Have to get the boat surveyed
Read any book about buying a boat and they all advise to get a survey, and if the boat is being financed, like Eximius, the Finance company will want a survey. We could pull the money out of our savings, but the tax would be heavy, so I reached out to Essex Credit and found out the ground rules.
My offer to purchase the boat is dependent upon a satisfactory survey, including above water, below water and Sea Trial. The boat is in a slip in Stuart, Manatee Pocket, and there are two marinas nearby: Hinckley and Port Salerno. The name Hinckley is well known, they make some impressive boats up north, and local knowledge reported that the marina was extremely controlling when it comes to who can do work on boats on their hard. But they could haul the boat at all tides. Port Salerno allows DIY work but have limited haul that is restricted to close to high tide for a deep keel boat.
After talking with Jack from Port Salerno marina, nice down to earth guy, I decided to get the boat hauled there. He was able to recommend several Surveyors and Service guys to get the work done. A gut reaction selected Brian Galley as my first surveyor to call. He's a Brit! duh! Brian discussed the process and expected a call back when decisions were made. I spoke to Fred, one of the service guys that manages a team that works at Port Salerno, and he was flexible and able to get the work done in my time frame.
Discussing the plan with Deke, we agreed on May 19th as the haul day. Deke would work on being down here for the survey, but has a buddy that could move the boat to the marina for haul out if Deke was unable to make it. I cleared it at work that I would go up on Monday night, Peggy baby sits our grand-daughter on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I would be on the survey alone. Everything was agreed upon with Jack from the Marina, Brian, surveyor, and Fred for the boat service, and Deke for coming down from New Hampshire. Ducks were lining up nicely.
On survey day, Peggy stayed at home with Katie, I drove up on the Monday and picked up Deke at the Palm Beach International Airport just before 11am.
We spent the afternoon going over the boat, me learning the systems that Deke covered, Deke recalled many of the adventures they had on the boat. By the end of the day I felt more confident on being able to handle any engine issues, how to do the routine servicing and we went over the engine start sequence several times. That Monday was a short day, but we covered a lot.
Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at a local breakfast grill (left my hat behind!) and then went to the boat to start putting the sails up as Deke had planned to store them while he was away for the summer. Brian Galley, the Surveyor, turned up on time and quickly got into the work of checking our the boat for me (and the insurance company and the finance company). Around 10ish, we cast off for the sea trial. Brian wanted the engine to be run at full speed for two minutes, Deke explained that he never ran the engine at full speed, ever! But that is what Brian wanted, so we turned into a straight stretch and pushed the throttle wide open. 8.66 knots! Wow! and the engine passed with colors.
Then we motored over to Port Salerno Marine and their team turned the boat and guided it into the haul out dock. I'll add some pics later.
The afternoon was a whirlwind, but the survey passed very well and I was able to setup the team at the marina to do a few things on the boat. That included getting the hull power washed below the water line and new bottom paint, putting a new zinc on the prop shaft, replacing the prop shaft cutlass bearing and cleaning the hull above the waterline and putting 3 coats of acrylic polish on the hull after scraping the name off the transom.
During the afternoon, Deke and I removed the depth gauge transducer which was not working. Upon removal it was obvious why. Water had gotten inside the transducer and it had swollen in the only direction it could - outward. We found a dummy transducer bung in a local marine swap market. $4.00 fit like a glove.
We spent the night at Deke's house after having dinner at the Manatee island restaurant.
Wednesday morning I drove Deke back to the airport and headed to work via a quick stop for breakfast at home.
The survey results arrived just after lunch and I quickly sent them to the insurance company and the finance company with pictures of the current registration.
We have a boat!
On survey day, Peggy stayed at home with Katie, I drove up on the Monday and picked up Deke at the Palm Beach International Airport just before 11am.
We spent the afternoon going over the boat, me learning the systems that Deke covered, Deke recalled many of the adventures they had on the boat. By the end of the day I felt more confident on being able to handle any engine issues, how to do the routine servicing and we went over the engine start sequence several times. That Monday was a short day, but we covered a lot.
Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at a local breakfast grill (left my hat behind!) and then went to the boat to start putting the sails up as Deke had planned to store them while he was away for the summer. Brian Galley, the Surveyor, turned up on time and quickly got into the work of checking our the boat for me (and the insurance company and the finance company). Around 10ish, we cast off for the sea trial. Brian wanted the engine to be run at full speed for two minutes, Deke explained that he never ran the engine at full speed, ever! But that is what Brian wanted, so we turned into a straight stretch and pushed the throttle wide open. 8.66 knots! Wow! and the engine passed with colors.
Then we motored over to Port Salerno Marine and their team turned the boat and guided it into the haul out dock. I'll add some pics later.
The afternoon was a whirlwind, but the survey passed very well and I was able to setup the team at the marina to do a few things on the boat. That included getting the hull power washed below the water line and new bottom paint, putting a new zinc on the prop shaft, replacing the prop shaft cutlass bearing and cleaning the hull above the waterline and putting 3 coats of acrylic polish on the hull after scraping the name off the transom.
During the afternoon, Deke and I removed the depth gauge transducer which was not working. Upon removal it was obvious why. Water had gotten inside the transducer and it had swollen in the only direction it could - outward. We found a dummy transducer bung in a local marine swap market. $4.00 fit like a glove.
We spent the night at Deke's house after having dinner at the Manatee island restaurant.
Wednesday morning I drove Deke back to the airport and headed to work via a quick stop for breakfast at home.
The survey results arrived just after lunch and I quickly sent them to the insurance company and the finance company with pictures of the current registration.
We have a boat!
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