Well folks, took a good look at the
boat yesterday with the owner. Confirmed it as a 1978
Formosa Petersen 46. Pulled up all the floorboards, ran the
motor, verified
charging on the
alternator and turned all the winches and sailing
gear.
Owner is a Mexican national and the boat is currently registered in AZ and legally imported in
Mexico.
Backstory: she and her husband were GIVEN the boat by some American friends who got too ill to sail it. She's a
scuba instructor and their dream was to build a little business here taking tourists out to dive at Bird Island. Fast forward a couple years, the husband left her and her two
kids (7 and 9!) and took off for Cabo leaving her with a boat, a shattered dream and a big
dock payment....
So the down and dirty:
PRO:
1.
Interior woodwork is in beautiful shape. Looks brand new and has been lovingly maintained by the previous owners. Hand carved art on the doors, deep mahogany throughout, nice overall layout of the
interior.
2.
Current owner has done her best to keep up the boat including 4 new house
batteries, new
battery switch, and some general
maintenance on the
motor. Motor turned over without an issue and ran smoothly both at idles and powered up. Motor appears to be the original 85HP Ford
Diesel.
3.
Garmin Chartplotter (2010 model),
wind speed/direction,
knot meter, and
depth sounder all function.
4.
Sails appear to be in mediocre shape but are not ripped--definitely UV damaged though but are serviceable. Bow
roller furler appears serviceable.
5. All
deck winches and
hardware turn easily.
Mast winches function. Standing
rigging was replaced 3 years ago. No signs of chafe, wear, or fraying on any of the wires.
6. Boat has a generator--but it's not connected.
The Bad:
7. Deck needs a total gut. All the
teak decking is rotted away. Verified that it is
wood over
fiberglass with screws. there are soft spots everywhere where water's gotten in. Particularly around the deck openings and hatches. Owner agrees. Plan would be to pull all the
teak decking, re-glass the entire deck with
epoxy, then awlgrip (or something similiar)
8. Needs all new running
rigging. Not surprised there.
9. Lots of cosmetic damage on the
hull. It's sad really. Properly sized fenders would have prevented 90 percent of the dings. There is some
gelcoat damage on the bow that aprears to have come from hitting the
dock.
The Ugly:
10. There's six inches of
water in the
bilge. Owner says it's because the stuffing box has a bad leak. I'm not sure she knows what she's talking about. She had some work done during the last
haul out 18 months ago and she says they "used the wrong screws" and the boat has developed the leak in the last 6 months. This sounds dubious at best to me. Either way she'll have to be hauled to
repair the leak--where ever it's coming from.
Interested in your thoughts. Owner thinks it's work 20K. There's no way I'm paying that. It's a risky boat given the leak and the condition of the topsides. That having been said, everything seems repairable and the
hull is sound. (I tapped out most of the hull).
Pics to follow.
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