Ran aground during sea trial..

[Tayana42]

You have a knowledgable experienced surveyor (known to LizzyBelle) and the boat is well regarded as strongly made. Soft groundings are not usually a problem with a well made encapsulated keel. However, you will feel better about your new boat if you are sure so why not haul it again. The yard that hauled it for the survey may give you a break for a quick haul and the surveyor shouldn't charge you more to look at it again. If you want to be nice you could offer to split the cost with the seller though you certainly don't need to do so. He was at the helm. If he wants to complete the sale it may just cost him the haul out.


S/V B'Shert

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by crankysailor

Hmm .. Well max speed on that boat was 5.5kts as we tested the motor balls to the wall.. At the time we were just cruising .. 3kts I would guesstimate?


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At 3kts most likely no real damage to worry about but if you have the chance/ability to get a complete visual inspection why not do it.

[crankysailor]

Originally Posted by Tayana42

You have a knowledgable experienced surveyor (known to LizzyBelle) and the boat is well regarded as strongly made. Soft groundings are not usually a problem with a well made encapsulated keel. However, you will feel better about your new boat if you are sure so why not haul it again. The yard that hauled it for the survey may give you a break for a quick haul and the surveyor shouldn't charge you more to look at it again. If you want to be nice you could offer to split the cost with the seller though you certainly don't need to do so. He was at the helm. If he wants to complete the sale it may just cost him the haul out.

S/V B'Shert

True.. But the whole thing is really just a pain in the ass .. Another flight to the Netherlands and I am away on a trip for a few weeks, etc. I also want to be fair and if there is no real problem I don't think is fair to make demands on everyone just to address my fears ..


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[sailorboy1]

It isn't your boat yet and it isn't your problem to have it checked.

If it were me I would tell the owner they needed to have the boat hauled out and inspected.

You aren't talking a "bump" or a soft grounding, this sounds like a pretty good hull hit.

[Brighteyes]

Maybe this will help you decide 7 checks after grounding a yacht

[Lizzy Belle]

Originally Posted by crankysailor

Yes :-) .. Olav is a great guy and as I said he shrugged it off pretty much like you just did.. It happens.. I wouldn't worry too much about it kind of thing. Still like he also said , the only way to know for sure if that is worrying me is to haul it off to see it again or go diving ..

Trust Olav - I usually don't say that about surveyors, lol, but you really can trust his judgement. If he had ANY reason for concern, he'd tell you.

And he's right: if you worry and don't trust the boat to handle it (why?), you'll have to check it yourself, even if just for peace of mind. Will probably cost you the costs of the haul, but if that's what it takes for you to feel confident again, it might be worth it.

But as I posted; it's almost all just sand (where did it happen?), and everyone runs aground at some point (I've done some unplanned parking on those stupid sandbanks a couple of times ... Meh! Only damage is to my ego tho ...).

Unless a boat has serious issues, it's not something to worry about (keels would be falling off daily if it was ). And you just had her checked right before -- so you know exactly what shape she's in (and this isn't even a bolted on keel, so seriously ... no worries).

If there are other concerns about the boat that either you have or Olav found, then consider those before buying. If Olav gives the boat the OK, and you like the boat ... don't worry about an unplanned parking

[vjm]

If you are not near the boat, just send your surveyor to look and take video and pictures for you. No need to fly back.

[accomplice]

In our sea trial the hired captain ran the boat aground twice!

We resolved it by having 10% of the purchase price held in escrow by the buyer-broker and available to pay for professional repair of any of the survey issues or the grounding within the next N months. (we were having the boat hauled anyways)

[RDW]

quick thought
Consider the risk and expense.
If the seller does not want to bear the expense of a haul then there should be some protection of the buyer for damage found at the next normal haul, escrow check or what ever.
It is easy for those not at risk to say "no problem"
rdw

[Tayana42]

Originally Posted by crankysailor

True.. But the whole thing is really just a pain in the ass .. Another flight to the Netherlands and I am away on a trip for a few weeks, etc. I also want to be fair and if there is no real problem I don't think is fair to make demands on everyone just to address my fears ..


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At 3.5 kts you probably did nothing to the boat. Your surveyor said it was not likely a problem. You have to decide if you are comfortable accepting his judgement or if you need a haul out to be sure.

This is your first boat and you want it to be "right." But, owning a boat will be expensive and things will come up that will cost significant amounts of money and time. That is what happens when you own a boat. This extra haul out and the hassle of negotiating with the seller are small issues for peace of mind in the long run. If you can't get back to the boat soon. Have the surveyor there for the haul and check it and photograph it for you.


S/V B'Shert

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by crankysailor

. . . I also want to be fair and if there is no real problem I don't think is fair to make demands on everyone just to address my fears ..

Good for you

You're putting something into your sailor's karma bank with this seamanlike thought

It's entirely fair to want to check this. If I were the seller and it happened to me like that, I would be completely understanding of this desire.

You don't need to be there if you trust the surveyor. Just have the boat yanked out of the water and held in slings for an hour. That would cost the seller 100 pounds if it were being done here.

You could also hold back part of the price as suggested by someone else.

[Lizzy Belle]

It's the sudden stop that makes it seem (feel) so bad ... But at 3 kts or so parking a boat on a sandbank really should not be an issue, unless the boat had some real serious issues before. And again -- Olav had just checked her on the hard, so we know that's not the case and you weren't about to sink anyway

I've done it once going full speed ... which is about 6 kts on my boat. Nearly lost my teeth smashing into the cabin, and my ego may never recover. The boat (and my smart-ass kid) just went 'meh - learn to read the damn map already' .

Welcome to your first "oops" out on a boat Now relax, talk to Olav about a fair price for the boat and buy yourself a sweet Contessa!

[CHM]

Haul it for peace of mind. Split it with the seller. That's what I would do. Also need to check the rudder.


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[robert sailor]

If this was a new boat running aground is a big deal but a Contessa 32 is built to a much higher standard and as others have said,its unlikely to have been structurally been damaged but I would agree with Dock head, ask the seller to lift it on his dime and have it carefully inspected by a qualified individual. Good luck with your new boat. I owned a Contessa 32 years ago and they are a sweet sailing boat that you can take anywhere. They were the bench mark boat for the infamous Fast net disaster and they have been sailed around Cape Horn against the wind. They are small for a 32 but they have a righting moment of around 156 degrees if my memory serves me.

[Lizzy Belle]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

ask the seller to lift it on his dime

If I were the seller of that boat, I personally wouldn't ... Never hurts to ask, but since it's not necessary and that particular boat shouldn't be hard to sell, I might just opt to not ground her on the next sea trail