Jim - when I bought my Hatteras in July 2000 it had blisters. Price was $150 a foot on a 50' boat and the seller reduced his price by this amount without much wrangling at all. But the boat was on the hard for six months while it was being done, and therefore unusable. This is not that unusual a situation. It might be best to buy your new boat before you sell your house. Get the boat all set up the way you and your wife want it and THEN go boating, in complete confidence. My approach to buying anything (boat, property, etc.) is this: at SOME price I am willing to buy it. What is the most you are willing to pay for the boat 'as is'? Make that couter offer and sit tight. I believe you indicated that the seller lives out of state. Aren't all out of state sellers just a little more anxious to sell? Seems to me that you are in the saddle and in control of this situation. Be patient. Persevere. You'll be fine. Good luck. Mike Meeker, Islamorada. >From: Jim Alexander <89Vista43@comcast.net> >To: TWL <trawler-world-list@lists.samurai.com> >Subject: TWL: Survey results Hatteras 48 LRC >Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 13:59:39 -0500 > >Well after about three weeks of anticipation we finally go to the survey of >the 48 LRC yesterday that had been delayed because of the holidays. >Overall the survey went OK, with a few notable exceptions that are >troubling. The largest and likely most difficult finding to deal with is >a failed Blister repair job. I am aware that Hatteras boats have suffered >from hull blisters as a general problem that goes back to their beginnings. > However, this particular boat was advertised as "Bottom peeled. dried for >six months and re-laminated". This made the boat all that more attractive >to me as I have had experience with this before. In fact the Vista I just >sold had undergone the same treatment about 9 years ago, some seven years >before I purchased it and to this date it is totally free of any blisters >which indicates the job was done both correctly and successfully. Not so >the case of the Hatteras. Hull inspection at haul out showed the presence >of multiple blisters (estimated by the surveyor at about 125-150 on each >side) on all underwater surfaces of 3/8" to 5/8" diameter. Further >inspection revealed that the laminate that had been applied during the >treatment process was failing and that the blisters were forming between >the original layer and the new one. Surveyor stated that apparently either >the boat was not properly dried out or that surface was improperly prepared >for the new laminate as suspected cause of failure and that the situation >can only be expected to worsen. His opinion was that because complete >lamination failure of the entire surface is possible, this is not a >situation that can go uncorrected. > >Because this boat is and has been "Captain" maintained we approached the >Captain to inquire both when and where the job had been done in order to >determine any "warrantee" on the job. At this point we were a little >shocked to be told by the Captain that the job was done by himself in a >local yard. Obviously a situation where the "Captain" performed a job that >he was neither experienced at nor qualified to do as is evidenced by the >present condition of the hull. He further stated that at the time he had >performed the work their was knowledge of some "bad" resins that had gotten >into the market and perhaps he was a victim of this "bad" resin. (good >excuse, huh?) > >Of course the deal killer on this situation is that we are not buying the >boat for recreational purposes, but rather as a new "live-aboard" home and >I do not wish to purchase a boat that needs to come out of the water for >3-6 months to be dried out again for a new repair job. This is the real >dilemma here. My broker of course suggested "take a price reduction on the >boat and get it repaired down the road before you sell it or just pass it >on to the next owner". If I had some justification that the bottom might >not get any worse over the course of time this might be an option, but as >the surveyor thinks that it will probably get a lot worse I would then risk >not only the possibility of blisters then forming on the original laminate >where it is becoming exposed by the failure of the re-laminate, but also >risk the cost of the repair job then getting so high as to dwarf any price >reduction I would benefit from at this point. (but he would get his >commission, right?) > >Another serious finding of the survey was that both transmissions, Borg >Warner Velvet Drive 72C's, are slipping significantly. Surveyor stated >that they "might" just be gummed up and respond to a good fluid flush, but >he suspects more likely they need to be rebuilt. He is hoping the fluid >analysis will provide additional information on this area. I was also >bothered by the fact the transmission levers have no obvious "detent" and >you cannot even feel them go into or out of gear leaving only the motion of >the boat or position of the levers to give you an indication of in-gear or >out-of-gear? The "Captain" said that the Morse control units did not have >the "detents" installed and this was not uncommon to him. It sure is >uncommon to me, I have never seen it before. > >Then there was the "vibration" in the boat. Every time the boat turned you >could feel a vibration in the boat, noticeable in a slow turn and very >obvious in a hard turn. Again, the Captain said that "all boats do this", >no boat I have ever owned did this and the surveyor could not account for >it either. He said that you will sometimes get it with loose or >mis-aligned rudders but he was certain this was not the case on this boat >as the rudders appeared properly aligned and were very tight. The only >thing he could suspect is the out-of-center Naiad fin on the port side (see >text below) might be causing enough drag to create the vibration. Am I >possibly wrong here? Do other boats get this vibration in turns? > >Otherwise, the list of faults included a bad membrane on the water maker, >bad exhaust manifold gasket on one of the 4-53's, failed Raytheon >Radar/Plotter display (this unit is new and under factory warrantee), >over-fueling Onan gen-set (fuel pump and injection pump had just been >replaced by the Captain, but fuel flow is not properly set up), Port fin on >the Naiad's fails to "center" and is causing continuous drag, both engine >mounts which are new have settled and have resulted in the need for >re-alignment, a broken bilge pump hose, broken bilge high water alarm, and >a few other odds and ends. > >I certainly wish the report was better, would appreciate comments from >others who might have previous experience with similar situations as any >knowledgeable advice is solicited. > >Jim Alexander >_______________________________________________ >http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawler-world-list > >To Unsubscribe send email to trawler-world-list-request@lists.samurai.com >Include the word "Unsubscribe" (and nothing else) in the subject or body of >the message. > _________________________________________________________________ Make your home warm and cozy this winter with tips from MSN House & Home. http://special.msn.com/home/warmhome.armx