I would buy subject to an out of water inspection. Outs and Ins on a slipway would probably cost a couple of hundred. It is a good opportunity for a bum scrape and anti foul. Check it out yourself and if you have doubts call in the expert.

There are marine surveyors and Marine Surveyors. For $1000 I would expect a survey of the whole vessel including a trip up the mast.

There are many "marine surveyors " around these days who have done a course and got a ticket without having any other qualifications or genuine experience. Check a surveyors credentials before you hire one and what sort of professional indemnity insurance he has. A good Marine Surveyor does not need the insurance as he would probably give you a "without prejudice" report ie "all care taken but no responsibility accepted".

Given that you have accepted the boat needs a lot of cosmetic work (be wary here as it indicates the boat has been neglected, plus paint is not cheap these days), I would try to find a wooden boat builder from "the old school" and ask him if he could have a look at the hull and tell you if he thinks it is sound and pay him what he asks. Cheers Cisco

Hey Cisco you changed your avatar looks good
Tsmithy as cisco said for 1000 dollars the person should do it all, up the mast, moisture check, woops guess it would depend on how long this 5k yacht is. Do you have any experience with carpentry/wood etc?? if this is your first boat and you dont have any experience in these areas;you may and i said may want to think about looking for a fiberglass boat. THere are Marine surveyors and there are marine surveyors,as our friend stated. I personally have built and been foreman on some high visible projects,America's cup, Formula 40 multihulls, high tech beach cats and others. I dont have a piece of paper here in Aus. saying im a Marine Surveyor.HOwever i believer that i am more than qualified and have references from clients to prove it. Dont worry not looking to do the work for you just agreeing with Cisco.
I would get a surveyor mate and only believe half of what the broker says,if that.
Good Luck with it.
Robert

Thanks guys for advice, howevern I bought it without a survey, I think of it as a disposable boat that i can learn to sail on. Everything works on it. If i loose 5K its no big deal.

Sails were in v good condition. Was an expensive boat when it was built, its 32 foot long and a Van de Stadt.

One more question, I need to fit an outboard motor to it, what HP is best? Is 5HP Mariner ok?

Cheers

Tim

See if you can borrow a 5 hp Mariner to see how it goes. I think the 5hps are standard with an integrated fuel tank and a change cock and fuel pump to accommodate an external fuel tank.

I had a 4hp Mariner on the back of a Windrush Wildfire (23 ft monohull trailer sailer about 950kg) and it worked very well pushing it along at 7 kts easily.

Two problems I had with that one was the prop pitch and leg length. With the standard coarse prop pitch the motor was not able to reach it's best RPM. With a finer pitch it would have reached proper operating RPM without losing any speed and enable the yacht to punch a swell a bit better.

The problem of course with the short shaft was that if the yacht hobby horsed in a swell at all, the prop would come out of the water and rev it's tits off and had trouble picking up the cooling water suction again.

Those little Mariners might be called the "new Seagull out board". They are a very simple single cylinder engine and if I recall correctly are very easy to start with a knotted rope if the recoil starter fails, which they rarely do.

It might be pushing it's capabilities on a Van De Stadt 32 but those boats slide through the water quite easily with a clean bum.

The Mariner 4s and 5s are so good that they are rarely sold secondhand. They are light enough that you can take them off the back of your yacht and use it on the back of your tender. If you had a Zodiac 2.4 it would be an ideal combination of yacht, tender and outboard.

If you can ascertain that the Mariner 5 is capable enough, buy one new. It will probably cost around $1400 but will be worth it. You will have no problem reselling it.

Is this the boat here http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=6640770 . If so I believe you have scored very well however you should describe this as a plywood boat rather than a timber or wooden boat. This boat will certainly be no slouch when it comes to sailing.

If everything with the hull and deck turns out to be quite sound and you do the necessaries to bring everything up to scratch, she will be an ideal east coast cruiser and worth hanging on to for a few years. If you maintain her well I think you could quite easily sell her for $15-20,000. Nobody builds these boats any more.

Congratulations and Happy Sailing. If that is the boat I am really quite envious.

What do you reckon Multihull1????

Multihull1 said...

wow van de stadt good find
wish i had 5k to just throw away if need be
No really you should be happy.
As far as engine size... depends on the weight of the boat and how fast you want to go.

Thanks Multihull, I hope loosing 5K is ideally not going to happen, was preparing myself for the worst.
Cheers

Tim

Multihull1 said...

Sometimes I think Cisco is inside my headis there anything in there mate
as Cisco said you've found yourself a great buy and should perform very well, however i believe Cisco and i are more performance sailors or should say want to sail when ever it is possible. I'm afraid that maybe quite abit of weight on the transom hope the leg will be long enough also. With the lighter motors you can always take off and lock away. Doesnt matter youve bought a motor. Try to keep the weight balanced fore and aft.
I'm on the sunshine coast believe Cisco is up Bundy way?? If your in the area i'm willing to go out with you a few times to help you out etc.
Cisco I apologize for maybe speaking for you
Let us know how you go with the boat
Robert

Thanks Robert for the offer if i am up in central coast, however I think it will be a long time before i even make it out of Sydney harbour, I dont even know how to get the sails up.

Thanks for advice on the weight of the motor (I know ur right), but I thought about this and since i only weigh 70 KGS then compared to a 100KG person at the back of the boat should somewhat compensate for the extra weight of the 20Hp yamaha v the 9.9HP that was originally on her. Once I learn how to sail then I guess i could sell the 20HP one and put on a lighter one.

Do you have any idea what the difference in weight is between a 20HP and 9.9Hp.

Thanks again for answering all these newbie questions.

Cheers

Tim