Trials and tribulations of buying a second hand boat.
The rewards of owning your own boat are many and varied. No one to tell you what to do; go as you like, when you like. She is yours, and you join the ranks of the lucky few who are in the same boat as you…
However, the rewards of searching for the right boat are few and far between. Be prepared for compromise (unless you have won the euro-lotto), many miles and hours of wasted travel and disappointment after disappointment until you find the right one.
The first thing to do is to decide on what type of boat you are after and how much you have to spend (and be realistic!). Yachts can be broadly categorised into three types; racers, racer/cruisers and cruisers. Each boat type will be a compromise on something, for example the Ruffian has a big cockpit for a 23 footer and a good view forward, but low head room inside the cabin, no fixed table and a semi enclosed heads (or toilet compartment for land lubbers!). But she sails well, can take a blow and is in economical to buy and run. It’s all about compromises.
The key is to be realistic, how much time, money and expertise can you devote to a maintaining a boat? If not too much, then a day sailor like a Squib or Drascomb Lugger would be more suitable. Stripped out racers may look well and go like a cork from a champagne bottle, but try sleeping onboard one for a week with your significant other and see just how suitable they are then. But if racing is all you’re interested in then a boat with furling jib and standing headroom below may not be of much use either.
Research is the key to helping make the right decision. Magazines, websites (http://www.powerboat.ie/forums/ and http://www.ybw.com/forums) and popular boats in home waters are a good place to start. Then when you have a budget and type of boat in mind the work can begin in earnest. Boats are either sold by brokers or privately. There are good and bad points to both so I’ll leave that up to the individual to decide on which is best. One of the best places to search is a website with an unlikely sounding title; Apollo Duck. Here all the major brokers advertise their entire stock along with most of the privately owned boats in the country currently for sale. You can also place a wanted ad if you can’t find exactly what you’re after. Howth YC, DMYC and Arklow YC also have good ‘for sale’ sections on their websites.
Other than searching online, try visiting marinas and yacht clubs, here adverts will sometimes be placed on notice boards listing boats for sale.
Once you’ve found a boat that ticks enough boxes, ring the owner/broker and arrange a visit. Bring a torch (to look into dark corners) and a camera along as well as clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Many boats will be out of the water and may have accumulated weeks or months of dirt and grime from storage ashore.
Take copious amounts of pictures, especially if anything looks suspect, for going over in detail from the comfort of home. Digital cameras are ideal and worth their weight in gold for this.
If this is the boat you really like and can afford, then arrange to get her surveyed by an independent professional marine surveyor. This will allow you to ascertain if the boat is sound and seaworthy. This may also be a requisite for some insurance companies before you can get the boat fully insured. A coupe of hundred euros now could save you several thousand at a later stage.
The money end of buying a boat will vary from purchase to purchase, but the general format is to offer 10% of the asking price before survey to show that you are seriously interested in buying the boat and the owner should take it off the market as it is now “under offer”. Then after the survey is completed, the cost of recommendations by the surveyor can be factored into the final price and the haggling can commence. Make sure that you also get a full inventory list of equipment being sold with the boat before handing over your final lump some.
Tax issues may or may not need to be sorted out, the revenue commissioners are the people to speak to on this matter. But always get as many receipts as possible for the boat (and any equipment to prove age and ownership) to ensure that the previous owners obtained the boat by honest means!
Once you have handed over your hard earned money and most importantly, have found a place to keep the boat, the delivery trip is the first stressful event you will have to undertake as the new owner of the boat. This very much depends on where the boat is and where you intend to keep her. If the boat is on the west coast, then putting it on the back of a truck and shipping to Dublin is the easiest way of transporting the it long distances. If it’s nearby, then she can be moved under her own power onto the new berth. If possible, get the previous owner to come along on the delivery trip. They will know any intricacies and knacks associated with their old boat and may save you a very stressful first trip on your new boat.
Then you are truly among the ranks of the lucky few who can spend endless summer days sailing and pottering along the coast or tucked into the corner of a harbour waiting for the tide to change on a warm summers evening.
Enjoy!