My rant on boat cleanliness & maintenance!

[Maine Sail]

Hi All,I've taken some jabs from time to time on this and other boards because the condition of my boats is a very high priority for me. Yes I'm OCD about being able to eat out of my bilge and having my topsides buffed and polished till it blinds you but you know what it pays off!!When I sold my Catalina 36 the first person to step on board bought it. I though to myself it must be pure luck. So another year goes buy and I sell my Mainship Pilot 30 powerboat to the first guy that looked at it too. This guy could not pull his checkbook out fast enough just like the guy who had looked for 8 solid months that purchased my C-36. At this point I was beginning to think I was on to something. A Fluke? Well this brings me up to the present day where I again sold my 2005 Catalina 310 to the first person to step aboard and I have a guy waiting in the wings if this deal does not go through for some odd reason. The buyer of my boat was looking at 04's 05's & 06's but as he said they were all trashed! These boats are less than 3 years old and according to this guy trashed! WTF...????So now, with three boats sold to the first looker, you guys tell me, does keeping your boat clean, mold free, shiny and with NO oil on or in the engine compartment pay off?? I think three sales, to the first buyer, is more than a fluke! I for one am glad I take the effort to maintain the second largest capital investment, other than my house, that I own. It also pays off big time! My C-36 sold for the highest price of it's vintage, netting me 14k more than I paid for it, and I made 4k after paying my commission on my Mainship Pilot 30. I had only owned the Mainship for only a year! The reason for my rant is I'm currently in the process of buying another boat, and have the money, but I'm disgusted at the lack of care & upkeep I'm seeing & will not buy a boat that is not well cared for period. After looking at close to 35 boats since December I have decided this is more the norm than the rule. What ever happened to the term "Bristol Condition"? Is this an antiquated definition of the past with our generation? Are we lazy, slackers who are just uninitiated and to busy or are we to wealthy to care about a six figure investment? Is getting home to watch American Idol taken precedent over our boats? A little elbow grease once in a while pays off big time guys. I'm frustrated, disgusted and confused as to why do so many owners keep there boats in such an unhealthy state of cleanliness? If some of these boats were homes they would have already been condemned by the health department!Seriously one or two weekends with a scrub brush and buffer could net some of you sellers 10k more in asking price easy!!!

 

[Billcat30tr]

I have to agree with you

When I started looking for a boat in my price range (LOW) 5 years ago all I found was junk. It took me 2 years of crawling around boat yards to find the boat I now own. And I found it 350 miles away in Travers City Michigan. I guess we shouldn't rant too much it makes our boats worth more and easier to sell.

 

[Scott On Eagles Wings]

I agree with you

but I have to say the Dutchmen in me would be wondering If I was asking too low a price for the boat if it sells that fast. I sold our pop up trailer many years back. I was still setting the thing up in my front yard when the first guy to stop bought it on the spot. I had cash in my hand within an hour and he drove it home that night. I am still not over it. I too have gone totaly anal about our boat, I just can't relax in filth or work with broken equipment If it is remotely dangerous it is gone that day. Spent more fixing our boat to my ever rising standard than I paid for it at this point. Love every minute of it. Waiting desperately for some good weather. Fair Winds Scott

 

[Scott]

Many factors ...

Time, money and know-how are all part of it. Some people are obviously more efficient with their time, have more money to spend on maintenance, and have superior skills. We are obviously not all equal in that regard. I assume your house, your relationship with your wife, and your performance at work are as spotless as your boat, thus you do have it all together and can look on all of it with satisfaction.I, on the other hand, find that my wife and I love sailing together, but my wife begins to feel a little resentful when I spend too many hours and too much money on maintenance, since money and time with my wife is limited. So it becomes a balancing act (sometimes stressful) when I have to make decisions that compromise my time and our money and our boat is not always the highest priority!

 

[Zaphro]

Took me nearly....

two years to bring mine back from the neglect of the previous owner. I actually found stuff from the original owner still shoved in spaces on board including the original commissioning check sheet from the purchase in 1987. I love the sweat equity though. And I certainly know her inside and out now.

 

[RichH]

Same thing with automobiles ......

most are never maintained (just sent into the 'stealership' every few months) and traded-in when they look 'sad'. Same with boats. Its called preservation of captial when one takes the little bit of time and 'maintains' .... quite a contrarian view in a 'disposable' minded society.

 

[BobW]

TWO Scotts on Lake Hopatcong?

Both anal/OCD about their boats?This is too much!Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[Ross]

I have always sought a middle ground

in the care and use of property. I have a neighbor that cleans his lawn mower with a scrub brush and garden hose every time he finishes the mowing. His mower doesn't last any longer than mine. In our slum marina we have a few boats that are kept spotless and rarely sailed and a few that are completely neglected and rarely sailed. My boat lands somewhere in between those extremes. When it is dirty, I drop a bucket over the side and sluice the deck and then swab it and rinse with another bucket of water. Paint gets touched up when it needs it. All of the ends of the lines are whipped. There is no accumulation of junk on board. Spare lines are kept in bags so that we don't have a rat's nest in the locker. Not spotless but not too shabby. Just a good comfortable lived-in look.I went to look at a job last week. I knocked on the door and was told to enter. After a few minutes the owner appeared and observed that I had my shoes on. I said that they were clean and that I wore them when I worked. I decided that I would not work for him.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Everything in its place...

This is from someone who posted on our "Buying a Catalina 34" list some long, long time ago. I didn't write this, but it seems to apply:"My experience has been that a close observation of the seller and those things surrounding them can often give a clue as to the seller's approach to care & maintenance in general. Rare is the person who lets their car stay dirty, with leaking oil, grating brakes, etc., while meticulously caring for and maintaining their diesel engine & fiberglass boat. Spousal care & maintenance might be an exception."Everyone's different, and has to balance the other responsibilities in their lives. But I find it a lot more comforting, whether coming into my house, or to our boat, when everything's clean and the maintenance list is, at least partially, checked off -- there's always something to do. My office may be the exception!

 

[Rick]

My Two Cents

During my search for a boat, what soured me more than neglect of maintenance was all the holes left where people constantly bored or cut out for a multitude of reasons. Items over the years were screwed and pop-riveted everywhere and wire runs left dangling. I'm not so anal as to realize that various instruments and personalization is necessary but most of the stuff I seen seemed to have no thought involved before reaching for a drill. Once holes are drilled/cut they generally can't be masked afterward. There are many many companies that supply some really nice optional equipment(Edson and NAVPOD for example)that give your vessel the "factory installed" appearance and can be adapted if upgrades are required in the future without having to cut more holes. Just my thought on up keep and maintaining a saleable vessel....

 

[scolil]

Good Talk

but where are the pictures?I love hearing what is done to keep boats looking good, but I really like to see them, and get ideas for what mine should look like.

 

[higgs]

I like a nice looking boat

My boat does not have to be perfect, but I do keep her looking pretty good. Part of the joy for me is looking at my boat in the slip. I think one's boat should make one's heart beat a little faster when you look at her. I traded in my Irwin 32 to a dealer in WI and got a call from the new owner to thank me for the job I did maintaining that boat. I had done a lot of work bringing her back and he even said the surveyor commented on my work. That felt nice. I get a lot of enjoyment out of working with my hands and consider my boat to my most important possession, so it gets more attention than the house.

 

[Mike B]

Mr OCD

My wife and kids call me Mr OCD. While it's a constant battle around the house the boat in another thing. They know it's my domain and don't question it. When we traded our last boat and the broker and his sales people kept telling me it didn't smell inside. I take that sort of cleanliness for granted but apparently not everyone does. Our current boat we bought new and I do everything to keep her that way. The bilges get cleaned 2-3 times a year. The engine gets wiped down after maintenance and at any time I see excess dirt. If the head even begins to smell everything gets cleaned. Other sailors on our dock wont get on her because they would have to take their shoes off. Yes I get just a bit anal with certain people on my boat and if they don't like it they can stay off. We constantly get compliments about how nice we keep her. Think I'll keep it that way.

 

[saltygator]

Sail Boat...

I worked for a marine part supplier in college and they sent us to the Miami Boat Show every year to polish the boats for the show. Shiney is nice, Wow, you can move clothe back and forth and in circles, or afford to hire someone to do it for you. But, can your kids raise the sails and skipper the boat.How many dophin have come over that polished rail, and landed in that spotless cockpit? What is the most memorable experience your kids or grandkids take home? No cheetos on the boat? Nobody eats in the salon? Relax and have some fun, then sell the boat to the second guy who looks at it.

 

[higgs]

Gator

One can have all those memories and still keep a nice looking boat- maybe not pristine- but nice.

 

[Doug]

I think

Gator has a valid point I just don't think he's looked at what's for sale recently. We ain't talking cheetos need to be vacumed. Wednesday I drove 9 hrs round trip to see a totally neglected POS project. Kinda upseting to believe people let a great boat (and $75,000) sit and deteriorate to junk. Leaking hardware, and windows, interior wood delaminating, paint like ckalk only scarred and flaking. I never even bothered to start it.Supposed to go road trippin' again next week, this time to CT. and if it's beat to death I may treat the owner the same way.

 

[Bob V]

CDO

Mainsail,I agree completely. As an example, today while I was halibut fishing off the back of my C350, I was polishing the wheel with my free hand. My wife often tells me to relax when I am doing maintainence or waxing while we are anchored in some beautiful cove up in Desolation Sound or someplace like that. What better place to do a bit of boat fussin'?My next door neigbor noticed the way I took care of my old Hunter. He owns it now. I never got a chance to advertise it. It goes a lot deeper than wax, too. The boats that look neglected are seldom the best mechanically.By the way, I suffer from (& enjoy) CDO. It's like OCD but has all of the letters arranged in proper alphabetical order. It looks nicer that way...don't you think?

 

[Jeff]

15 year old (oops)

computers

 

[Anchor Down]

Obsessive Captain Disorder

You guys talk a good story, but for the rest of us, you're hell to live with.My friend is one of you. When I used to crew for him, we'd dinghy up to the stern, and I'd tie the bow and stern of the dinghy off to the quarter cleats. I'm talking perfect cleat hitches with neat tails. Proper tension. Hell, he taught me.He'd come by five minutes later and re-tie my knots: sometimes to take in or pay out a quarter of an inch; sometimes just because he wanted the tail to exit the other horn of the cleat; sometimes I think just because he had to do it himself. And that is just one example among hundreds I could catalogue.His boat always looks nice, but there were so many rules: don't put that over there, don't eat there, don't do it like that, could you put your bag over here (WTH, it's secure & not in anyone's way), here, let me show you. And this is after I'd crewed with him for 5 or 6 years, and was the best crew he'd ever had. I'm no slob: I kept my gear stowed, pitched in for my share of the work/expenses, and jumped when given an order. It was damned frustrating after a while, but he was the skipper, so I kept my hatches battened and did things his way.Now I have my own boat, and I do things my way, and that includes not being obsessive, and allowing my crew & guests to both be involved and enjoy themselves without feeling under the gun all the time.We all admire your industry (almost as much as you admire your industry), but which is more important, your wife who desires your time and attention, or the damned boat? You guys are both slave and taskmaster all wound up into one tense little ball. Relax (look it up in the dictionary: it doesn't mean what you think it means), breathe, don't be afraid to enjoy life a little without feeling guilty that you aren't working every waking moment. Fishing and polishing? Good Lord! Read Huckleberry Finn. And if you can't do that, at least don't look down your noses at others whom God put different temperments into.I'd close with "See You at the Dock," but you won't see me much at the dock: while you're polishing and buffing, I'm sailing. I'll do all that right before I sell.All in Good Fun, Now, <w>Jeff

 

[dpatrick]

started as a rant - turned out to be a great post

A friend of mine listed his house and acreage for sale. The first person that came and looked at it bought it. He told me he thinks maybe he could have sold it for more, i think so too. How about the guy that gets the new car, and every weekend he's out there washing it and polishing it, and then as time goes by, you can see the interest wane. A year later you see the car in his driveway, beat up and dirty. I am not a spit and polish type of person, but i would like to be. Housekeeping is a continuous job, so is maintenance. If you acquire something, it should at least be in as good a condition, or better, when you are done with it. Maine Sail, don't get discouraged. It seems to me that you know how to "take care of business", with your equipment, and what you sow is what you reap. I would like to give you a word of encouragement- take it or leave it or use it later if you decide. Pray about this next boat. The ONE who designed you, knows your every need. HE will provide for those who diligently seek HIM. Ask and you will recieve. In my heart i know that you are getting ready to recieve. When you are out sailing on it, remember this post, and thank HIM, for letting you use it while you are here. HE has been good to me, thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you. It is a good life. The good days far outnumber the bad days.DPatrick