Boat shopping adventure to Florida

[w00dy]

I'm writing this at 3am in the lobby of the ever hospitable Houston Greyhound station.

Yesterday, Rachel and I purchased "Discovery Passes", which enable unlimited bus travel for a set time period. With a small backpack of clothes, a pair of folding bikes, and a list of 4 good boats to look at, we're on our way to the sunshine state to do some boat shopping!

The boats we're interested in are in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale, and one is currently being sailed back to Nova Scotia from the Bahamas. Our plan is to spend two weeks looking at them all and any others we come across. With any luck, we'll find a good one and be sailing again soon. If not, it's back to the drawing board to keep saving pennies and scouring the internet for "the one".

If anyone's in the immediate area and would care to get together for a real grog, or wants to go look at some good old boats, get in touch!

[Chattcatdaddy]

Good luck Jim!

Sounds like an adventure either way. Sometimes time the boat finds you. Every walk down a dock could end in "the one".

[gpdno]

Not sure what you are looking for but there are always a number of boats for sale at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron. 

[JWalker]

Morgan and I have been talking about that greyhound pass...

what kind of folding bikes are you using?

Sounds like a blast!

[Mario G]

Not Sure what you are looking for but we are in New Smyrna beach at the moment heading north, theres a bigger Tarton (40)? here forsale but I will keep my eyes open for others, we should be in St. Aug. in a few days, just waiting for favorable winds.

[Cruise]

Wow,
I've done the Greyhound Pass before and found it....trying. I think it was the crowdidness and noisemore than anything else.
Good luck with your search.

[w00dy]

Well guys, we went, we saw, and we returned, disappointed.

We ended up looking at quite a few boats, including:
3 Westsail 32's
1 Cape Dory 30
1 Kendall 32 (pre-westsail)
and a Colvin Gazelle 42!

All of them had issues that had us running away, unfortunately. Still, we took lots of pictures and Rachel has a write up on our blog. Check it out here, if you're interested:
http://peanutbutterdiet.blogspot.com

Back to the drawing board, I guess. If anybody knows of a good boat for sale, feel free to drop a line.

[Jim_ME]

Well guys, we went, we saw, and we returned, disappointed. [...]
Back to the drawing board, I guess. If anybody knows of a good boat for sale, feel free to drop a line.

James & Rachel,
One boat, a Westerly Renown 31 that I saw in your area might be worth looking at...
http://www.sailingtexas.com/swesterly27101.html
Very roomy (small aft cabin for guests) with much storage and strongly built. I don`t know if this boat is still available, but since the ad expired without noting a sale, it may be--so maybe you could track it down.

There is also this other Renown 31 in Florida, also with ad noted as expired...
http://www.sailingtexas.com/swesterly32100.html

Here is the specifications and an article on the four variants of the Westerly 31...
http://www.westerly-owners.co.uk/boat_renown_31.php

And another archives with more information and photos...
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/westerly-renown/westerly-renown.htm

There is also a twin keel version of the same hull, a Berwick 31, with aft cockpit, on the market in my area that looks pretty good for what seems like a fairly reasonable price...
http://maine.craigslist.org/boa/2869213389.html

It has a similar interior layout to the (single keel) Longbow 31
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/westerly-renown/westerly-renown.htm

Best wishes in your search,
-Jim

[w00dy]

As it turns out, one of the boats that we looked at in Florida has come back in front of us again. We were initially very impressed and liked the boat immensely. Closer inspection revealed some ugly issues involving rotten deck core and some delaminating cabin beams, among other things. As much as we liked the boat itself, we decided to strike it from the list at the time as it would require major surgery.

Later, back in Texas, I got to thinking about her again and we decided to give her a second chance. I've been a project boat slave before and I vowed never again. To me, it seems that high priced turn key boat is a better deal than a cheap project that will probably require the same amount of money in the long run, plus my time and energy to restore. However, after scouring the boat market for more than a year, I can also see the value in finding a boat that really fits you, or your intended purpose, as well as your budget (always a limiting factor). Therefore, with enough of a discount, even a project boat might prove worthwhile if the end result suits us. Perhaps I have begun to despair that we will ever find the "right one" and my standards have become subsequently lower. All the same, I remember the feeling when we stepped aboard this one; everything about it just felt "right".

So, with that in mind, I began some hard bargaining, and made an offer of 60% asking price. At first, the broker seemed offended and aloof and after some argument, we didn't hear back from him for a time.

After two weeks with no word, today, out of the blue, we received a terse email telling us that the seller had agreed to our low-ball offer! Part of me is elated. Another part wonders if the boat is in even worse shape than we imagine.... :o
Of course it is.  ::) They always are.

Still, we are going for it. More to follow as soon as we sign the dotted line.

[tomwatt]

Awesome! Congratulations (I think/hope). Hopefully it will fulfill all your hopes, and live up to your dreams! Soon as the line is signed, put some pics up for us to ogle!
;D

[Porter Wayfare]

Can I ever sympathize! Whip-saw rollercoaster damned-if-you-do damned-if-you-don't. Here's to your clear sailing!

[w00dy]

Well, we got the contract signed and are gearing up to go see our new boat.

She's a Wet Snail 32 that was owner finished from a bare hull.
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1986/Westsail-Full-Keel-Kendall-2403324/Ft-Lauderdale/FL/United-States

We leave next week to Fort Lauderdale to inspect her and prepare to bring her back to Texas.

I'm excited to be moving forward, but shudder to think about what I'm getting myself into. I should have tried to find a girlfriend that restores boats for a living. The teak will need to come off and who knows how much rotten deck core will need to be replaced. Other fun items include repairing some deck beams that have delaminated and rebuilding the cockpit coaming. The engine also needs an alignment and with any luck, nothing else.

The upshot is that she could be a gorgeous (if tubby) vessel and she's equipped with some nice gear (Aries vane, Pudgy dinghy).

Hope you guys aren't going to run me out of SailFar town if I buy a boat that weighs 20,000# :P



Will be posting lots more pics when we arrive back in FL.

[Chattcatdaddy]

Congrats!

I always liked the Westsails as a take you anywhere kinda boat...a true voyager.

I guess you can stay on sailfar (grade on a curve) at 32 ft.

[Frank]

Congrats! That is one serious voyager you have there. I've been aboard 2 of them. Huge below and heavily built. grog to ya!

[Oldrig]

 ;D Keg o' grog to ye'!

She's a real beauty, with a wind vane and everything. I know they're not the fastest around, but I've always liked the look of the Westsails.

--Joe

[tomwatt]

Nice. I window-shopped that boat's ad when it came out.
You've got a nice one there... congratulations!

[gpdno]

Nice!  There is one a few slips down from me.  Very attractive looking boats!  Good luck and fair winds.

[w00dy]

We arrived back in FTL on Wednesday and have been staying with some friends nearby. We have spent the last few days poring over everything and getting used to what will probably be our new boat.

Although she has some serious issues, deck rot being the big one, we haven't found any other major deal breakers and the condition of the boat has met our general expectations.

One major bummer is that she is missing a genoa that was in the listing. The genoa is an important sail that we would use much of the time. She does come equipped with a yankee and a spinnaker, for the higher and lower ends of the wind speed spectrum, but the genoa will be missed and I will be looking for another one.

The only other issue I am concerned about are some strange holes near the top of the mast. My guess is that they are from a lightning strike, seeing as the boat is currently lying in the lightning capital of the world. I'm sure that two holes in the mast can't be good for it's structural integrity, but their placement and size seem to be such that we can get away with leaving them unrepaired until we get back to Texas.

Here are a few photos of the holes:





The holes are almost exactly opposite each other, about midway up the welds. I'm not sure if they were caused by lightning, but don't know what else they might be.

Anyway, we're waiting on the broker to find a captain so that we can sea trial the boat. If all goes well, we will begin making preparations for the return trip to Texas.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get moving before hurricane season does.

[Jim_ME]

Since both instances [of the holes at the top pf the mast] are at the welded joint between the mast and the brackets, it makes me wonder if it could be galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals (now painted so not easy to tell), over a long period of time. (The aluminum mast may be serving as a sacrificial anode.) Wonder whether there may be more corrosion behind the welds and these spots were the first to corrode through?

It seems interesting that the spots are about the same distance down from the top of the mast. Perhaps it was damaged while the mast was removed from the boat and in storage horizontally. If someone was cutting a piece of plate above it and a couple pieces of molten metal dripped onto the mast at these spots? But this wouldn't explain why both spots are right at the weld joint.

[w00dy]

Interesting ideas, Jim. When I get the mast down, I will have to take some paint off to test your hypothesis. Hopefully, it won't come down on it's own before we're ready. :-\

So, we sealed the deal last Wednesday and motored out of Ft. Lauderdale the following morning. We continued to motor for the next few days into southerly headwinds and finally turned north-westward after crossing through the keys and into Florida bay. From there, we sailed up past Cape Sable and Cape Romano and into the anchorage at Ft. Myers Beach. We stepped ashore for the first time in a week just this morning.

We're planning on staying here a few days to rest, re provision, and fix some things before continuing on up the coast. There's a small mooring field and anchorage here, with easy access to a dinghy dock and amenities ashore.

At the top of the list to fix is a broken engine mount bracket that cracked clean through. Not sure if poor engine alignment caused this or if this was causing poor alignment! Dropped it off at a welding shop today and $100 will have it delivered back to us tomorrow. I'll upload a picture later so you can bask in a sight I hope you never have to see. While we're waiting, I'll take the time to do some basic engine maintenance and to try and rebuild our wind vane gear.

Although all her parts are freely moving, there seems to be just enough friction in the linkage and other parts to keep her from responding like she should. I have some spares and some time on my hands, so I hope that disassembly, cleaning, and some new bearings will have her working smoothly. I have my hopes resting on this, as my arms are quite tired after steering our beast of a boat after 6 days. It doesn't help that the D.P.O (Dang Previous Owner) may have cut a foot off the length of the tiller :(. Our prop is pretty tourquey and it makes the tiller want to pull my arms out of the sockets. She seems to balance pretty well sailing, though I think a smaller main and larger headsail would help with the weather helm too.

All in all, with the exception of the broken engine foot, things have been going OK. We still have a long way to go back to Texas, but we've made the trip before and are finally starting to relax into it. I'll post pictures and further reports as we go along.