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Paul
 
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Default Opinions on a 1987 Wellcraft Monte Carlo 28'

Hi Mike,

That's a great point you make. There was a short period when we were in
survey that we conisdered putting everything on hold until next spring. We
then had the discussion about having sunk a fair amount of money into the
survey process and had to decide if that was worth abandoning.

We're not rich and we had spent almost $600 CDN at that point. A lot of
people speak glibly about "spending another thousand dollars" and I don't
mind spending money if I have to, but I still feel it.

For other reasons we continued on but for a day there we considered eating
the cost of the survey so I can really appreciate your position.

Let me mention some of the things that made me feel comfortable before we
put in an offer.

1) The boat was being sold by a reputable broker/marina that we are familiar
with. We have boated with friends out of this marina for years and everyone
there seems more than satisfied with the facilities, the owners, the
mechanical shop and the whole atmosphere in general. The broker vouched for
the boat and referred to it as a "good boat". They knew we would be mooring
there and that we would be seeing them on the docks every day, it was not in
their best interest to ... to be blunt, to bull**** us.

2) I had considered some private sales but the seller always mentioned how
"this will save everyone money" because there are no brokerage fees. That
always gave me an uneasy feeling. I'm sure many will disagree with me but my
thought was that if this guy is looking to save the brokerage fee, what
other costs did he try to save during his ownership? Like I said, I'm not
rich and I don't voluntarily run around handing about $1,000 to people just
for fun, but there is a time to be frugal and a time to spend money. That's
just my opinion.

3) The boat had been moored at this marina at least since 1995 and there
were maintenance and repair records going back that far -- perhaps further,
I didn't ask about that. They had handled the blister repair under the
supervision of a professional surveyor (who ended up doing our survey). I
had researched this surveyor and when I heard he handled the new bottom I
gained confidence in its quality. They also are the ones who rebuilt one of
the engines about 40 hours ago. They're a Mercruiser shop (this has Alpha
Ones) and that made me feel better.

Basically this showed me that the owners went to the professionals when
required and didn't try to limp along on "handyman" repairs when it came to
the important stuff.

4) The boat was spotless when we viewed it. I don't mean it had been quickly
cleaned up because even the upholstery was in great shape. In many of the
storage spaces were cleaning and maintenance supplies, this guy was a clean
freak. The fire extinguishers were new (1999) and recently serviced. Hose
clamps looked clean and bright. Cupboard handles and latches were tight --
even my own kitchen isn't this well maintained. All hatches and portholes
worked effortlessly. The curtains and other cloth items weren't ripped or
askew. Kitchen utensils were stowed neatly, not just tossed into various
drawers. For cryin' out loud even the salt and pepper shakers were velcroed
to the galley side out of the way and secure when not in use. The deck
sunpad had obviously been stored down below when the boat was not in use --
it was immaculate and the foredeck had no indication that the sunpad "lived"
there for any length of time. The canvas had all of its snaps and they all
worked. There was a comprehensive first aid kit.

Then the engine room -- you could eat off it. The batteries were properly
mounted and held down securely with straps. They were marine deep cycles,
not car batteries on the house. Wiring and hoses were neatly routed.

Sure, there were things that were worn and some even worn out, but nothing
important. For instance the decal stripes running along the side of the hull
was worn out where the dock fenders rubbed. The anchor had been
"straightened", perhaps more than once and it looked like there was a new
weld on it. But all basically minor, especially considering her age.

I got the very clear sense that the owner had worked hard to keep things in
good shape.

So none of this would tell you if there was a crack in the hull,
delamination somewhere (which I wouldn't recognize if it jumped up and bit
me) or any other fundamental problem that would turn it into a junk boat.
But all together this gave me confidence that if there had been a problem,
and there obviously had been some, then it would have been recognized and
dealt with professionally.

So it was still a "guess" on our part but sort of like detective work. I
suppose I would recommend not just listing the pros and cons, but then
looking at your whole list overall and see if you can get a feeling for how
this boat was treated during its lifetime. All boats of this age have had
problems, some of them very big problems (like extensive blistering or
burning out an engine). By these tell tale details how do you think they
were dealt with?