Nov 08 2009
Plan a rigorous sea trial and put the boat through all its paces
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Making sure your dreamboat is really the boat of your dreams.
by Capt. Dan
OK, you think you’ve found your dream boat and the broker assures you that she’s perfect for you and your family. You’ve spent a week or so visualizing yourself at the helm as the bow slices the swell and you head off towards the islands on your first cruise. If your imagination has really cranked up, you’ve also visualized the bottle of champagne and the lovely Mediterranean lunch basket that’s been assembled for lunch.
This boat is what you’ve always wanted and you’re bound and determined to get it.
And it’s going to happen. The nautical stars are aligned: you’ve made a deposit, the day is perfect, the broker is smiling and the boat looks simply gorgeous. The broker has arranged to have a captain aboard for two hours, and you’re on your way.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, (remember, all statistics are made up. But most times ….) this boat is already sold. In your head, you’ve already bought it. One of the reasons brokers demand a deposit before sea trial is to get you accustomed to writing checks to them.
There is a chance that this great boat of yours has no significant defects, but 99.7% of the time the prospective buyer is not taking a critical look during the sea trial. In his head, this is a done deal. And the broker is there to make sure the deal stays done and that you don’t take too close a look.
The last time I bought a boat, the broker said he had arranged for a captain for two hours for the sea trial. Since it takes an hour and change to get the boat ready, get underway and get out of Marina del Rey and then about a half hour to get back, that would leave very little time to check out the boat. Exactly the way the broker wanted it. The fewer winches you crank, the fewer knobs you turn, the more you overlook, the better you’ll like the boat. One of the warning signs that you’re off track is that you and your wife are discussing the “window” treatments rather than checking the head operation.
We said we needed the captain for eight hours.
“Oh no,” says the broker; “traditionally this is an out-and-back, couple of hours,max.”
“Eight hours,” we said. “We’re going to inspect everything. That’s when he started to whine about how much the captain would cost. He hated the idea, didn’t want to pay for that long a stint. But he finally relented.
My partners and I arrived early for the sail and the sight of our boat – we just couldn’t help saying that – was – I don’t know – out of proportion: She’s gorgeous.
Then we got our minds right: “Not our boat, not our boat, not our boat,” we chanted. (I tried to get us chanting, “not that pretty, not that pretty,” but couldn’t sell that idea.)
We gave her a very thorough preflight and did not find much we didn’t like. We got underway in about an hour and a half. The captain was driving and we observed. We checked out the electronics: the radio, radar (and all its features), the GPS/Chartplotter at the helm and below. We pulled the engine cover off and checked everything visually and noted water below the engine. (Finally a defect.) We tried to check the bilge but couldn’t find the access. (Turned out to be under a settee). We checked all the holds, the operation of the cabinets and locks, the head, the cabin lights, the hatches. We were being as nit-picky as we could be.
Once in open water, we got the helm. We tacked, we jibed, we put her in irons and sailed all points of sail. And, frankly, she was not all we’d hoped, particularly in downwind performance. But we did exercise everything – all the winches, which we operated manually and electrically. We reefed, shook out the reef and noted some stiffness. We noted a bent stanchion and some chafed life line. We ran the engine at full power for 20 minutes, checked for overheating and for steam coming from the exhaust. We checked the maintenance records. We did not pump out the holding tanks – broker said we didn’t have time to go out to three miles – that turned out to be an oversight as the pump was dead. We did not check the refrigerator operation – that turned out to have a bad compressor. We did not check out the stove/oven – that worked OK.
Finally we said we wanted to anchor. That met some more resistance, but we insisted. (It’s pretty evident that everything the broker resisted was an attempt to avoid a defect.)
So we anchored. She had 180 feet of chain and 180 of nylon rode. And we discovered two problems: the windlass/hawse were only set up to handle chain. If we paid out more than 180 feet, we were going to be hauling a lot of line by hand. And no matter what, the rode required hand flaking to get it all in the anchor locker. It’s a fairly serious concern.
Bottom Line: We bought the boat at a somewhat reduced price. The owner came down a bit and the broker kicked in a piece.
Lessons learned: I’d make checklist of everything I wanted to check on the boat. The list would contain everything. We missed a couple of items that day and they bit us for about $1200 down the line and these were all defects for which the owner should have been responsible. I’d bring as many knowledgeable sailors on the sea trial as the boat would hold. I’d assign them various aspects of the boat for particular scrutiny.
We had the boat surveyed by a guy that brought a frown to the broker’s face. He had a reputation for being very thorough, very tough. He frightened the broker. Even so, he found no deal-killing issues. If we do this again, I’ll get a separate engine survey, including oil analysis.
Hindsight shows we should have bargained harder on the bent stanchion, but let the broker explain it away. The next time around, we’re not buying any excuses. Even though we know that brokers misrepresent stuff and sometimes just lie, we let our manners get in the way and were too nice. Do not buy “that’s normal operation” if you feel it is not. Do not buy “all boats are that way after a few years,” not true if they are well maintained.
Don’t accept out of hand anything the broker says other than the price. He only wants to sell the boat. He’d like it if you were happy with the deal, but that’s way down his priority list. He wants his commission and that is his immediate focus.
The first guy who sold me a boat was a gentleman, a man of integrity. He, I have come to learn, was a rarity in the business.
Next step: survey – more chances to find defects and deficiencies. Again, don’t let the broker try to explain those away. Someone is going to pay to rectify those issues. Our last broker tried to talk us into having the survey after we bought the boat. I don’t know how that would work as you can’t get insurance without a survey and you can’t get a loan without insurance. It was a stupid request but did give us a read on just how far he was willing to go to avoid a thorough inspection.
Above all, remember that you can get out of the deal until you write the final check and sign the contract. Even though you’ve made a deposit, you are not locked in. YOU ARE NOT LOCKED IN. You will not feel good about backing out, but you’ll feel much worse if you make a bad bargain. And you’re going to live with that bargain for a long and expensive time.
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As a dedicated journeyman sailing novice, Dan Ryder puts up with me as a friend largely because Lynn and I were law school classmates.
His blog is always interesting, and today’s offering regarding caution in the purchase of a boat, comparing it in magnitude to the purchase of a home, resonated with me.
With our mountain house up for sale, I’ve had recent opportunity to read the boiler plate language of a typical California Home Inspection contract.
On point in this discussion, and not an exhaustive analysis, the language generally protects the inspector while leaving him/her free to express ‘opinion’. Because the prospective buyer is hiring the inspector, it’s acknowledged in the trade that the inspector’s job is to ‘find things that are or may be wrong’.
Realtors on both sides of the transaction try and temper that fact by informing the prospective buyer that just because the inspector’s opinion may be negative on certain items does not mean he is correct, that the item(s) are expensive to fix, or that the noted conditions are fatal to the sale.
Fact is, everyone wants a good and fair inspection.
We recently had an offer and the inspector is known as the best in the area. He inspected the house 9 years ago when we bought, and I have his written report from then. Without going into detail of variances between what was noted in 2000 and his opinions in 2009, the buyer was sufficiently nervous about the opinions expressed and backed out of the deal.
While an inspector is by contractual language expressing ‘opinion’, there is a fine line between inspection opinion and advocacy for a party under the guise of opinion.
Back to boat shopping. I’ve no idea the terms and conditions of a maritime vessel inspection contract, but a prospective buyer, even if knowledgeable, would be well-served to hire an inspector who is competent, unbiased and who has no interest in the outcome of the sale. A buyer, because of emotional and financial involvement, is biased.
A seller should attend the inspection whether represented by agent, counsel or anyone else. Your own notes, pictures, tape of the event, etc. will serve you well.
My realtor was at our home inspection, and I was not. No one did anything wrong per se, but I was the only one with personal knowledge to explain away, legitimately, criticisms of the property that I could prove were unfounded, and acknowledge legitimate criticisms.
We may have had a different outcome had I been there instead of believing, because of prior positive history, that the inspection was ‘routine’.
Lesson learned here, and best to you on the seas……..safely,
Terry V. Waggoner, J.D.
Mediator