"... owned by a knowledgeable sailor"

[sailorboy1]

What the heck is the point of putting this statement in a boat ad (besides a reason why you overpriced the boat)? Are you suppose to just say "hey stop looking at the boat details, the owner is knowledgeable"? Is this better or worst than saying "boat professionally maintained"? Or is professionally maintained code for owner doesn't know sh.. so has to pay for the maintenance? Maybe "knowledgeable owner" means they know the boat is now worn out and since they didn't do the maintenance they are selling it.

I guess a similar one would be "owner is in the marine industry", does than mean they are a clerk at West Marine. I this was really worth anything wouldn't the broker say what they do in the "marine industry"?

Sometimes you have to wonder why the listing broker feels things are important. Like spending half the write up about the layout that you knew all about about from just the first photo.

[David M]

Don't all sailors have some degree of knowledge? Its one of those phrases that sounds good on the surface but upon closer examination really does not mean anything.

[jkd]

It means the engine locked up years ago and the owner has been sailing on/ off his mooring/ dock ever since.

[Maine Sail]

I prefer more descriptive terms that actually say something like;

Bone dry decks
Deck hardware re-bedded on 2007
No mold or interior boat odor.
Eat out of the bilge
oil changed every 30 hours
Tranny fluid changed every season
Antifreeze changed every two seasons
Sails washed, folded and stored in climate control environment during off months.
Awlgrip finish new in 2005, shows no scratches and is in like new condition
Prop shaft trued, prop balanced and motor aligned 2007
All new running rigging 2007
PSS Shaft Seal 2007
Re-wired with marine grade tinned wire and heat shrink crimps to ABYC E-11 standards 2006

etc. etc.

That is how you sell a boat!!!

Knowledgeable owner? Yeah one who was a freaking SLOB and drained his oil into the bilge and who had knowledge that his decks had been leaking for ten+ years!!

Look for REAL language when buying a boat and a detailed list of upgrades and maintenance. most brokers stink so badly that they never even ask an owner for a list like this.

When I list a boat my broker gets massive word document of maintenance standards and upgrades with a list of items I want on YachtWorld. If they don't get up on YachtWorld I bug him until it is all there..

My boats always sell quickly and for top price but it's me making sure potential buyers understand the boat not the broker doing the selling....

I also make sure they have photos like these:

Yes this is a 30 year old bilge and the ORIGINAL gelcoat not paint that will peel:

Core sample:

Interior Cabinetry No Mold

[sailorboy1]

Marine Sail is right this would be agreat posting in an ad! Of course I don't think I have even read a posting like this. I told a broker the other day that if I was going to travel to look at a boat I expected full disclosure up front. He responded that no such thing existed in the "industry" and that he was the local chair of the brokers association and had been fighting to get this for years, but then his listings were just like all others. Guess we can always hope.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Marine Sail is right this would be agreat posting in an ad! Of course I don't think I have even read a posting like this.

My boats are ALWAYS listed like that and I have to hold my brokers hand every step of the way to get what I want on YachtWorld.

He started bitching once about the number of photos to upload and I quickly reminded him that he would be making 10k+/- on my boat and would likely show it once or twice.. He showed it once and it sold. In total he did less than three hours work, including the closing, for 10k!

These guys, generally speaking and I don't normally like to do that, are the biggest bunch of lazy slackers going. There are a few high end brokers who ARE worth their weight but they are far and few between but then again so are GOOD used boats so we can't blame it all on brokers. Owners suck too..

[twisty]

All it would take to get ads to relay the proper information are required fields in the ads information form, unfortunately most broker are not website developer and get ripped off when having there website built, you will always get the 'experienced sailor blah blah blah' but the lack of information that the ad provides can be cured by requiring(if they leave a field blank it throws an error) a plethora of other information when the initial ad is made by the seller/broker.

I have seen the yatchworld site and as a web developer working on a similar project I was far from impressed. There just isnt enough required info for a good ad and being that brokers/ppl are lazy and/or don't understand the phone is no longer the prefered sales method you have to make sure they have no choice but to enter it.

I have been working on the add boat for sale form for 3 days, there are over 60 fields, of which 20 are required, it will be over 2000 lines of programming when I am done, normal cost for a site this complex is well over $10,000, and some caes upwards of $50,000, most brokers are not willing to spend that much, nor do they understand that the internet is their best selling tool these days. Until they do you will continue to see ads that consist of not much more that 'owned by experienced sailor'. When I get done ith this website I will post a pic(with admins approval) of the ad form, it is HUGE!

[Chief Engineer]

knowledgeable sailor can mean a multitude of things....
anal-retentive
more gizmos than you can shake a stick at
a boat that has never been anywhere
the owner has done his own work and you'll have to figure it out

or

a well maintained vessel