How good is survey on the hard?

[Katabolic]

I'm looking at a 1990's catamaran in the caribbean that is on the hard for hurricane season.

How good is a survey that is entirely on the hard, with the boat laid up? How reliable are the tests that I and surveyor can do on land without saltwater flow, with plumbing cleared, tanks dry and so on? Worth filling tanks and so on now, or wait for a sea trial when insurance lets us put it back in the water?

Indications are that everything was working fine at the beginning of May when it was laid up. Motors new in 2018/2019.

Any advice?

Thanks!

[Shrew]

A proper hull survey SHOULD be done on land, otherwise the hull, keel and running gear can't be inspected. The hull can't be properly sounded with a rubber mallet.

A Seatrial is the second part of a survey. During the seatrial, the systems which cannot be tested on land are surveyed (Engine, Air Conditioning, raw water flush heads, raw water washdowns, water makers, auto-pilot, and basic running of the boat, steering and boat handling).

All P&S should include a stipulation of "Subject to successful survey and sea trial".

Typically the initial survey is done first. Then based on the survey results, decide if you want to splash the boat and continue with the sea trial portion.

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, Katabolic.

Shrew, that's a damned clear answer.

[Katabolic]

Thanks, good stuff. Is it typical to splash a boat during off season and sea trial now? That would lead to extra work to get it laid up again, but I definitely want to shake it down in the water.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Katabolic

Thanks, good stuff. Is it typical to splash a boat during off season and sea trial now? That would lead to extra work to get it laid up again, but I definitely want to shake it down in the water.

That's not your problem and depends on how much they want to sell the boat. You pay for the haul in/out and it's up to the owner if he wants to derig the boat and put it back into storage mode after the sea trial.

If he isn't willing to let you sea trial then he either doesn't want to sell that bad or isn't considering your offer seriously.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Katabolic

Thanks, good stuff. Is it typical to splash a boat during off season and sea trial now? That would lead to extra work to get it laid up again, but I definitely want to shake it down in the water.

It depends on where the boat is located and what "Off Season" means. If it's January in New England, then no it is not typical to launch the boat do a sea trial.

In areas with hard freezes most of the boats are hauled and packed in like sardines and it typically requires that a number of boats need to be moved to get to a specific boat. If you insist, they will typically charge you for each boat that needs to be moved (IF they have enough room to the move the boats out of the way).

What can happen under those conditions is the the P&S is agreed upon and a deposit is put into escrow. You might be able to have a structural survey done, then schedule a seatrial for the spring. Sometimes they will want you to actually close and place pre-determined amount of money in escrow for negotiation following the seatrial (often about as much money as the cost of a repower). Sometimes not. If not, then once the seatrial is done in the spring, you close.

If you do manage to sea-trial off season, then sometimes it is with the understanding that if you walk, you are responsible for the cost to re-haul, re-winterize and re-shrinkwrap.

[Katabolic]

Makes sense, thanks! This boat is laid up in Puerto Rico for hurricane season. Based on this feedback, I'm thinking we start with a structural survey and then a sea trial at the end of October if all goes well. That also gives them time to address anything addressable that comes up in the structural survey.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Katabolic

I'm looking at a 1990's catamaran in the caribbean that is on the hard for hurricane season.

How good is a survey that is entirely on the hard, with the boat laid up? How reliable are the tests that I and surveyor can do on land without saltwater flow, with plumbing cleared, tanks dry and so on? Worth filling tanks and so on now, or wait for a sea trial when insurance lets us put it back in the water?

Indications are that everything was working fine at the beginning of May when it was laid up. Motors new in 2018/2019.

Any advice?

Thanks!

The vast majority of the survey is done on the hard. Then when everything is satisfactory do you launch the boat for the sea trial. At this point, should you opt out you'd be responsible to put the vessel back on the hard. If all systems are a go and you conclude the sale then you can leave it in the water and move the boat to a better location for hurricane season if you desire. The cost of launching the boat and rehauling usually lands on the buyer as well as the survey costs. Please note that many boats on the hard in a hurricane zone can suffer extreme damage if they get knocked over or succumb to the domino effect where a whole row of boats get knocked over - best get it out of Puerto Rico ASAP.

[Dave22q]

IMHO a survey on the hard can miss important things but can catch much. The boat could leak like a sieve, autopilot malfunctioning, etc. If real money is involved you need a survey including sea trial.

[Roshni]

I have just had a survey on the hard and did same with previous boat. Managed to get the engines tested with buckets. Look at the value of the boat, what agreed with the seller reference price and how much you want to spend. You should do final completion on 1st November for end of hurricane season. At the end of the day many surveyors will miss a few things and a couple of things will fail anyhow, it's a boat and from the 90s. Good luck....

[GWilly]

I agree with what Shrew said earlier, re: 2 parts to the survey. If the seller won't go along with a sea trial (and I strongly urge you do one), then he obviously doesn't want to sell the boat that bad. He's wasting your time. Drop him, and move on. Or make a ridiculously low offer