Sad story

[Maine Sail]

I think the big question is whether the story is fact or fiction. It could easily be just a story some guy made up to make a point about doing your homework before taking the test.
I suggest all of you lay off my buddy Barry, anybody sailing an O'Day 35 must be OK.

I know Andy, the author of that article, and the story is not BS. Andy is not a BS kind of guy.

It's guys like Andy wrote about that drove me to do what I do for other boaters, these stories are real and I've seen them too.

I watched a guy buy a boat, try to fix it, often with a Don Casey book in-hand or on a saw horse at the boat yard, and he was still stumped. I helped him a number of times and once shown what to do he would do fine. The poor guy loved his boat but did not have the mechanical apatitude to just "figure it out" or the proper guidance/instructions to be able to fix stuff himself. He could not afford to pay the yard $90.00 per hour, so in the end he lost the boat.

This guy was not "dumb" or "stupid" or fly by night. He had a passion but lacked the skill to keep up with it and there was no guidance for the projects he had to udnertake. If he had better instructions perhaps he could have been able to keep the boat. A cutlass bearing was his final straw and this is not difficult had he been given the right instructions..

 

[sandpiper10471]

Easy to be pious. Don't be passin' judgement until you have gone through the unwanted separation, litigation, divorce, tear-down and kicked apart trauma. He just wanted something to pick himself back up. Didn't work out cause he didn't believe in himself any more and invited failure unknowingly. But with a little support, he'll get there and be a stronger person for the struggle and the mistakes.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

It's not that hard to make bad decisions when you are down ... I've been there, not like that, but we have all probably made decisions bad enough to really hurt just at the wrong time. I feel for the guy.

 

[Merlin Clark]

I'll join in the skeptics list. There's dumb luck and lack of knowledge, then there's this story. According to the story, the engine was half under water & the bilge was full of a toxic soup, etc. Even I'm not THAT gullible to buy a boat like that!

========

A dozen or so years ago I drove over to the left side of FL to look at a 44 Gulfstar that was advertised as being in good shape. Bilge water up to the engine mounts, interior full of mold and the hull was a mass of what I think was algae. It was green anyway. I ran from that one.

Now I'm shopping around for a "gently" used Jeep for my daughter and am very leery of getting myself into a bad situation by buying something I can't put my own eyes on. I'm avoiding Ebay auctions. Too scary a place for me and large ticket items.

For people wanting to wet a toe, Boat Angel is a great place to look for that first boat.

 

[woodster]

I know Andy, the author of that article, and the story is not BS. Andy is not a BS kind of guy.

It's guys like Andy wrote about that drove me to do what I do for other boaters, these stories are real and I've seen them too.

I watched a guy buy a boat, try to fix it, often with a Don Casey book in-hand or on a saw horse at the boat yard, and he was still stumped. I helped him a number of times and once shown what to do he would do fine. The poor guy loved his boat but did not have the mechanical apatitude to just "figure it out" or the proper guidance/instructions to be able to fix stuff himself. He could not afford to pay the yard $90.00 per hour, so in the end he lost the boat.

This guy was not "dumb" or "stupid" or fly by night. He had a passion but lacked the skill to keep up with it and there was no guidance for the projects he had to udnertake. If he had better instructions perhaps he could have been able to keep the boat. A cutlass bearing was his final straw and this is not difficult had he been given the right instructions..

you will be rewarded for your kindness i am sure ....no good deed go unpunished as they say.......i help some people in mobil on my last trip with no motive in mind other than i liked them.... and in a very short time felt they would be very good friends to have...and low and behold it wasnt long till they unsolicited by me or anyone bestowed a pair of self tailing winches and a very cool wood dinghy about 8 ft long on me....as i get more in to the sailing world i find more and more really nice people.....

as they say Down under "Good on ya mate"

regards

woody

 

[Dan Johnson]

Sad but True...

I believe the attached picture is of that very ferro-cement ketch mentioned in Andy's article. It arrived at the marina across from our Club (locally known as "Marty's" and a more derisive name as well) in the Fall of 2004. It was floating and, as described, tarped in blue with boxes on deck.

On my traditional New Year's Day visit to the club, I took the picture attached. The river was ice covered and the ketch had settled on her side into the mud. Later in that year, 2005, it was removed in pieces.

 

[Todd Smith]

It is a very sad story, but buying a large and expensive boat off of ebay ?! I just can't imagine doing that unless it was a throw away amount of money.

 

[LuzSD]

We have a neighbor who does these type of things, and with tons of thought.....it’s not a matter of quick decision making. He agonizes over everything he does but never really does anything completely so every project goes on and on.... or is not done at all. He actually bought a Ferro Cement boat also, and now struggles with all of the issues that go along with a huge boat, old boat, CEMENT boat that is falling apart, can't be insured and can't be docked .........and he has to single hand because he has no one to help him....

I think some people just don't have the ability to deduct that something is not going to work and walk away... almost as if they have too much faith in anything but themselves. It is very sad and seems to affect men that are just sort of floundering in later life. Probably better explanation is that as young men they got away with the same characteristics but they were called "free spirits". As older men it is just sad and lonely. My heart often aches for our neighbor but he wants no help.

 

[jimmcgee]

Wow, this story really took me back. About 12 years ago a good friend was coming out of bad divorce #2. He's a lifetime power boater who could rebuild a truck motor in his sleep so he was no stranger to the reality of boats.

One day he calls me up to give my opinion on a boat he's looking at. It was an old Pacemaker cruiser with a dried out wooden hull sporting rot around the transom, lots of mildew in the interior and a really bad case of "boat smell" coming from the bilge. But, he kept telling me, it had two new Chrysler marine engines and new fuel tanks. The boat belonged to some poor soul who had poured a lot of money in and had finally given up. Years ago my friend had lusted for one of these Pacemakers when they were still priced out of his reach. When he looked at the boat he saw her as if she was in new condition.

I told him to run away. He bought the boat.

A year later he'd poured a lot of money and man hours into that boat and was now pouring a lot of water into the bilge trying to get the hull to take up. It wouldn't. The yard manager would walk by every so often and just shake his head.

He finally gave up and put a for sale sign on her. Two weeks later another poor sucker bought the boat. I met the guy. He was another one who didn't see an old wood boat that needed a ton of work. He saw her as she was when new. "All she needs is a little work".

So I met three owners of this boat. None of them were crooks, just all dreamers. BTW, I drove past that yard two years later. The boat was still sitting in the same spot...

I'm thinking there may be a lot of stories like these.

Jim

 

[catsailor]

It always bothers me to see anyone, young or old, rich or poor, buy a large boat without having served an apprenticeship in small boats. To some a dingy is undignified. To some it simply does not address the "dream." But small boats do a wonderful job of teaching you to feel the weather and to understand YOU are responsible for getting back to shore. They make it fun, for the cost of mistake (near shore) is minimal.

The skills to sail, and even more so to repair and maintain, a larger boat do not come overnight. I started fixing and repairing things young, and so I learned to be realistic a long time ago. While the story is sad and I can understand he was not thinking clearly, clear thinking is a neccesity for life, even when we don't like the reality we see. I wish he had started, like most of us, with something small and manageable.

The reality is many boats have a negative value when too far gone. This may be one of them.


http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2010/04/merits-of-learning-to-sail-on-small.html

 

[nateman]

I'm not seeing the story you guys are talking about? Can you provide a different link?

 

[LuzSD]

I'm not seeing the story you guys are talking about? Can you provide a different link?

http://www.pointseast.com/index.shtml See Page 22
from Rogers post in the beginning of this trhead.

 

[nateman]

It must be blocked at work, I can't see what you guys see then. I'll check when I get home - thanks!

 

[LuzSD]

It must be blocked at work, I can't see what you guys see then. I'll check when I get home - thanks!

I have never added an attachment so I am trying.... sorry if it doesn't work. Getting to page 22 in Rogers link was not easy for me the first time either. Hope this captures it enough for you to read.

 

[LuzSD]

ok, so sorry, it did not come out very clear! Your eyes are going to hurt after reading this entire article. Oh well, I tried!

 

[Scott T-Bird]

You have to do a bit of work and it took me about a half hour to figure out ...

scroll down and click on "open publication" this will take you to April, 2011 and then scroll to the right page. I don't navigate websites well so it took me a while to figure it out.