Thursday, September 12, 2013
Deciding
We've managed to track down the owner of the trimaran, he's in Thailand currently but he was able to email us a copy of the survey he had done when he bought the boat last year, September 2012.
The estimated resale value then was $25,000(USD) and that was before the accident which punched a hole in the port ama, but through this survey we discovered that the previous owner had done damage to this poor boat in which they had to rebuild the whole starboard side ama.
The only good thing about this boat it seems is that the engine is brand new and a decent model.
Wiring, haphazard and not up to standards.
Fuel line not properly fastened. (Obviously its just being held by a rope.)
Soft wood. Cracked wood, needs replacing.
The above pictures are of the two amas. The first one, the nice one, looks all clean and proper is the port ama (before the current owner had done his damage to it) and the other picture is the starboard ama after it had taken some severe damage and obviously needed to practically be rebuilt. The surveyor said that the repairs had been done unprofessionally but it was stable but not to builders specifications.
His final verdict was that the boat was in an acceptable condition for its intended use, for sailing around coastal Pacific Northwest and should not be trusted for bad weather or offshore cruising. Now that is our intention for the next few years too but after that we want to head out into open waters.
So the question now is can this boat meet all of course foreseeable needs? If not, with the amount of money we plan to invest into the boat can't be brought up to meet those needs? Or... And more probable, is this boat just a money pit?
A few hours after we received the first survey we were sent a survey that the previous owner had done in December 2011. At that point the boat was in perfect condition and the market value of it just two years ago was $78,000. What a shame! I find it ha to believe that in just two years and two owners this boat has sustained enough damage to have dropped $60,000 in value. It is almost inconceivable. And very sad, I almost want to rescue her poor thing,
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Hello Becky and Mark, John Matthiesen here in Port Townsend. Just reading this post seems you need more info. I bought the boat in Puerto Escondido, Baja with the Stbd ama damage already done by Hurricane Henrietta in 2008 I think. The owner before me Derrick from Portland, salvaged it after he bought Moon Me, for $5000 from a Mr.Kelly DWB, who left it tied to a dangerous seawall just before the Hurricane hit. Have CD with photos somewhere you can have. Derrick hired Mexican carpenter who repaired her enough for us to sail it to meet a YachtPath ship in Manzanillo to go to Nanaimo where I picked it up. Headsail blown out aboard ship enroute was insured and friend Carol Hasse made us a new one. Engine I bought replaced by Winter family from LA who then resold it to your fellow who DWB crashed it in Port Townsend. He had substance abuse issues as did many previous owners. Many stories since '79. I gave up on it after someone hired a steel boat surveyor who attacked the bilges with an ice pick instead of a moisture meter and violated the epoxy barrier in there. My knees finally gave out. Almost sued the surveyor but Winter family came along and gave me $20K for it after a more competent survey. Don't know where you got the $78K number. I bought her from Derrick for $33K in 2009. Glad you are working with it. It needs a real Head. Had toilet seat in cockpit. Never got to sail on it with new motor or sails. Expensive vacation eh? Heard stories everywhere we went that she was a well known party boat in Baja and Caribbean. 2nd owner was a divorced, retired CHP cop who tied empty Tequila bottles and bras to bow pulpit for pistol target practice. One ricocheted into the inflatable Achilles dink that I put into dumpster in LaPaz Marina. Got a used one from Broker there and still have it here on our Marrowstone Is. beach for crabbing. Quite a colorful history you can see. Your growing family will require a much bigger boat though! That's why the Winter family sold it also.
ReplyDeleteJohn Matthiesen, lynx@olympus.net