Hello all...
I am going this weekend to look at (and hopefully purchase) a Catalina 250 WB. :dance: I've been culling over the forums looking for common issues with the C250, and it seems like about as good a compromise as I can get for a small inland lake boat. I have 4 kids, so 25' is about as small as I want to go, but I also want something I can pull behind the Suburban.
I have been told by the broker that "the boat hasn't been used in a few years and needs cleaned up", but as long as it is just cleaning it needs I'm good putting a little sweat equity in on the boat. I've spent the past few days going through in my head all of the possible issues that may exist and what the value of them may be. For instance, I kind of budgeted that a rudder could cost between $689 and $949, Running rigging would cost in the $450 range, Mainsail $1100-ish, etc.
However, I'm not 100% confident in my abilities to adequately self assess the issues. There are the easy things, such as indications of leaks, soft spots, fish hooks on the standing rigging, etc. that seem pretty straight forward. There are a few areas where I'm not sure what the repairs could cost. For instance, if I find some blisters what is bad enough to cause me to change my thoughts from asking for a discount to walking away?
I know the common answer would be to get a survey, but out here in the middle of nowhere the place that is selling the boat is often the only place to get a survey, or as was the case with one place, they just tell you up front that they don't know anything about sailboats.
Do any of you have a checklist of things you go through when assessing a boat? Any guidelines for a newbie?
Thanks,
I am going this weekend to look at (and hopefully purchase) a Catalina 250 WB. :dance: I've been culling over the forums looking for common issues with the C250, and it seems like about as good a compromise as I can get for a small inland lake boat. I have 4 kids, so 25' is about as small as I want to go, but I also want something I can pull behind the Suburban.
I have been told by the broker that "the boat hasn't been used in a few years and needs cleaned up", but as long as it is just cleaning it needs I'm good putting a little sweat equity in on the boat. I've spent the past few days going through in my head all of the possible issues that may exist and what the value of them may be. For instance, I kind of budgeted that a rudder could cost between $689 and $949, Running rigging would cost in the $450 range, Mainsail $1100-ish, etc.
However, I'm not 100% confident in my abilities to adequately self assess the issues. There are the easy things, such as indications of leaks, soft spots, fish hooks on the standing rigging, etc. that seem pretty straight forward. There are a few areas where I'm not sure what the repairs could cost. For instance, if I find some blisters what is bad enough to cause me to change my thoughts from asking for a discount to walking away?
I know the common answer would be to get a survey, but out here in the middle of nowhere the place that is selling the boat is often the only place to get a survey, or as was the case with one place, they just tell you up front that they don't know anything about sailboats.
Do any of you have a checklist of things you go through when assessing a boat? Any guidelines for a newbie?
Thanks,