
I’ve attached a picture of the boat taken in her dock. Isn’t she a beauty?
Boat Inspection
Had the boat survey done today. For those land lubbers among you, it’s equivalent to the house inspection you have done before you purchase a home.
Overall, the survey looked good. There were, however, a couple of items that will need immediate attention: there’s a ‘soft spot’ in the deck, with an equally soft spot underneath in the cabin. That means that water has gotten in at one time or another. Depending on how bad the damage is between the layers, I may need to cut out the fiberglass and replace the core (wood or balsa), or I may need to just drill some holes and get the water out. Either one will require drilling a hole to determine the interior damage, which I don’t think the present owners will appreciate right now. The other item is the mount for the (steering) wheel. The backplate is corroded and will need to be replaced. Neither item is a show-stopper. But both will give me some room for negotiations.
My contract with the owner says that I’m to give a final decision by Monday, the 4th. But I’m trying to get hold of the broker and ask that date be stretched until I can see a final copy of the inspector’s report.
[Top]Engine Inspection
Well I talked to the guy who inspected the engine today. He said that he had looked at it a few years ago and it wasn’t in very good shape, which is why he’d recommended looking at the boat first.
He said that alot of *good* work had been done on it since then, and now he would recommend it. There were a few minor things: needs new batteries (which I knew), the alternator and starter should be serviced (as in they’ll run, but a ‘tuneup(?)’ would give me much more life out of them).
So next step is the boat survey: someone who’ll at the entire thing from stem to stern. That happens a week from Friday.
[Top]Boat Watch
For those who haven’t been keeping up, I’ve put an offer on a Cal 29′ sailboat. There was a counter-offer from the owners, which I’ve tentatively accepted, contingent upon an inspection (just like a house) of the boat and, separately, of the engine.
I’ve contacted both inspectors, who apparently know each other. They’ve talked among themselves, and have contacted the broker who is handling the sale for the owners (who now live in Hawaii – rough, huh?). I heard back from the boat inspector. He’d suggested I be there when he looked it over, so I asked him to do it on a weekend (saving ‘work time’ on the boat for when I can use my ‘mobile office’). But when he talked to the
broker about doing the inspection the last weekend of the month, giving the engine guy time to look first, the broker said it shouldn’t be on the weekend, because we couldn’t get the boat hauled out on a weekend, and it had to be this weekend, if it was, because the sale was to be completed before the end of the month.
Interesting thing. First offer asked that the current owners pay the slip fees for 2 months, allowing me time to find somewhere to put the boat. They said they were paid up until the end of this month, and that’s all they wanted to pay. I asked whether they’d pay February, if the sale wasn’t completed before then, and the broker said, ‘Of course.’. So my devious mind thinks that the broker is just trying to save the owners the $200 for the slip fees for February. But what do I know. 😕
The contract, btw, says that I’ll make a final decision by Feb 4th. So the inspections *don’t* have to be done by this weekend.
So, that’s how it sits. I haven’t heard back from the engine guy yet. If I don’t hear from him by this evening, I’ll give him a call.
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