Porter's Boat Search

[Porter Wayfare]

Greetings once again,
This time I need a recommendation for a marine surveyor near Oklahoma City.  Is that something people here are comfortable doing? You could message me if you'd rather not be too public about it. Discretion and confidentiality strictly assured.
Thanks y'all.
Porter

[Jim_ME]

Porter, I just saw this Cl ad for a CD27 and a custom Triad trailer in VT...

http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/boa/2932275747.html

It is a not inexpensive, and it seems like you are leaning toward a smaller boat, but since it is a package that was discussed earlier, I will post it for your reference.

I am a bit skeptical that this boat is worth 9k more than the CD27 that you looked at, but it is possible. Also the ad gives at least one value ($5k) for a recent (2010) Triad custom trailer for the CD27. Since the trailer is priced separately, perhaps the owner would consider selling it separately. Although I have sometimes see owners in this situation sell the trailer separately only after someone boat the boat an opted out of the trailer.

[Jim_ME]

After the doing previous post, I found this CL ad for a CD28 in for $15.9K

http://savannah.craigslist.org/boa/2894022101.html

Again, if you are headed smaller, this boat is probably not an option, but I will post anyway, just as a reference on the price of the CD27s--and since we had discussed the practicality of trailering the CD27, as an example of even larger Alberg boat (roughly comparable to the Alberg 30 by displacement at 9000 lbs) in a custom trailer (not included in the price/sale). 

[Porter Wayfare]

Interesting you should post today. My wife and I just got back minutes ago from another 446 mile boat viewing adventure. This time it turned out pretty good!

I got her into the cabin of an Alberg 22. She gave it the OK for cruises up to 2 weeks. You see she's pretty opinionated and quite specific. But this is great news!

It has a new Cradleride trailer and the set up looked very doable. I can pick up the mast.  I have a Toyota Tacoma now, so it looks like I might need a bigger pickup. That's a bummer. It reminds me of another great thing about my Wayfarer which will practically float in a puddle: I can pull it around by hand.

I think the boat is in pretty nice shape except for the cockpit sole. It is soft. Something will need to be done about it eventually but for now the owner has made a synthetic wood material grate that seems to be a good interim solution.

The motor well opening has been fiberglassed over and a bracket hung on the reinforced transom. Good thing it got reinforced because the oldish Evinrude weighs about 80 pounds.  Sheesh.

But except for the motor hanging off the stern I love the way it looks and she does too. I'm thinking it might be survey time.  It is a Nye and has no numbers on it anywhere.

I'll let you know. In any case, I can really see us happy in an Alberg 22 sailing around in Lake Huron. What a piece of water!

Porter

[Jim_ME]

Hi Porter, Good to hear that you may be getting closer to a consensus on a design.

I always enjoy looking at the larger designs, such as the ones that I posted up at the top of the range that you were considering (and that I also have in the past).

I am still in the process of looking into trading my Corinthian 19 for a CD Typhoon 19. I will be content with either boat--way better than the no sailing of last year. A 22-footer would be a luxury.

Good luck with this A22 (or your ongoing search).

-Jim

[Oldrig]

Great news, Porter.

You've got your wife's OK, and you're willing to start out cruising in an a smaller boat like an A22.

Can't go wrong with an Alberg-designed boat. :)

--Joe

[Porter Wayfare]

Greetings

I am happy to announce that my Wayfarer got a new sister yesterday: an Alberg 22. The boat's in Nova Scotia. I had a surveyor check it out. He said, "I'm calling you to give you this report right away. There is good news and bad news. The good news is, the boat is absolutely superb. I've been looking at boats for 25 years and this is a very rare find. The bad news is, the next person who looks at this boat is probably going to buy it. You should act quickly if you want it." So I jumped on it! Ah, the folly....

It was owned by a man who is in his 90s now and although he has continued to upgrade her and launch her every year, he has just not been strong enough to sail her for the last number of years.

I'll post some pictures soon. I hope to go out to pick her up this coming week. First I have to trade up to a little bit bigger truck. I think I have a line on one that is just what I want. About 24 hours driving time one way! But the route goes through the most solidly French-speaking part of Canada. That's a part of the world my wife and I talk about moving to so it will be an exploratory trip.

I have a line on another Nye built A22 that I went to see in Owen Sound, Ontario. Except for a soft cockpit sole that has been taken care of for now with a synthetic wood grate, the boat is in very nice shape. I would say a 7 out of 10. The sails are not new and the motor is an older Evinrude, but the trailer is a recent single axle Cradleride with hydraulic brakes and a launching tongue. It's a nice boat. I would have bought it had this other one not come up.

Here's a link. http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-boats-watercraft-sailboats-ALBERG-22-W0QQAdIdZ358904584

This is perfect. Excuse me, I have to get ready to do some driving....
Porter

[Jim_ME]

Congratulations!  :) A seaworthy Alberg design in that size with a good trailer seems like an ideal trailer-sailer.

I have always enjoyed visiting Nova Scotia, where we have relatives. Hope to eventually do a trailer-sail up to Cape Breton Island and the Bras d`Or Lakes.

Have a good land-cruise up there to pick up the boat.

-Jim

[Captain Smollett]

Congrats!  This is exciting news.

We look forward to many stories and beautiful pictures from your cruises.

Have a grog to enjoy the blush of new-to-you boat ownership.

[Oldrig]

Congratulations, Porter!

You've made a great choice--and you'll enjoy visiting Nova Scotia to pick up your boat.

Best of luck with your Alberg!

--Joe

[tomwatt]

Oh my! Congratulations, you now have a boat you love... excellent news. Many happy sailing adventures to you and your wife!

[Chattcatdaddy]

Albergitis has got you now! ;D Congrats on your new baby!

[Porter Wayfare]

Thank you all. Looking for a truck is a lot less fun than looking for a boat. Unless, maybe, I was looking for a 1946 Chevrolet pickup, birdcage grille. I wonder what its towing capacity is?

[Porter Wayfare]

I would join the Alberg Owner's Thread if I owned an Alberg. I pretty well thought I would by now.

As you will remember there was an "Absolutely superb" (the surveyor's words) Alberg 22 for sale. I traded my trusty rusty Toyota Tacoma for a Chevy 1500 and headed out to Nova Scotia. The short story is that while the boat was quite nice, it was in less than absolutely superb condition. I would have said, "Nearly superb," or "You can see superb from where it is now."

The trailer was another thing entirely: it was an old home-made, poorly designed and as a result currently deformed affair that I doubt would carry the boat 20 miles let alone back to Michigan. There is certainly no way it would have made it through the construction zones and lane changes in Montreal.

Can you imagine dropping a boat off a trailer? I can. As much as I wanted to make it work, all the way home I was thanking my stars I didn't have that trailer behind me! The surveyor said, "I looked at the boat. I really didn't look at the trailer." But he knew I was coming from Michigan. Hello?

In a scramble to find a suitable trailer I got some help from a couple boat dealers. But it's too early in the season for anyone to have something in stock, they said. And if there were such a thing as a trailer without a boat on it already, they could sell ten of them a week.

It was an excruciating experience. The owner, a man of advanced years, shut down and fled. I was left to try to figure out what was really going on with a "broker" who was fleeing into another kind of refuge. Somewhere in all this it needs to be said that the full bloom of alcoholism denial can really make it hard to get things done.

I left Nova Scotia at 7:30PM Wednesday and made it home in one 27 hour shot. I wish I could tell you something about the joys of boat ownership. I think I'll give it another try soon.

Porter

[Chattcatdaddy]

WOW! That sucks on many levels. Sorry to hear that this turned out so bad when it looked like a sure deal. Just keep looking and you WILL find the right boat.

[Jim_ME]

Porter, sorry to hear that the boat in Nova Scotia did not work out.

I have heard some cases where a boat trailer cannot be trusted, where some will rent a reliable flatbed trailer locally and drive it to the boat (easy to tow it there unloaded) and have the boat and trailer lifted onto the flatbed, well tied down/with cribbing under the trailer frame and possibly extra adjustable supports for the for the boat, and towed home. Then you can repair the trailer at your leisure.

When I got the Typhoon 19 and knew that I wanted to trailer it, I bought a new Triad trailer separately and went to the factory to pick it up, then went to pickup the boat.

A good trailer manufacturer like Triad has the dimensions on file for common boats, so they could make one for you (if they do not have one in stock, I think it was about a month for my Typhoon Trailer, since it had to be sent out to be galvanized after being fabricated) so that you could pick it up in advance and go get the boat with it (as I did).  

An alternative, If [one] knows what size/type range boat one is looking for, might be to find good used trailer locally and then have it fully checked and serviced/repaired/upgraded locally and then to take that trailer as a fully-known item to go get a boat.

Of course, for these scenarios to work well, you have to know in advance that a trailer is not adequate (or, as with my Typhoon, that there is no trailer) , so that you can make other arrangements (especially if the trailer is part of the package you are purchasing, it certainly does seem like the surveyor had a responsibility to check it out, just like any other piece of equipment that came with the boat, or to explicitly exclude it from inspection in advance and ideally recommend someone who was qualified to inspect a trailer. It seems like from what you wrote that it should have been obvious to seller and surveyor that the trailer was in questionable condition and red-flagged it, and perhaps taken additional photos of it and emailed them to you, so that you could arrange to have it inspected in advance, or considered other trailer options. [Especially given, as you say, that the surveyor knew that you would be towing it such a long distance. When your intent in buying a boat this size to start with, and with a trailer, is to have a trailer-sailer package, then one would hope that the surveyor would fully appreciate the importance of the trailer to that package.]

Given the situation, if you like the boat, it does not seem unreasonable to me to get several quotes on having the boat transported to Michigan by a professional transporter and to make a new offer that deducts that cost, and whatever part of the sale price that reflected the *value*of the (useless to you) trailer [which they might sell locally as a local/yard trailer], and perhaps some fair portion the cost of your trip, to compensate you for the wasted time and headache factor. [Or if you wanted to find your own reliable trailer and make another trip to pick up the boat yourself, to make similar discounts to the previous price, and reimburse you for the previous trip.]

Anyway, good luck in your continuing search. Good to hear that you will be giving it another try. Grog to you. 
   

[okawbow]

Before I bought my Bristol 24, I built the trailer with some adjustment so I could buy a boat sold without a trailer. I have since hauled a Bristol 24, a Bristol 19, and a Privateer 26 on the same trailer. I have also modified a 2 axle trailer, originally  for a power boat, by taking off the bunks and replacing them with adjustable pads and a base for the keel. I also added a tongue extension to allow me to launch and retreive the boat.

Just a thought. You can generally by a boat without a trailer for much less than one with.

Chuck

[Jim_ME]

I wrote below of how you might seek an adjustment to the price to reflect the actual value of the trailer, and while (this morning) I still think that this is reasonable, I should have added that while owners have their own interests to seek, the surveyor was hired by you to look after your interests, and identify major problems for you in advance, so that you could make workable arrangements with that knowledge.

It seems like the surveyor did not appreciate how critical the trailer condition was to your plan to pick up the boat and trailer it home, and to use in the future on long distance trailer-sails, and to understand how much you had a stake when driving from such a long distance. To understand that you were not a local person who would be okay with a yard trailer to tow a few miles from your house to a local ramp, or were coming to look at the boat locally where the trip was of little consequence.

It seems to me that in this situation a surveyor has a duty to look at your plans and purposes in a more holistic way, and perhaps it is he that should consider refunding part (or all) of his fee to reimburse you for what was (or should have been) a preventable unsuccessful trip.

[w00dy]

I feel your pain, Porter. The girlfriend and I just spent two weeks of our time, traveling across the country and back to look at a whole slew of boats that were unsatisfactory in one way or another.

I'm starting to get impatient. Enough so that I may reverse my position and take on a project boat. God help me.

[Oldrig]

Porter,
Other posters have already commented on how depressing your ordeal must have been. You've got my best wishes for your search.
All you can do is keep looking.

Best,

--Joe