Seadance...just for comparisons sake...
I will share the purchasing experience that I had when I bought my '79 lancer 28... My wife and I fell in love with her as soon as we saw her...sure, she's getting on in years (the boat, not my wife ;-)). when we made the trip to view her, the broker had EVERYTHING on his desk for us to look at...maintenance records, every survey that was ever done, and the like. The owner was not there...but he went so far as to leave a note with the broker, sealed and addressed to us. In it was everything that he figured would need closer inspection by the surveyor...I thought that this was quite a noble thing to do!! When we asked to go look at her...the broker gave us the keys, and said she's in slip E56...take all the time you need, and then handed us a cell phone and told us to call him if we needed him to come and go over anything. So with previous surveys in hand...off we went to the boat. We must have spent 3-4 hours aboard; lifting cushions, opening lockers, checking plumbing.etc...needless to say, we literally ripped the boat apart without him looking over our shoulders. When we finally called him to come down...he got there and bascially did the same thing we did...with us; and pointing out a few things that we missed. Then took us for a sea trial...which went fantastic!! We went back to the hotel, and mulled it over, and decided to make an offer subject to survey. Once the offer was made and accpeted...the boat was hauled, the very same day. We called the surveyor, and he came down the next day. he was very friendly and offered that we go with him to do the survey...he had even asked me if I would like to take pictures for his file (and mine). I figured that the survey would take a few hours...lo and behold...6:00PM came, and he turns to my wife and I and says..."see you here tomorrow morning, 8:00 AM?" I couldn't believe it!! he came back the next day, and worked for about another 6 hours on the survey... Now, I don't know about most surveyors...but this guy had certificates for everything, marine diesels, rigging, naval architect...the whole gambit. While I think that I had a very pleasureable buying experience...I feel that I have now been spoiled, and I wouldn't accept any less from future purchases. The broker and surveyor set the bar extrmemly high for me. I would like to think that all of our (collectively) sailboat purchases should have a lot in common with the one that I had...realistically, they won't...but sellers should have nothing to hide... I just thought that I would share that with you.
I will share the purchasing experience that I had when I bought my '79 lancer 28... My wife and I fell in love with her as soon as we saw her...sure, she's getting on in years (the boat, not my wife ;-)). when we made the trip to view her, the broker had EVERYTHING on his desk for us to look at...maintenance records, every survey that was ever done, and the like. The owner was not there...but he went so far as to leave a note with the broker, sealed and addressed to us. In it was everything that he figured would need closer inspection by the surveyor...I thought that this was quite a noble thing to do!! When we asked to go look at her...the broker gave us the keys, and said she's in slip E56...take all the time you need, and then handed us a cell phone and told us to call him if we needed him to come and go over anything. So with previous surveys in hand...off we went to the boat. We must have spent 3-4 hours aboard; lifting cushions, opening lockers, checking plumbing.etc...needless to say, we literally ripped the boat apart without him looking over our shoulders. When we finally called him to come down...he got there and bascially did the same thing we did...with us; and pointing out a few things that we missed. Then took us for a sea trial...which went fantastic!! We went back to the hotel, and mulled it over, and decided to make an offer subject to survey. Once the offer was made and accpeted...the boat was hauled, the very same day. We called the surveyor, and he came down the next day. he was very friendly and offered that we go with him to do the survey...he had even asked me if I would like to take pictures for his file (and mine). I figured that the survey would take a few hours...lo and behold...6:00PM came, and he turns to my wife and I and says..."see you here tomorrow morning, 8:00 AM?" I couldn't believe it!! he came back the next day, and worked for about another 6 hours on the survey... Now, I don't know about most surveyors...but this guy had certificates for everything, marine diesels, rigging, naval architect...the whole gambit. While I think that I had a very pleasureable buying experience...I feel that I have now been spoiled, and I wouldn't accept any less from future purchases. The broker and surveyor set the bar extrmemly high for me. I would like to think that all of our (collectively) sailboat purchases should have a lot in common with the one that I had...realistically, they won't...but sellers should have nothing to hide... I just thought that I would share that with you.
) I hate to "pick nits" but its a very long stretch to describe what two disimilar metals in contact do to each other and calling it "thermal couple". A thermocouple is a "device" (noun) used to measure temperature, not the "effect" (adverb) that happens when two disimilar metals interact with each other. (That is Galvanic Corrosion) Now if one was measuring the electron flow/Voltage and charting that vs temperature then you could consider it a thermocouple. A few other points I should mention and its more for information than anything else. There is a REAL and definitive difference between "Galvanic Corrosion" and "Electrolytic Corrosion". Many people mix the two up or use them interchangeably. Then there is the term "Electrolysis" which completely different than what we have happening on the metals of our boats "Galvanic Corrosion" is caused by an electric current generated by two different metals in a conducting medium such as seawater. When we talk about galvanic corrosion we're talking about an electric exchange. (think Aluminum and Stainless Steel) "Electrolytic Corrosion" is caused by a current from an external source, often the boat's battery or shore supply. The current that causes electrolytic action is called "stray current" and usually emanates from a poorly installed electrical circuit or a bad earthing (ground) arrangement http://www.boatsurveyor.com/corrosion.htm Ok that is probably more than you need to know but it is the correct information. I feel better now 
