Hello group!
Having contracted boatitis a couple of years back I started browsing a few sites for used boats. Having a under 10k euro budget I first considered the Maxi 77 and then finally decided the Albin Vega was the boat for me. Being situated in Finland, the Vega population is quite high, especially so in Sweden, where I eventually found my boat.
As the Vega population is quite high, and sailing boats in general more populous in Sweden, I got what I consider a nice deal: 85000 swedish crowns, or some 7900e for a -70 Vega with newish (2001 mainsail, 2006 furlex genoa) sails and a Yanmar 1GM10 (-90) 9.5hp diesel with freshwater cooling.
After a few weeks of emailing back and forth, hiring a surveyor, receiving the report and then pondering over it with my high school swedish I finally decided to buy the boat.
A few things came up with the report, most of them minor stuff you'd expect on an almost 40 year boat. Scratches here and there, old electric cabling (talk about voltage loss... phew), gas system unused for years, a original Vega heater, illegal in Finland these days etc. Also a few more troubling problems came up, of which I have pictures for you as well:
http://www.inttervep.net/~mikko/vega/DSCN0367.JPG
A small crack in the front of the keel, out of which a little water is seeping
The surveyor doesn't think the damage should be very extensive, but suggests sanding down the area and letting it dry during the winter and then painting it up again.
http://www.inttervep.net/~mikko/vega/DSCN0354.JPG
A slight deformation of the front pulpit, including forestay. Probably caused by a sideways bump some time before. According to the current owner it was already there when she bought it, and hasn't really caused any problems.
I guess the metal railing should be removed, the area cleaned up and new gelcoat applied.
The surveyor also checked the hull for any moisture problems, but luckily all values were within acceptable levels.
A few things missing were a Windex and a VHF-antenna from the mast. The Windex we managed to install using a bosun's chair, but the guy up the mast couldn't figure out how to attach the antenna and how to feed the coax cable in the mast. We found the little hatch indoors that you can use to pull the cable in.
The boat is currently just a little shy of midway from Stockholm to Helsinki, in the Åland islands. My aim is to get her to Helsinki in the coming two weeks. Having no vacation at the moment makes this ofcourse a little difficult, but I'll manage it.
Well, that's it for me. As I've been lurking on the forums for a while, absorbing the accumulated knowledge herein, I thought an introduction would be in order!
Mikko
Having contracted boatitis a couple of years back I started browsing a few sites for used boats. Having a under 10k euro budget I first considered the Maxi 77 and then finally decided the Albin Vega was the boat for me. Being situated in Finland, the Vega population is quite high, especially so in Sweden, where I eventually found my boat.
As the Vega population is quite high, and sailing boats in general more populous in Sweden, I got what I consider a nice deal: 85000 swedish crowns, or some 7900e for a -70 Vega with newish (2001 mainsail, 2006 furlex genoa) sails and a Yanmar 1GM10 (-90) 9.5hp diesel with freshwater cooling.
After a few weeks of emailing back and forth, hiring a surveyor, receiving the report and then pondering over it with my high school swedish I finally decided to buy the boat.
A few things came up with the report, most of them minor stuff you'd expect on an almost 40 year boat. Scratches here and there, old electric cabling (talk about voltage loss... phew), gas system unused for years, a original Vega heater, illegal in Finland these days etc. Also a few more troubling problems came up, of which I have pictures for you as well:
http://www.inttervep.net/~mikko/vega/DSCN0367.JPG
A small crack in the front of the keel, out of which a little water is seeping
The surveyor doesn't think the damage should be very extensive, but suggests sanding down the area and letting it dry during the winter and then painting it up again.
http://www.inttervep.net/~mikko/vega/DSCN0354.JPG
A slight deformation of the front pulpit, including forestay. Probably caused by a sideways bump some time before. According to the current owner it was already there when she bought it, and hasn't really caused any problems.
I guess the metal railing should be removed, the area cleaned up and new gelcoat applied.
The surveyor also checked the hull for any moisture problems, but luckily all values were within acceptable levels.
A few things missing were a Windex and a VHF-antenna from the mast. The Windex we managed to install using a bosun's chair, but the guy up the mast couldn't figure out how to attach the antenna and how to feed the coax cable in the mast. We found the little hatch indoors that you can use to pull the cable in.
The boat is currently just a little shy of midway from Stockholm to Helsinki, in the Åland islands. My aim is to get her to Helsinki in the coming two weeks. Having no vacation at the moment makes this ofcourse a little difficult, but I'll manage it.
Well, that's it for me. As I've been lurking on the forums for a while, absorbing the accumulated knowledge herein, I thought an introduction would be in order!
Mikko