To me, the standard on a used 50' boat would be a full day for the boat and 4 hours for the engines.
that sounds about right, i cant imagine two days
To me, the standard on a used 50' boat would be a full day for the boat and 4 hours for the engines.
that sounds about right, i cant imagine two days
I recently made what I hope to be my last boat purchase. The money spent for comprehensive surveyS was worth every penny. Minor maintenance/repair issues were identified ... as I would expect on any used boat. The two surveyors, while independent, were well acquainted with each other and had done joint surveys many times before. I think the synergy was a real bonus ... I paid for two, but felt as though I got the value of three. I am confident that with each of them looking at essentially everything, nothing went undetected. Each wrote their appropriate report, but with several cross references between the two. Perhaps two sets of eyes together may be better than twos sets each alone. Last conclusion ... the cost of any number of surveys pales in comparison to actually owning the boat!
Update:
Survery Date was this past Saturday. 4/27 unfortunately we were unable to do the sea trial due high winds (gusts to 50 Mph). Only a partial engine survey was completed. A couple of things caught my attention.
1. Minor oil seepage was indicated on valve cover seals.: recommend replacing seal/gaskets.
2 Minor oil seepage is a possibility from the front crankshaft oil seal; recommend further troubleshooting by removing belt guard and crankshaft pulley.
3. Minor oil seepage is indicated at the governor assembly to the injection pump seal; recommend re-torquing the bolts and monitoring.
Opinions?
As he didn't finish the survey because of the sea trial I did not get his final recommendations. I did get a 10 page report on his finding of the visual inspection. Hopefully we can complete the survey this week.
Update:
Survery Date was this past Saturday. 4/27 unfortunately we were unable to do the sea trial due high winds (gusts to 50 Mph). Only a partial engine survey was completed. A couple of things caught my attention.
1. Minor oil seepage was indicated on valve cover seals.: recommend replacing seal/gaskets.
2 Minor oil seepage is a possibility from the front crankshaft oil seal; recommend further troubleshooting by removing belt guard and crankshaft pulley.
3. Minor oil seepage is indicated at the governor assembly to the injection pump seal; recommend re-torquing the bolts and monitoring.
Opinions?
Tough call.
If you know boats you have a pretty good idea before survey if its good
If you have no idea about boats what a surveyor tells you can very easily scare you away from a great deal.
What is the logic behind not starting and engine or giving a sea trial before offer? Makes me think they are hiding something. Does not seem like a smart way to do business.
What is the logic behind not starting and engine or giving a sea trial before offer? Makes me think they are hiding something. Does not seem like a smart way to do business.
What is the logic behind not starting and engine or giving a sea trial before offer? Makes me think they are hiding something. Does not seem like a smart way to do business.
I have several hundred dollars into winterization. I'm happy to start it for someone who is seriously interested in buying it, but I don't want to waste that money just for someone who's kicking the tires.
And that actually happened. Last year only one person looked at my boat. If I'd ran it I would have had to re-winterize just for that. I'm glad my broker required an offer first.
Update:
Survery Date was this past Saturday. 4/27 unfortunately we were unable to do the sea trial due high winds (gusts to 50 Mph). Only a partial engine survey was completed. A couple of things caught my attention.
1. Minor oil seepage was indicated on valve cover seals.: recommend replacing seal/gaskets.
2 Minor oil seepage is a possibility from the front crankshaft oil seal; recommend further troubleshooting by removing belt guard and crankshaft pulley.
3. Minor oil seepage is indicated at the governor assembly to the injection pump seal; recommend re-torquing the bolts and monitoring.
Opinions?
Sea trials are a fair amount of work for all involved. If everyone that expressed an interest in a boat got to take it out for a test run, there might be 20 test runs before anyone was serious enough to enter a contract. Test run of a big boat is much more work than a test run of a car.
The contract always should allow you an "out" clause if the boat does not perform well to your standards, or if faults are found on survey. The contract and deposit simply means you are serious about buying the boat and the effort of a test run is not wasted. The "tire kicker" thing. If boat ends up not as advertised, back out of the contract and get your deposit back. If it is as advertised, you buy it. That's the whole point of the exercise, right?
Regarding starting engines, most of the brokers that I work with are intimately familiar with the boats they have listed and they (with owners blessing) have no problems starting up machinery. Heck they often are the ones that move the boats for storm hauls, slip changes, whatever. A buyer's agent that does not know the boat might (and should) be hesitant.