Sea Trial

[blance]

Hi everyone, I need to know if it's worth the cost of a sea trial when the boat is on land. The mechanic said the motor and trans worked fine when he winterized it two weeks ago. The manager said if there was a problem it would have been tagged as work needed. The survey was done and there were no major problems. Thanks need help

[Kefaa]

Would you buy a car without a test drive? The cost should be a haul in/out. Yes, it probably costs near what the survey does, but as part of the survey, it is critical to the understanding of the condition.

I am somewhat disappointed in your surveyor. They should have requested the sea trial as that is the way to see the boat under load where the stresses on the rigging, mast, rudder, etc. are in "non-ideal" conditions. A few thousand pounds of stress do a world of things to mechanical components.

As a basic list, once underway they would look at the following under load:
- rigging standing/running - stress on deck and pulleys.
- engine - prop rotation, speed, loads..
- Sail condition - when they are up, did they go up cleanly, easily or do you need to be Conan? (the barbarian - not the comic)
- Windless, and winches under load
- tracks, cleats, stops.
- mast and boom shapes
- tiller/rudder/wheel
- seacocks

This is definitely a case of buyer beware so do everything to protect your investment.

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by blance

Hi everyone, I need to know if it's worth the cost of a sea trial when the boat is on land. The mechanic said the motor and trans worked fine when he winterized it two weeks ago. The manager said if there was a problem it would have been tagged as work needed. The survey was done and there were no major problems. Thanks need help

Definitely do the sea trial. During our purchase sea trial we found problems that ended up reducing our purchase price by $5K. I would also do oil analysis on the diesel, but if he changed the oil before winterizing than don't bother with it.

[hellosailor]

You can also work out some terms with your offer, i.e. IF the sea trial turns up any significant problems (anything beyond cosmetics) THEN the seller agrees to adjust the purchase price to cover those problems OR to pay the launch costs for the sea trial, if he'd prefer to cancel the sale.

If he's sure there are no problems, he should have no problem giving you some guarantee that they won't become your problems.

[Chief Engineer]

No splash No cash

There is no way I would buy a boat without a seatrial.

[ad_astra]

Sea Trial for sure. You will discover that there are many different meanings of "the engine runs fine."

[blance]

Hi everyone, I would like Thank You for your help, we are planning a sea trial