Quote:
Originally Posted by yacht_moondust
Hi again all. Thanks Roger.W for your help (and everyone else). She is currently lying in Whangaparoa in Gulf Harbour Marina north of Auckland. We still dont have a fly over date but sooner rather than later would be nice. We own a campervan here in Australia so we have to sell that first and then we can set off. We haven't actually sailed for over three years now (I can hear the gasps of horror from you all now!) so we are going to take a year to cruise NZ slowly and learn all the things we have forgotten. Like navigation! Like steering something this big! In wind, into a berth! Oh crumbs I need reminding why we did this again. Anyway as soon as the campervan is gone my husband will finish work and we will be over. Hope to see plenty of yachties over there.
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Welcome to the KP44 world and congratulations!!
As others have said, a well maintained KP44 is a joy to own and sail. Great
liveaboard. Design flaw with the rudder/skeg? Hogwash. I have heard of one instance where a rudder fell off, but that is not the most uncommon mishap among boats as old as this. One of the first things you will want to attend to is to check the rudder out thoroughly and have any necessary
repairs done. If the rudder has not been attended to by the previous owners, it is possibly waterlogged and substantially weakened. It was well designed and built, but it must not be ignored, maintenance-wise.
I may have missed it, but did you have the boat surveyed? If not, I would strongly recommend that you address that issue. And if your
purchase has not yet been finalized, make the transaction subject to
survey. It is, after all a 30 year old boat, that probably has some fairly complex systems aboard. Then find the best
surveyor in the area and hire him/her to thoroughly inspect the boat and do a sea trial. Preferably with you present and aboard.
I think you will find much help at the owners' website, previously referenced. It's a great resource.