Starting to look for our own boat

[Stewart Kirby]

But I don't want this painted rosy red - we need to learn how to avoid at least the obvious fallpits.

And at first we also thought that we should look for a nice, clean engine/bilge area. But then we saw so many boats at the brokers, where oil had leaked into the bilge, that we wondered if we had been unrealistic about it.

No, you are not being unrealistic but if a boat is at a brokerage site it is unlikely to get the same care and attention as one that is still being used and looked after by the owners. It can take a long time time to find the right boat at the right price and the more you see, the more you will know and will be able to work out what you want. I would ask to see any log books a boat might have. I personally kept a daily log of engine hours, distance travelled etc and diesel, gas and other consumables purchased and oil nad filter changes, blacking etc. If i didnt see some evidence of how a boat had been used and cared for i would be very wary about buying it.

[cuthound]

When I bought my boat, the previous owner had kept a file of invoices for maintenance, dating back to the boats first service. I have continued with this, but as I do my own servicing, keep receipts for oil, filters etc, as well as invoices for work that I cannot do myself, such as dry docking.

 

It is well worth doing this, as it may, the boat so much easier to sell when the time comes. It was one of the factors that determined the boat that we bought.

[Victor Vectis]

No, you are not being unrealistic but if a boat is at a brokerage site it is unlikely to get the same care and attention as one that is still being used and looked after by the owners. It can take a long time time to find the right boat at the right price and the more you see, the more you will know and will be able to work out what you want. I would ask to see any log books a boat might have. I personally kept a daily log of engine hours, distance travelled etc and diesel, gas and other consumables purchased and oil nad filter changes, blacking etc. If i didnt see some evidence of how a boat had been used and cared for i would be very wary about buying it.

I keep a record of all this on a spreadsheet. If we ever came to selling RW I would expect a potential buyer to take this on good faith.

 

FWIW 'Red Wharf' was the first and only boat we looked at (but we had done a fair amount of research online) I know this goes against the usual advice but sometimes things just work out first time. 5 years on, no regrets!

[Sally Grim]

It would be very reassuring to see records like that from previous owners.

If we buy through a brokerage, should we expect them to have copies of those records to show us?

 

We thought that buying through a brokerage would make an easier process, as we are not confident with the ins and outs of buying in England.

But it certainly would be nice to meet the previous owner, to get an impression of him/her, and to be able to ask about the boats history.

Cant´t have it both ways, I guess.

 

Edited to say: Thank you for being so kind and understanding, and answering my newbie questions!

Edited December 23, 2016 by Sally Grim

[Athy]

 

 

: Thank you for being so kind and understanding, and answering my newbie questions!

Thank you for the delightful word "fallpits", which I shall certainly plagiarise.

[cuthound]

It would be very reassuring to see records like that from previous owners.

If we buy through a brokerage, should we expect them to have copies of those records to show us?

 

We thought that buying through a brokerage would make an easier process, as we are not confident with the ins and outs of buying in England.

But it certainly would be nice to meet the previous owner, to get an impression of him/her, and to be able to ask about the boats history.

Cant´t have it both ways, I guess.

 

Edited to say: Thank you for being so kind and understanding, and answering my newbie questions!

Yes, when we bought our boat the documentation was on board, but the broker was unaware of the extent of it, as the invoices were filed with instruction manuals for things NOT included in the RCD requirements (microwave, CO alarm etc). I found them when inspecting the boat.

 

We met the previous owner as part of the handover process, on the day of completion.

 

Edited to add the last sentance.

Edited December 23, 2016 by cuthound

[alan_fincher]

We thought that buying through a brokerage would make an easier process, as we are not confident with the ins and outs of buying in England.

 

Buying a boat via Whilton brokerage has far more potential pitfalls than buying from most other brokerages.

 

If you don't already know this, use the search facility on here to look for threads about the very many dissatisfactions people have had with them.

 

OK, they sell more boats than most, so will statistically have more dissatisfied customers, but even so.....

 

The first time is to try and ascertain who actually owns any boat they are selling. Often they are recorded as being "economical with the truth" on this point, and pretend to deal with a mythical owner that doesn't actually exist, because in actual fact it is a boat they have bought, and are selling outright, so it is not on "brokerage" at all. The mythical "seller" they are dealing with is actually themselves.....

[cuthound]

Buying a boat via Whilton brokerage has far more potential pitfalls than buying from most other brokerages.

 

If you don't already know this, use the search facility on here to look for threads about the very many dissatisfactions people have had with them.

 

OK, they sell more boats than most, so will statistically have more dissatisfied customers, but even so.....

 

The first time is to try and ascertain who actually owns any boat they are selling. Often they are recorded as being "economical with the truth" on this point, and pretend to deal with a mythical owner that doesn't actually exist, because in actual fact it is a boat they have bought, and are selling outright, so it is not on "brokerage" at all. The mythical "seller" they are dealing with is actually themselves.....

And they do this to avoid their obligations under the Sales of Goods Act.

 

A boat from a broker has no guarantee, although the broker is expected to have undertaken some "due diligence" to ascertain the sellers right to sell etc.

 

When a boat is sold by a company that owns it, the SoGA states that the seller is liable to rectify any pre-existing faults for a period of 6 months.

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

I have to say that you can't expect all boats to have full records, and that it doesn't men they haven't been looked after if they don't.

 

When we first bought Tawny we kept a diary, but gave that up a good while ago as we'd rather just be out enjoying the boat rather than keeping records to make her easier to sell when we eventually do.

 

Richard does just about all the work, particularly the engine work himself so no records of that.

 

I think it's like a new car, you have it serviced by the dealer when it's new, but then as it gets older and comes out of warranty you use a cheaper garage or do it yourself. Same with boats. After a few years you can't rely on the paperwork, depends on use, where it's been etc so you have to have a good look, get a survey and get someone you trust who knows about particular systems to check them over if you have any doubts.

 

Sue

[Naughty Cal]

 

But I don't want this painted rosy red - we need to learn how to avoid at least the obvious fallpits.

And at first we also thought that we should look for a nice, clean engine/bilge area. But then we saw so many boats at the brokers, where oil had leaked into the bilge, that we wondered if we had been unrealistic about it.

It isn't unrealistic to expect the engine bay to be clean and tidy and it isn't unrealistic to want to see receipts for works and servicing carried out over previous years. There are boats out there that have decent service histories and documentation.

 

We service and repair our own boat but we do keep the receipts to prove as and when works was carried out. After approaching 9 years of ownership that amounts to a lot of documentation. But it provides a thorough breakdown of what has been done to the boat and when.

[Sally Grim]

Yes, I have seen some of the threads here about Whilton.

 

And I have been doing a lot of research on apolloduck. But many boats for sale have no pictures of the engine at all, (but lots of the interior). Why is that, is that a bad signal? The engine seems such an important part of a boat.....

[Bee]

Its all a question of judgement. Nobody can really know what they have bought until a few weeks have gone by and you start to fix little things, I've bought battered old cars that went on for years and more expensive and 'better' cars that were endless trouble, same with boats.

[Athy]

Yes, I have seen some of the threads here about Whilton.

 

And I have been doing a lot of research on apolloduck. But many boats for sale have no pictures of the engine at all, (but lots of the interior). Why is that, is that a bad signal? The engine seems such an important part of a boat.....

As I think was mentioned on another thread recently, look at the pictures, but ask yourself, "What isn't shown?" Cosy interior but no external shots = ugly or rusty exterior; handsome, well-maintained exterior shots but no inside views = bare/scruffy/ chaotic inside. By the same token, no engine picture = rusty, oily thing festooned with mysterious, aimlessly snaking wires.

 

I'm sure this is not always true, but sometimes it is.