I am the new owner of an '88
Hunter Legend 35.
My admittedly untrained eye thinks it is in pretty fair shape.
The good-
Good running
diesel.
Sails not new, but perfectly good for cruising.
Hull seems to be in great shape. A scuff here and there, new
bottom paint.
Running rigging a few years old, but looks good. Standing rigging is at least 22 years old, but looks fantastic. Other older boats I have looked at generally have some indication of
corrosion. I see none on this boat. This tells me the owner has done a good job keeping it clean. I realize that "looks good" is not a sufficient test if I had
blue water aspirations, but I think it's fine for close coastal cruising.
Interior looks good. A bit of weathering around
companionway, but nothing a little sanding/oil won't fix.
Cushions reupholstered a few years ago.
Deck seems very solid. One small area a little soft. Will likely try the injected
epoxy fix or may just live with it for now.
Functional
furuno radar, 2 VHFs and an older
GPS.
The bad-
Rudder bearings a little sloppy. Plan to do them this
winter while it is
on the hard.
Is there a way to assess the rudder internally short of cutting it open and having a look? I am an xray
repair tech. I am half tempted to run it through an xray. I would think that
corrosion would show up as it changes the density of the metal.
The ugly-
Hunter, to save a couple of dollars used regular
steel chainplate anchors. These hide behind the liner. Mine look to be pretty well corroded.
Upon finding this issue (after handing over the check!!!!) I became a bit worried, but after researching the issue and the fix (cutting a hole in the liner and replacing them) I am confident I can make it better than new, for short
money and not too much of my time.
So, what did I pay for it?
I first looked at it back in May. Seller was asking 12K. I offered 10 and he accepted. I thought this
price was more than fair.
He wouldn't take the deposit I offered.
He should have.
After going home and researching the cost of keeping it and coming across an opportunity to have unlimited use of a friend's
Pearson 27 in exchange for helping him sort out a few issues, I decided to withdraw my offer to buy.
I assumed it would sell this past summer. It almost did a few times, but a few weeks ago as I am scrolling through the craigslist ads, there it is. 8K obo.
Hummmm. I really didn't need to see that!!!!!
So I messaged him.
Hi Barry, this is Pete, the guy who backed out of the
sale this spring. I see it's back up. I am still interested.
To be honest, I wasn't THAT interested and would have passed at 8K.
A couple days later he texts me that he has an offer for 4500. Beat it and it's mine!
Damn. I really dont need to this boat now....but this guy is doing a pretty good Don Corleone imitation. He's making me an offer I can't refuse.
I probably could have been an a-hole and offered him 4550, but this guy has been completely honest with me all along and I still felt a little guilty for reneging on my original offer to buy. So I offered him 4800.
I am also on the hook for this winter's
storage and launch next May ($1925).
So, did I screw up?
I realize that
buying a boat without a
survey is a crapshoot. My personal opinion on surveys is you'd be a fool to pass on one if you are
buying a boat for 50K or even 25K.
But for under 7K?
This is
money I can afford to lose and I would rather put that thousand bucks, give'r'take towards the boat.
In the end it came down to my feel for the owner. He seems like a very honest person who had a perfectly plausible reason for selling. He says his knees are shot so he bought a powerboat last year and the admiral laid down the one boat
rule.
If there is anyone in the Newburyport, MA area familiar with these boats, I would love to have you take a look so you can congratulate/ridicule me for my decision to buy this thing. I will provide the beverage of your choice for an hour or two of your time.
Would also like to hear from anyone who's done the rudder bearing job an a Legend 35/37....
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