Just wandered in

[Jim Jones]

Hi,

New here. Looking to buy a boat so guess will be spending a lot of time here on the forums.

I am getting a survey done on a Formosa 51. I have read the thread on "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly" re these boats. Can be quite off putting. Seems you either love or hate these boats. They appeal to me - apart from the looks. Big, roomy for a live aboard. Heavy. Slow is just what i want. Seems to be a fit for what I want. At this point I will let the survey do the talking on the particular boat I am interested in purchasing.

Apart from all that I have been reading this forum off and on for some years - never joined because I had nothing to say and had no horse in the race as it were. I enjoy boat electronics - I suppose that makes me a bit odd.

I was in the Satcomms business for many years - I was running 2 networks broadcasting over Africa with an uplink out of Europe. Fiber Optics just about everywhere has slowed that business right down so time to think about other things, hence getting the boat.

Looking forward to chatting with you guys in the forums.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day JJ and welcome aboard CF. YOu have been around reading for while and you know what to expect, so sit back and enjoy the ride, dodging the occasional pothole in the road. Let us know how the survey goes...

Jim

[Jim Jones]

Thanks JC.

Yes I know the drill. I am in laid back mode so slowly slowly for me.

Tons of questions but dont want to go at it like a bull at a gate.

I am somewhat anxious about the Formosa 51 after reading THAT thread. But the style and size of the boat suit me - nothing else I have seen fits me like this boat. It is concerning though about how numerous people report that they were not well built at the yard. Yet others comment on how thick the fiberglass hull is... of course there is more to a build then the hull but get that wrong and you have nothing else ...... IDK what to think.

[Jim Cate]

Just a comment JJ: when talking about frp hulls, thick does not equal good. In fact, often times thick means poor quality glass work, poor quality materials and lack of knowledge about how they should have done things!

But the folks who own some of the leaky teaky style boats are reluctant to talk about the realities of frp construction, perhaps because many of them don't really know much about the technicalities of the subject.

There are plenty of happy owners... so don't pay too much attention to me!

Jim

[Jim Jones]

Yes understood. Leaky Teaky..... says it all really. But I dont think anyone can say that teak deck is not as sexy as hell.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Jim.

[Jim Jones]

Thank you for the welcome Gord.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Jim Jones

Yes understood. Leaky Teaky..... says it all really. But I dont think anyone can say that teak deck is not as sexy as hell.

OH yeah? I can say that, no problem JJ! In truth, teak decks may look ok when they are well maintained, but on these old Taiwan built boats they are often the kiss of death... hundreds of holes in the nice, waterproof FRP deck, leading down to the core. And the cost of renewing one is likely higher than what you are thinking about paying for a CT51.

As you might guess, I'm not a fan... once, years ago I was romancing a CT38, new from the builder. When he wanted an extra 900 bucks for NOT teak decking I walked away (and glad I did for other reasons, only learned later in our cruising life).

But again, I'm kinda opinionated, and plenty of folks disagree with me on this and plenty of other subjects. They are, of course, wrong...

Good hunting, JJ!

Jim

[Jim Jones]

Thanks for your thoughts JC

Yes I hear you on the relevant issues that abound with these boats. The boat I am interested in has had an extensive refit

- the guy took the back cabin roof off and extended it 400mm and built a very nice deck lounge on top of the cabin roof as well as customized the master cabin/head


- brand new engine

- New SS tanks for 1800 ltrs Diesel capacity

- New 3.5Kva Whisper Genset

- stripped out the interior and redid the whole lot with new hardwoods

- new deckheads

- new soles

- aft teak deck is new

- new suite of sails

- new Mizzen standing Rigging/chain plates

- new SS fittings on ALL standing rigging

- new SS Davit system

goes on and on. Thing that gives me confidence about this boat is that it has had extensive work done on it. I cant think of much else it would need replacing. As long as the Hull is tight and the deck is not leaking at all. Cant complain about a brand new engine. Given that he put new deckheads in, he had full access to the underside of the deck - one would think that any issues would have been corrected.

As is often the case with these old boats, he has put a ton of money into it that the sale price does not reflect. Its just how it is. Now its my turn to start throwing money at it. I will never get back what I put into it either. Come to think of it, I will never get back what I have spent on the Admiral either, but we still do it.

Thing is, it is a big heavy boat which is exactly what I want. My intended use is live aboard. Where I am taking it only has wind in one direction for half the year then the wind swings around to blow the other way for about 3 months and only blows that way for the 3 months. So not going to windward is not a big problem to me - its motor one way sail back the other way - it was always going to be like that so lack of performance to windward is not really an issue to me. I like that new engine for the motoring work it will be doing and the large fuel tanks.

Finally, we get some really really nasty blows at certain times of the year and the water gets very very rough and dangerous. A boat that handles heavy weather is better for us and from my research these "Tubs" handle the heavy weather nicely.

Every other boat I have looked at is very small in comparison. Its horses for courses. Live aboard is the first priority and the extensive refit saves me doing a lot of work.

Lets see what the survey reveals.

[Jim Cate]

^^^^^

JJ, that is an impressive list of work. If it is to your taste and desires, sounds like a good choice. I hope it works out for you, I really do!

Jim

[Jim Jones]

Thanks JC.

As I say, lets see what the survey reveals. If its only half as good as the broker says then it will be a good fit for me.

Besides that, the Admiral has spoken. Nothing left to do after that command !

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Jim Jones

Yes understood. Leaky Teaky..... says it all really. But I dont think anyone can say that teak deck is not as sexy as hell.

A man after my own heart...!

LittleWing77

[Adelie]

Welcome.

[Jim Jones]

Thanks for the welcome Adelie.

[Jim Jones]

Well my Leaky Teaky misadventure is over before it began - boat is full of termites ! Terrible terrible shame that this is. Back to the drawing board. What next then?