New to us yacht Beneteau 473

[ReneJK]

pending survey , which is planned for tomorrow , we're the proud new owners of a Beneteau 473 , planning to cruising the med starting next year and down to the Carib (and possibly much further) in 2018 :-)

https://youtu.be/MR62GIqlpAU

[DDabs]

Congrats on the boat! I love the 473, what a nice spacious yacht! I'm sure you'll have a blast sailing her wherever you are!

[MarkJ]

Looks great!
Remember the survey will point out some things just for the surveyor to justify their bill.
Just look for the big problems. Little one u can fix somewhere nice.

Good luck!


Mark

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Congrats on the boat! I love the 473, what a nice spacious yacht! I'm sure you'll have a blast sailing her wherever you are!

thank you DDabs, one of the things that drew us to these 473's is the spaciousness ! load of usable space , both inside and out

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Looks great!
Remember the survey will point out some things just for the surveyor to justify their bill.
Just look for the big problems. Little one u can fix somewhere nice.

Good luck!


Mark

Mark, I hope he finds only small schtuff and none of the biggies (structural or standing rigging etc)

just enough to keep my busy and with peace of mind :-)

[Steadman Uhlich]

Congratulations on getting a nice boat, and fair winds to all your voyages!

[CS Cruiser]

Great looking Bene! Congrats.

[tikirawker]

Congrats!!
She is gorgeous!!!

[DDabs]

just keep that transom wiped down by the waterline!

[ErikFinn]

I love that model Bene

[bjymd]

Congrats on the new boat. Make sure the surveyor looks at the upper rigging which may need to be replaced. At 12 years the suages may have cracks. Also assess the thru hulls and stopcocks which may need to be updated. Best of luck. Fair winds and following seas.

[Prairie Chicken]

So? How did the survey go, and is she yours? She looks lovely from the video. What year, and where will you take possession?

[David B]

Originally Posted by ReneJK

pending survey , which is planned for tomorrow , we're the proud new owners of a Beneteau 473 , planning to cruising the med starting next year and down to the Carib (and possibly much further) in 2018 :-)

https://youtu.be/MR62GIqlpAU

Enjoy sharing your excitement. She looks beautifully cared for. Good, solid yacht you have chosen. Just a few things:

* the teak decks look immaculate - keep them that way, but don't scrub them away. Suggest you look at Semco. Ours are over five years old and people keep asking if our boat is new.

* depending on how many layers of antifouling you find on the hull, you may be considering stripping and starting again. Good time to think about Coppercoat - again, we have never looked back (and most likely will never need to re-do our hull again).

* we have found Lion Protect Gelcoat Sealer to be very good at preserving/restoring the gelcoat.

* when you get a chance, suggest you remove the inspection hatches on your water and diesel tanks. Have a look in there and then you will know if you need to clean out any sediment or bacterial growths.

* batteries - we use a portable 50A 5-stage charger to equalise the batteries at the end and beginning of the season. They are not cheap to replace so we figure the extra care is worth it. If you do need to replace, look at the cost of common FLA vs AGM. Assuming you are not intending to deep cycle your batteries, then in my book, the FLA win.

Hope the survey goes well, and you have many wonderful adventures on your new yacht.
David

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Congratulations on getting a nice boat, and fair winds to all your voyages!

Thank you Steady Hand !

Originally Posted by CS Cruiser

Great looking Bene! Congrats.

Thats what we though as well , her looks really pulled us is

Originally Posted by DDabs

just keep that transom wiped down by the waterline!

Will do , I have heard that once loaded she sits quite low and transom sits at or just below the waterline

Originally Posted by tikirawker

Congrats!!
She is gorgeous!!!

matches my better half perfectly :-)

Originally Posted by bjymd

Congrats on the new boat. Make sure the surveyor looks at the upper rigging which may need to be replaced. At 12 years the suages may have cracks. Also assess the thru hulls and stopcocks which may need to be updated. Best of luck. Fair winds and following seas.

Good point re upper rigging , Surveyor is on that today but all seacocks were checked and serviced 2015

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

So? How did the survey go, and is she yours? She looks lovely from the video. What year, and where will you take possession?

day 1 went perfect , today day 2 of the (very thorough) survey . She is a 2004 model and currently in Portugal , just returned 6 weeks ago from a Europe-Carib-Azores-Portugal trip

We'll probably be moving her a bit east into the Med and into south Spain , havent quite made up our mind yet

Originally Posted by David B

Enjoy sharing your excitement. She looks beautifully cared for. Good, solid yacht you have chosen. Just a few things:

* the teak decks look immaculate - keep them that way, but don't scrub them away. Suggest you look at Semco. Ours are over five years old and people keep asking if our boat is new.

* depending on how many layers of antifouling you find on the hull, you may be considering stripping and starting again. Good time to think about Coppercoat - again, we have never looked back (and most likely will never need to re-do our hull again).

* we have found Lion Protect Gelcoat Sealer to be very good at preserving/restoring the gelcoat.

* when you get a chance, suggest you remove the inspection hatches on your water and diesel tanks. Have a look in there and then you will know if you need to clean out any sediment or bacterial growths.

* batteries - we use a portable 50A 5-stage charger to equalise the batteries at the end and beginning of the season. They are not cheap to replace so we figure the extra care is worth it. If you do need to replace, look at the cost of common FLA vs AGM. Assuming you are not intending to deep cycle your batteries, then in my book, the FLA win.

Hope the survey goes well, and you have many wonderful adventures on your new yacht.
David

David , the teak deck , and indeed the whole top side , looks immaculate . When we visited to view the owner insisted that we take our sailing shoes off ‘No shoes on my yacht .. ever’ that gives a good indication how he looked after her

Anti foul was all removed about 2 / 3 years ago , now just 2 layers and extra 5 layers of gelcoat protection . I don’t know how easy it is to find copper coat but will look into it

Typically I rely on Grotomar against diesel bug , but I will inspect all tanks next time I am on her

The batteries were replaced late last year , all new 5x AGM 100Ah batteries for the house bank, new starter battery and new bow thruster battery . The current owner has a strict regime to top up the batteries daily with the generator , I think we will follow his regime

yesterday’s survey results :

the surveyor has been on her from 0900 until 1900 the hole day, inspecting :

Beginning with Hull / Underwatership

Everything inside the ship and inside the lockers.

Engine, Generator, Navi equipment, Hatches, Stayplates, Hull and structure also from inside, Safety equipment, Keelbolts, Seacocks, Steering, Quadrant, Winches, Cockpit/Navigation, Autopilot, Mast, Mastsliders, Boom and much more.

There were no failures at Blue Pearl. also remarked the good and well maintained condition of the boat.

Tomorrow the surveyor will return and inspect a second time and more intense the deck, but he mentioned also the very good condition of the deck without any dents and said that there are not many boats in this good condition even when the skippers have been carefully.

[David B]

I am impressed by your surveyor - very serious. Hate to think how much that is costing, but good insurance.
Grotomar - yes, have heard that is one of the good ones. From the sound of the owner, he has also been careful. We have treated our diesel since she was new, so probably he has also.
We all look forward to hearing more as you take ownership etc.

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by David B

I am impressed by your surveyor - very serious. Hate to think how much that is costing, but good insurance.
Grotomar - yes, have heard that is one of the good ones. From the sound of the owner, he has also been careful. We have treated our diesel since she was new, so probably he has also.
We all look forward to hearing more as you take ownership etc.

Survey is actually very reasonable @ 900 euro (or at least I believe its very reasonable ) but I didnt expect a 2 day survey either , 1 day 8 hours is what I expected

The owner has maintained her and all of her systems meticulously , and that shows ! apart from normal 'just crossed the atlantic' wear and tear nothing that I saw that made me turn away . Everywhere we looked at was clean, well maintained and none of the typical jury rigged repairs