Bottom paint during survey

[tikirawker]

Hello, we are in the process of purchasing our first boat. The broker was upfront that the boat needing a bottom paint job. It costs roughly ten bucks a foot to pull the boat. So $400. My question is why pull the boat twice? If the survey looks promising why not keep the boat out and paint the bottom. Is this done frequently? What would be the downside? (Besides losing money if it fails the sea test)

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[FSMike]

That's why you always do the sea trial before hauling, albeit frequently on the way to the yard to haul. Many times the surveyor will inspect from the waterline down while the boat sits in the slings, thereby making it unnecessary to block the boat and leave it on the hill with the attendant charges.

One purchase I decided to put the boat back in the water before I bought it due to time constraints. I bought the boat but took it home to Florida before hauling and painting it.
Another time I had a pretty good idea of the surveyor's findings, and knew I was going to buy it, so I had them block the boat up and leave it so I could get some work done on it.

Ya' pays yer money and ya' makes yer choice.

[wrwakefield]

As FSMike said,

Sign-off on the sea trials before paying for the haul-out portion of the survey and haul-out itself... This decreases your expenses if you aren't going to accept how the boat handles or something is discovered during the floating phase of the survey...

I've done it this way all 5 times. Be sure to reach a back-out agreement with the surveyor ahead of time so you can reimburse them for their time and travel, but not a written report that you don't want...

You may prefer a different approach from mine, but it has worked for me for my last 5 boats over the years... Just be up-front with everyone, and get agreements in writing before beginning the process...

Edit: I forgot to answer your question about leaving the boat hauled out... If you follow the logical order, above, you could do so with the least amount of risk. [And remember that the vessel becomes your liability the minute you take ownership, so be sure and check out how it is staged in the yard...]

In case this is helpful.

Cheers!

Bill

[Lizzy Belle]

^ What these 2 gentleman said

Sea trail comes first, the survey last. You can then leave the boat on the hard (get a quote on the costs first) if you want to work on her, or sail her home first. Bottom paint isn't a life or death kinda thing, so don't take financial risks just to get it done quickly.

[Tayana42]

At some yards if you pay for the survey haul out and then bring the boat back to them in a stated time period for work they will credit the cost of the haul out. Check with the yard you have in mind for the survey.


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[jrbogie]

Originally Posted by tikirawker

Hello, we are in the process of purchasing our first boat. The broker was upfront that the boat needing a bottom paint job. It costs roughly ten bucks a foot to pull the boat. So $400. My question is why pull the boat twice? If the survey looks promising why not keep the boat out and paint the bottom. Is this done frequently? What would be the downside? (Besides losing money if it fails the sea test)

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

hauling the boat twice is common. you had it hauled for the survey but it'll likely be awhile before closing and the yard will want to be paid during that time. and of course the boat isn't yours yet so it's the sellers call and the broker working for the seller would advise him to put her back in the water.

also can't imagine not doing sea trials with the surveyor aboard BEFORE hauling the boat.

[jrbogie]

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

^ What these 2 gentleman said

Sea trail comes first, the survey last. You can then leave the boat on the hard (get a quote on the costs first) if you want to work on her, or sail her home first. Bottom paint isn't a life or death kinda thing, so don't take financial risks just to get it done quickly.

yes, bottom paint is what I call a "luck of the draw" type of thing when buying a used boat and should not be a consideration in which boat to buy. that's not to suggest that the bottom should not have a careful going over, however.

[jrbogie]

Originally Posted by Tayana42

At some yards if you pay for the survey haul out and then bring the boat back to them in a stated time period for work they will credit the cost of the haul out. Check with the yard you have in mind for the survey.


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tis true but generally only if the yard is doing the work.

[meirriba]

My advice to customers is:
Check applicable systems in the berth
Do the seatrial before haul-out.
Preferably, haul out on the same day, after the sea-trial.
Pressure wash the boat and leave the boat out to dry for few days.
Do the bottom check, including moisture check.
Apply new antifouling
Sail away

[Cheechako]

As mike said, just leave it in the slings for survey.. less cost. If you block it and start painting it etc, you will lose any negotiating power.
You could block it and just let it dry out, knowing it may cost you a bit more if the deal doesn't go through.
While the hull is wet, immediately after pressure wash, is the time to look at the hull closely, the shiny surface shows imperfections etc much better than the dry flat finish surface.

[wizard1_us]

So, this begs the question, I have had people want to sea trial the boat before any contract for purchase was drawn up, which I politely refused. I did offer to take them on a charter, and in the event that they purchased the boat the charter fee would be applied to the purchase price. In doing so, it weeded out the people who basically wanted a free sailboat ride for a half day. There are a number of ways to structure deals and each have their own merits. There are usually protocols for whom pays for what. I have even seen where the seller would be allowed to have a bottom job done while the boat was being surveyed and a portion of that would be split between the current owner and the perspective owner. Also, if the perspective owner wished to allow a copy of the current survey be available to the current owner, then some type of compensation would be expected. Everything, these days seems to be neg.

[Cadence]

You need to do a sea trial first. If you like her have her hauled and surveyed at that point you can decide. Paint if yes, put her back in the water if no or possibly let the current owned decide?

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by tikirawker

Hello, we are in the process of purchasing our first boat. The broker was upfront that the boat needing a bottom paint job. It costs roughly ten bucks a foot to pull the boat. So $400. My question is why pull the boat twice? If the survey looks promising why not keep the boat out and paint the bottom. Is this done frequently? What would be the downside? (Besides losing money if it fails the sea test)

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Definitely do the sea trial first, as others have already indicated. If the boat fails to satisfy you in a sea trial, don't pay for a survey.

Some brokers will take you out for a quick sail, just cause their bored, and want to build a relationship with you. Others may require an inked conditional offer and deposit. If you don't know what you're looking for, seek the former. If you know this is the boat you want, and are just seeking protection against unknown issues, ink the conditional offer. (The broker will likely give you a much better ride, if he's pretty sure there will be a pending commission from you.)

While it is good to work with a trustworthy broker, check with the yard, and don't believe everything a broker tells you.

Many yards have a different fee for lifting in slings for a power wash and 1 hr bottom survey, vs lifting to transport across the yard and block.

Good luck. This could very well be the start of a radical life change for the better.

Ramblin Rod
Marine Service Provider
About Sheen Marine

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by wizard1_us

So, this begs the question, I have had people want to sea trial the boat before any contract for purchase was drawn up, which I politely refused. I did offer to take them on a charter, and in the event that they purchased the boat the charter fee would be applied to the purchase price. In doing so, it weeded out the people who basically wanted a free sailboat ride for a half day. There are a number of ways to structure deals and each have their own merits. There are usually protocols for whom pays for what. I have even seen where the seller would be allowed to have a bottom job done while the boat was being surveyed and a portion of that would be split between the current owner and the perspective owner. Also, if the perspective owner wished to allow a copy of the current survey be available to the current owner, then some type of compensation would be expected. Everything, these days seems to be neg.

This would only be an option if the owner was a captain licensed to carry passengers and owned a licensed and insured charter company. Few sellers are in this category. When you accept a fee for services rendered (a charter) you fall under state and federal rules for carrying passengers. If you misrepresent yourself you are inviting litigation.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

I guess we're just lucky. We have done this twice. Both boat purchases have been for fairly new boats (within 10 years old) and the haul outs occurred after the shore side survey and sea trial. Our first boat purchase we ended up putting a new coat of anti foul on as well as new zincs while it was in slings prior to closing, and on the second we put new zincs on. Neither of these are really expensive in terms of what you can spend on a boat, and in both cases we were not going to have any reason to haul the boat again after closing - at least not for several months.