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How do you know if some one owns the boat that you want to buy?


Brian 65

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48 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Probably about £4-500 for the surveyor plus the cost of the lift-out and lift back in.

 

I'd budget for £800-£1000 then hopefully you'll get some 'change'

 

A good survey will take 5 or 6 hours, a 'bad' survey 15 minutes.

 

You will need to find a marina that can lift it out, you will need to arrange for the seller to take it to that marina (and then back again) and you will need to find a good surveyor that is available.

The hard part will be co-ordinating all three of them (Marina / Owner / Surveyor)

Thank you. I, as others have said, think that it may be difficult to get a survey at short notice. I may just look elsewhere.

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Do you realise that dues to its age you are going to need a full out of the water survey to be able to insure it 'fully comp' ?

 

It would be preferable to have it done as part of the buying process and then you will have the surveyors report to give you a guide as to what it is REALLY valued at and what work needs doing.

You will be very very unlikely to find a surveyor who will 'drop everything' and come in the next couple of days, so will be unable to meet the sellers demands of a sale 'this week'.

 

I am always dubious of sellers of 30 year old boats saying must go this week - why - is it on the verge of sinking ? is it just a ploy to get a desperate buyer to buy it without a survey ? Why didn't they advertise it a month or two ago, few things in life would result in having to sell up in a week.

 

If it was outside of London it would be a £15,000 boat with all its unknowns.

A 5 year old survey is worthless - a boat can go from a 'good steel thickness' to sinking in less than 2 years.

 

I'd be very very careful with this boat - in that price bracket and at that age you could easily be looking to spend another £5000 or even £10000 in the next couple of years.

Save up a bit more cash and get into the next bracket up and get a 'good' boat.

Thank you

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Do you realise that dues to its age you are going to need a full out of the water survey to be able to insure it 'fully comp' ?

 

It would be preferable to have it done as part of the buying process and then you will have the surveyors report to give you a guide as to what it is REALLY valued at and what work needs doing.

You will be very very unlikely to find a surveyor who will 'drop everything' and come in the next couple of days, so will be unable to meet the sellers demands of a sale 'this week'.

 

I am always dubious of sellers of 30 year old boats saying must go this week - why - is it on the verge of sinking ? is it just a ploy to get a desperate buyer to buy it without a survey ? Why didn't they advertise it a month or two ago, few things in life would result in having to sell up in a week.

 

If it was outside of London it would be a £15,000 boat with all its unknowns.

A 5 year old survey is worthless - a boat can go from a 'good steel thickness' to sinking in less than 2 years.

 

I'd be very very careful with this boat - in that price bracket and at that age you could easily be looking to spend another £5000 or even £10000 in the next couple of years.

Save up a bit more cash and get into the next bracket up and get a 'good' boat.

Thank you

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46 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Water damage to the back 2m of the floor is almost certainly that the bilge under the cabin floor has filled with water. If this has come from a water leak on the plumbing, its  a heck of a lot of water to fill the bilge.  More likely its a hull leak, most Harbourer boats have a wet bilge with the front deck draining to under the floor, the bilge pump in the stern is supposed to pump it overboard. 

 

I would be VERY suspicious that this boat has started to sink.

Yes a good point. I think that I will leave it, but thank you for every ones help and advise, Brian

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1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Water damage to the back 2m of the floor is almost certainly that the bilge under the cabin floor has filled with water. If this has come from a water leak on the plumbing, its  a heck of a lot of water to fill the bilge.  More likely its a hull leak, most Harbourer boats have a wet bilge with the front deck draining to under the floor, the bilge pump in the stern is supposed to pump it overboard. 

 

I would be VERY suspicious that this boat has started to sink.

I wondered whether, as a wet bilge, it could be as simple as a failed bilge pump that wasn't picked up on so the bilge filled up over a period of time due to rain and got to floor level before it was noticed?

 

Alec

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I find myself wondering if this boat was possibly in Harefield Marina when the water level dropped substantially. This could explain the flooding of the stern section. 

 

I think a careful investigation of WHY the water damage exists is called for. If the seller has an explanation which can be verified, then this boat could be a genuine bargain. I rather doubt it can be though, given the tale so far.

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More than happy to be corrected but that is not what i think of when something is described as a 'Harboro' boat, perhaps they did a more modern looking boat than the old fibreglass topped boats with a an oily Lister under the back deck. It certainly is keenly priced though. It is interesting with some boats to add up the value of the fixtures, fittings and hull to see what that value is. Most boats are priced at many times the value of their components, this one is probably close to the actual value - a rare thing. (this is not a scientific or objective calculation but it is useful to imagine a rusty hull, a pile of damp plywood and a knackered engine alongside a huge pile of £20 notes - which is the best deal?)

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18 minutes ago, Bee said:

More than happy to be corrected but that is not what i think of when something is described as a 'Harboro' boat, perhaps they did a more modern looking boat than the old fibreglass topped boats with a an oily Lister under the back deck.

 

Have to say, I wondered this too. It doesn't look like a Harborough to me, nor did I realise they still built them as recently as 1990, and fitted BMCs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Have to say, I wondered this too. It doesn't look like a Harborough to me, nor did I realise they still built them as recently as 1990, and fitted BMCs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks again for the replies. This is the explanation of the water damage.

 

Hi Brian,

The water damage is not visible, it is just that the floor in that area is
soft and will need a replacement of that part of the floor substructure.
The floor planks would be able to be reused as they are fine.
It was caused by water in the bilge area that had been sitting there for a
long time without being removed. This slowly seeped into the sub floor
area.
The only affected area is as mentioned in the advert which is the back 1-2m
of the floor.


 

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1 hour ago, Brian 65 said:

Thanks again for the replies. This is the explanation of the water damage.

 

Hi Brian,

The water damage is not visible, it is just that the floor in that area is
soft and will need a replacement of that part of the floor substructure.
The floor planks would be able to be reused as they are fine.
It was caused by water in the bilge area that had been sitting there for a
long time without being removed. This slowly seeped into the sub floor
area.
The only affected area is as mentioned in the advert which is the back 1-2m
of the floor.


 

Exactly as expected, but from whence did it come?  How long is a long time? So the base plate and 5" of the sides will be very rusty inside at the stern, not good unless you can take up a floor hatch and inspect.

Possibly wet or dry rot in the timber bearers under the floor.

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4 hours ago, Brian 65 said:

Thanks again for the replies. This is the explanation of the water damage.

 

Hi Brian,

The water damage is not visible, it is just that the floor in that area is
soft and will need a replacement of that part of the floor substructure.
The floor planks would be able to be reused as they are fine.
It was caused by water in the bilge area that had been sitting there for a
long time without being removed. This slowly seeped into the sub floor
area.
The only affected area is as mentioned in the advert which is the back 1-2m
of the floor.


 

 

That is a description of the damage not an explanation of how it happened, which is what we (or more specifically you) really need to find out.

 

The really useful information is how the water came to be there, and this seller has swerved telling you. Or maybe you didn't ask quite the right question?

 

What did you actually ask to elicit this response? 

It could be something as simple as a leaking window of leaking stern gland letting in water over a long period of time. Or it could be as Tracey fears, a porous hull. 

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6 hours ago, MtB said:

 

That is a description of the damage not an explanation of how it happened, which is what we (or more specifically you) really need to find out.

 

The really useful information is how the water came to be there, and this seller has swerved telling you. Or maybe you didn't ask quite the right question?

 

What did you actually ask to elicit this response? 

It could be something as simple as a leaking window of leaking stern gland letting in water over a long period of time. Or it could be as Tracey fears, a porous hull. 

I asked what caused of the water damage

 

23 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

A lady on the moorings I was at at Napton bought a boat with no survey, Why waste money on a survey when you know you are going to have to fix it was her moto. So if the price is right you take your chances.

Yes thank you. I have decided not to go for it, as it would be my first boat and not a good start to boating, if things were bad.

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