Eisboch wrote:
A sea trial, hauling, survey and re-launch is scheduled for Wednesday on the
Navigator "weather permitting".

I haven't been down to the marina for a week due to two snowstorms up here.
I suspect the back basin (which is brackish water) is iced over, although
probably just on the surface. I am not sure about the inner harbor,
although it has frozen enough to walk on in past winters.

Forecast is for rain/snow on Wednesday although it may just be showers.

I am leaning towards canceling the event and, assuming the buyer is still
interested in the boat closer to spring, doing it then. He wants to leave
the boat at it's current slip at my marina for the remainder of the winter
anyway.

I've been debating this in my head all morning. Obviously both brokers
involved want to forge ahead, influenced by commissions. The buyer doesn't
want to move the boat until spring anyway and, if the sale is consummated,
the closing won't be until the first week of January at the earliest.

Since I've never used the boat as an ice breaker I don't know the risks
involved. Frankly I don't have any experience of, or have even heard of
doing sea trials and surveys in the middle of winter, especially if it's
snowing/raining/icy.

It dawned on me that if something happens due to weather or ice, the risk is
totally on us. The buyer can say, "Gee, that's too bad", and head for
home.

Anybody do this before?

Eisboch




I wouldn't risk it. If something bad happens in winter on the water in
your neck of the woods, you're dead.

Can you structure a contingency sale, with the buyer's only option for
backing out some horror turning up in the survey? In sales, if you don't
strike while the iron is hot, you are likely to lose the sale because
the buyer finds something else he likes or loses interest altogether.

The problem is, with the economy tanking, and it is, if you lose this
buyer, you may not find another for a long, long time.