Survey Day!

We had our survey the other day.  We were lucky enough to find a surveyor that seemed to be reputable and had surveyed this boat at least two other times.  When he came he brought the previous survey's and owners rep agreed it was ok to share he was kind enough to let me read through the previous issues that had been identified over the years.  Fortunately the issues had been pretty minor  which told us that the boat had been well cared for over the years.  This also gave him possible problem areas to check on this time ensuring they had been addressed correctly.   Unfortunately it was raining on the day of our survey and the surveyor didn't want to do any of the outside stuff, instead just focusing on the inside parts.  He elected to come back the next day to do the outside parts like deck soundings, testing the AC units, generator capacity, lights, etc.  This worked in our favor as the boat was out of the water when he arrived and being right before the holiday weekend the yard was busy putting boats in and would not have time to get the boat back in the water until that evening.  It was also nice that we had a very steady rain that day which allow us to look for active leaking around the windows.  For the most part there were few leaks.  We found one on the main hatch which the owners rep fixed right away with a new o ring.  Then both of the windows on the teak doors were leaking slightly.  This will be a bigger fix as some of the wood around the window might be bad but still not something I considered as major.  I'm sure I can reseal the windows for now to stop the leak and then replace the wood when we get back and can take the doors off and work on them in the garage at home.

The good news is that the boat looked really clean out of the water.  The zinks looked new, bottom paint looked good, and we did not see any signs of significant damage in the past.  It was also nice to be able to walk around the boat seeing it up close vs only seeing the boat from the dock.  Both the rudder and prop shaft seemed good.  It was interesting to see that they had designed the keel to fill with water for ballast.  The surveyor questioned if this was a mistake in the build or a design feature?  Seems the previous owner had drilled a hole and put a plug in it that would allow the keel to be drained but this was not included in the original design.  This was only the 4th 42ft Nordic Tug built so there might have been a running change in the design later?  I'll have to ask some other owners about that sometime.  I've heard of using water for ballast but am not sure of the pros and cons of it.

After the first day of the survey we were still excited about our choice and talked about all the things we had both noticed since first seeing the boat on our two hour drive home.  I had also taken the time to stick my head in about every nook and cranny on the boat that I could and came away pretty happy.  So far the only things we had seen were cosmetic issues that we wanted to change vs things worn out or used up like the green carpet that while not warn out felt really dated and who puts carpet in a boat where it will get wet?  The other big unknown at this point is what exactly will come with the boat.  The owners have not cleaned the boat out of their personal stuff and the broker was not sure what would stay and what would go.  I guess I'm not to worried about it but it would be nice to get things like the Magma Grill, the charts, guide books, fenders, anchors, etc.  Looking back as I write this I should have specified what we wanted to stay establishing some sort of inventory vs assuming most of it would stay since we were told the current owners were done with boating and moving on to RV adventures.

We got up early and drove the 2hrs north back to the boat for the second part of the survey.  It was a really nice day, the boat was back in the water, and overall it went pretty well.  The surveyor found some moisture in the swim platform and around the top deck where it joins with the pilot house.  Walking on it we did not feel any soft spots so for now its something to keep an eye on and ensure the seam is caulked well.  He also found a few other really minor things like no trap in the sink plumbing, no pressure gauge on the propane tank and he did not like that the propane tank locker was vented.  All of these are really small items and we did not see them as deal breakers.

After the survey was done the owners broker asked what we thought and I pitched a new price at him due to the findings and valuation the surveyor was going to put on the boat.  Up until this point we had not negotiated on price.  With the market as hot as it is right now I figured we needed to get it "under contract" and I would have better luck with negotiating a better price once once we had a survey.  Up until this point we still had done this deal on a hand shake and no contract had been drawn up or deposit provided.  After a little back and fourth we agreed on a new price which was much closer to what we thought the boat was worth in this over priced market.  Even though the boat is a 1997 I'm sure it will still depreciate more and in any other market we probably would have been able to get it for 25k less but the markets hot right now so I guess we will roll the dice and see how we come out in the end.  Bottom line the boat met most of our requirements, is really clean, well cared for, and close to home.  We believe it will pretty much be a turn key boat for us.  I'm sure we will run into some issues along the way but in its current condition we can leave for the loop today and deal with the rest as it comes.

As part of the sale we asked for a mechanical inspection and contacted a local mechanic that was supposed to come look at the engine the next week.  So we agreed to close on the boat that next Monday after the mechanical inspection.  I don't expect any issues and am hoping everything goes well with that this week.  When we took it out that first night an oil pressure light had been going off so I would like to figure out what the story is with that!

We joined the Americas Great Loop Crusing Association

 I have been following the Facebook group on the great loop for a couple years now but we decided to finally commit and spend the money to join the AGLCA for two years.  I was pretty excited to get the bugie in the mail today, I think Amy is starting to realize our timeline is real and we need to get moving to get our land lives wrapped up so we can start our boat life.  I think we have less then 90 days.. yikes!  It's starting to feel like this adventure may really happen as each piece starts to fall in place.

Now we just need to get a boat to hang this flag on!

Boat work

 While we wait to get our survey and inspections completed on the Nordic Tug.  We still have a lot to do to get our current sail boat ready for the season.  This weekend we joined our cruising club at Middle Bass Island for the annual Commodores Tea.  Luckly there was no wind so no one was really disappointed that we still did not have sails on our boat yet.  Worse yet our boat has been sitting unloved and unused in its slip for the last month and was in desperate need of some cleaning.  I drove up on Friday night, got some of the canvas up, did an oil change, got the AC going, filled a couple of the water tanks, and spent 3.5hrs scrubbing the outside of it the next morning before Amy and the kids got there.  After a long wait on the cause way to get into Cedar Point Amy finally made it and we took off in trawler mode.  We had a good time with the club and it was nice to catch up with everyone.  Sunday we managed to get the main sail on and then headed back.  Unfortunately last year when it was time to take the sails down for winter we found that the car that pulls the head sail up our roller furling was stuck at the top.  I had gone up the mast and beat on it a bit with a big wrench and sprayed it with WD-40 and still no luck.  It appeared that maybe one of the set screws that holds the foils together had backed out inside the car allowing it to only move about an inch up or down.  I decided to pull the pin to drop the sail and would deal with it in the spring.

Unfortunately ignoring it all winter and spring so far did not seem to help matters as the car was still stuck at the top of the mast.  I even called a rigger which came out climbed the mast to confirm what I suspected.. He declared the set screw had backed out inside the car and then told me I would need to drop the mast to fix it but had no suggestions other then a really large hammer to fix it.  After a little drinking one night with one of my fellow sailors we decided that maybe if I went up the mast I could put the pin back in but run the line directly downward to a block to pull the car down.  So Monday as I was getting ready to take on this project Max asked if he could be the one that went up the mast.  I was amazed as this kid is really afraid of heights but sure kid if you want to get hauled up there no problem I'm happy to let you go!  I'm happy to report he did a great job and did not appear to scared at all!

I'm also really happy to report that the idea worked.  With a lot of wenching I was able to get the car pulled half way down at which point I then changed the angle to the back side of the car and was able to continue pulling the car down much easier.  Once the car was down I could indeed see that the screw was stuck in there and that my pulling had destroyed the rubber seal in the top of the car.  Now time to figure out how to order a new car and install it on there.  I sure hope I don't have to pull it off the top of the rig.  I have this fear if I take my mast down I won't get any sailing in this season!  So my goal is to get this working without pulling the mast down.  Hopefully I can disconnect the roller furling and slide the car off the bottom somehow and put the new one on.  For now everyone was hot, tired and ready to head home after a long weekend on the boat.  I'll have to do some googling when I get home to figure out my next step but I'm thinking if I pull the seal out it should work fine for now then I can drop the mast at the end of the season and replace the car then.  Hopefully without the seal it won't rattle to much?  

More to come on this project in the coming weeks :)

Got a call back

After calling on 10 different boats the other day I pretty much wrote off doing anymore boat shopping in this market and decided we needed to love the one we were with.  However, we got a call back that the deal fell through on a 42 foot Nordic Tug we wanted to see.  It's funny because when I saw this listing pop up on yacht world something told me this might be the boat and we both had been eager to see it.  We made our appointment to see it at the end of the week hoping that it would not be sold in the 4 days leading up to our visit.  As much as we hated the idea of having to decide on the spot we talked a lot about having to make a yes or no decision on it really quickly during the 2 hour drive up to see it and unfortunately we have not seen many different types of boats yet.  Worse yet we have not been out on any power boats yet to see how they ride and what some of the fancy things like stabilizers or twin engines might do.

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to see how clean the boat was.  When we boarded the boat we saw it was named The Wright Choice.  Maybe that's the first sign?  After looking around it for more then an hour we both liked it despite the fact that the interior was a bit dated and for some reason it had carpet laid inside?  I can't imagine trying to keep carpet from molding on a boat.  Seems like a bad idea to me but it was original and in good shape so must be possible?  The broker representing the boat had also been the main care taker of the boat for the last 15 years or so and had a very intimate knowledge of all the systems and design of the boat.  He was kind enough to take us out on it, play around a bit with it on Lake Huron, and even let me dock it.  Can't say it was a docking job I'm exactly proud of but I did manage to get it in the first time.  I'm not sure how other trawlers turn but this one is really slow and the prop walk seems much stronger then what I'm used to in a sail boat... I'm sure that has something to do with the much larger prop and smaller rudder.  Needless to say I was reminded of Austin Powers trying to turn that golf cart around when attempting to maneuver this boat in the Port Huron River where it was docked.  I was also very surprise how little the bow thruster really helped?  It seemed to work well to keep the boat pointed the right direction while waiting for the bridge to open but when it came to turning or docking really was very little help.

Bottom line after having dinner that night and talking about it we both decided that we would like to see some other boats and while we might be interested in this boat it was not love at first sight.  However if we were lucky enough to see a few more boats we both thought we would probably come back to this one or at least something along the lines of this design.  We also know the market and know this one will be gone by the time we would be able to shop around more.  Amy thinks the Tug look is cute.  I really liked the pilot house, visibility at the helm, the full keel, skeg mounted rudder, and the fact there was a crane to put the dingy up top and out of the way.  I was disappointed that it did not have a fly bridge, a washer and dryer (there is a hook up for one though), and I'm not sure what to think of the fact that is has over 6400 hours on the engine. After a bit of exploring on the internet there seems to be a pretty good following for this type of boat so it should make resale easy when the time comes.  We decided to follow the sign on the back of the boat and called to make the Wright Choice the next day putting the boat under contract. Now to get a survey and mechanical inspection lined up to get some idea of what we might be in for with this boat. Looks like we might have found ourselves a Great Loop boat. Hope this little Nordic Tug surveys well as time is running out to find anything else!

Completly frustrated!

 I called on 10 boats the other day trying to get appointments set up for the weekend.  All ten were either sold, under contract, or this is a new one.. the broker already showed it to enough folks and is awaiting the offers to come in.. Seems the boat market has gone crazy much like the housing market this spring.  Not one of the ten boats were available to be seen.

I'm completely frustrated!  We still don't really know what we want but are starting to establish what we don't want.  I can't imagine spending a huge amount of money on something I don't even have time to think about because there is a line of folks behind me that want to buy something and are willing to inflate the prices.  Starting to think I'm too conservative to play in this market and maybe we need to love the one we are with?

For now we got our boat in the water and moved over to Cedar Point.  I look forward to some sailing soon!

First boat show during COVID

We have been busy and have not had much time to check out boats the couple of weeks.  We decided to visit the Catawba Island Boat Show.  It seems that COVID restrictions have just been loosened and 98% of folks decided to make this a mask free event.  It felt a bit weird with folks walking around like we used to.  I embraced it but Amy was a bit uncomfortable with the idea that enough had changed to all the sudden be mask free in a large group of people.  Either way it was a fantastic day out and we were both excited to get to see a lot of different boats in one place.  We got on a number of what I'll call large speed boats.  Even though they were 40-60ft they seemed built to party on vs a family to live on.  They were missing things like ovens, food storage, large refrigerators, and sensible anchors.  We did get to experience a gyro stabilization system.  It was really impressive how level the boat stayed with all kinds of folks jumping on and off it.  But I suppose it should be for a 60k option.  We also checked out a couple of 40-50ft Teras and a MJM.  Both were nice but geared more to a couple going out for a couple weeks.  I really liked the MJM but they did not have any that meet our 3 stateroom requirement or my budget.

After the boat show we went out for lunch and decided to rule out the speed boat category focusing on trawlers, Carvers/Silverton's/or the like, and look for a semi displacement to go out on.  We were also much more interested in boats with stabilization.  I'm not sure what's next but I saw a Nordic Tug pop up on Yacht World I would like to see while waiting for our bill.

For now its back to working on our own boat to get it waxed, bottom painted, and ready to go in the water before the end of April.  If we don't find what we are looking for we will make our current boat work.

Hey I finally found a good use for that mask we have had to wear for the last year :)

Boat Shopping

 

I'll start by saying I like almost every boat so narrowing one down might be hard.  I think they are all sexy in their own way.  I'm not sure what it is but since I was a kid helping my dad wax his boat I've been in love with the idea of boats and the adventures one could take with them.  My dad had a 20ft Sea Ray for almost 20 years and we took that boat a lot of places.  It seemed like I must have water skied about a million miles behind that boat while growing up.  

After clicking though every boat on the east coast of the United States at least a few times over the period of a couple of weeks we finally decided it was time to go see a couple near us.  We decided to pick a Hatteras & a Azimut to get an idea of two different types of boats to start with.  Both boats seemed to check a lot of boxes with the most important being the 3 staterooms & livability factor.

The first boat we saw was a 53 Hatteras.  It seemed like a huge floating apartment.  The owners had updated it but had managed to loose the nautical or ship like feeling with the updates instead turning it into a high end apartment.  It seemed weird to me that there was a lot of port lights but none of them were clear, it felt dark down below, the engines were huge and frankly a bit intimidating to someone used to a 50hp diesel in my sailboat, while I loved the livability of the back deck I could not envision how one would get from the boat to the dock to deal with lines when coming or going.  It did have a boarding ramp but that seemed like a pain but would make it easier to bringing groceries back while at the dock.  I have no idea how owners might do this from a dingy and having to climb that ladder in the back while the boat is rolling around at anchor?  While a very nice boat, this was not a model I thought I could fall in love with and I'm still perplexed at how the heck a couple might dock this boat on their own?

While visiting the 53 we found out the Hatteras Convertable right beside it was for sale and also happened to meet most of our requirements.  Unlike the previous one that had spent the majority of its time on the Great Lakes this one had spent many years in salt water.  Even though it had been painted you could really tell the toll the salt water had taken.  It was much less roomy inside than the other one but I liked the layout a lot more and could envision a way to jump off the back of it onto a dock when coming in.  This one had not seen many updates over the years but the asking price was about 50k less.  It had a decent sized galley, the fly bridge had room for folks to sit in front of the Captain rather than behind so they might be better engage in the conversation.  Between the two I liked this boat a lot better but it didn't excite Amy in the least.  She missed the safety rails going all the way around, the comforts of the other, and felt this one might be too much of a project in the time we had.  So off to the next one.

As we were walking over to see the Azimut the broker got a call from the owner saying he was not ready to show it yet and wanted to clean it up more.  I attempted to convince him to let us see it anyway but it was not until a few weeks later that the broker called back saying the owner was finally ready to show it.  We did walk by it in the storage barn but Amy has never really been a fan of planeing boats in general so we decided to skip it for now.  Two weeks later we found out it was under contract and did not survey very well.  For almost twice as much as the Hatteras we saw we were not very excited about it and hope its the right boat for someone else.

What did we learn?  

1. I don't think I want a 1980's era boat
2. I think a fresh water boat will be a better value & will most likely will have aged better than a salt water boat
3. Apparently you can put residential furniture in a boat without nailing it down.  Seems all these power boats have sectional couches, end tables, and picture frames setup.  I can't imagine they leave the dock much or go out in the same conditions we go sailing in.
4. I don't want a boat so high I can't easily get to the dock.  I really don't want to have to climb a ladder or deal with stairs/boarding ramp everywhere we go.

In the future we would like to see some Carvers.  They make me think of an RV on a lake.  Amy has never been on a trawler and I would like to go out on some of the hybrid semi displacement hauls like the newer Grand Banks or Katie Krogen Express (Saw a couple of these in Cape Coral this winter and loved the idea of them).  Bottom line we didn't fall in love and want to check out some other options.