hey-- looking to buy used boat

Hi,

Welcome to Yacht Forums.

If this info on your profile is true now:

I would say that you are in for a non too pleasant surprise with either of those upgrades you have looked at.

BTW: I am extremely biased towards Diesel Engined Boats.

neither boats have a great reputation as far as quality goes... back then sea ray used a lot of wood in places where it could get very wet and Mainship is not exaclty known for their quality either.

you dont' say where you're from but since you're using the word "petrol" i'd guess you're in the UK or europe? if so, diesel is a no brainer since there is a big difference in diesel vs petrol/gas prices at the pump.

if you're in the US where diesel and gas prices are closer, cost wise it's pretty close when you take maintenance into account then it's pretty much even. That said, at aroudn 40' gas engines dont' make a lot of sense and diesel are much better suited for the application. and there is the safety factor as well (no fumes to go kaboom).

but keep in mind that repairs and especially rebuilds on diesels cost a lot more than with gassers so make sure the engines are in good condition for their age.

finally, on either boat be ready for some possibly serious spending, not just engines but thinks like fuel tanks which are probably near the end of their life.

IF condition is the same I would go hands down for the Sea Ray. They built some heavy boats with good handling characteristics back then. The gas tanks on the Mainship would be a big concern especially if they are glass. Old tanks and new gasoline don't do well together. The Mainship is also not a great handling boat and it's slow.
A thorough survey is imperative, especially check all wood, stringers, etc.
Do you know how when those diesels were last overhauled? check. Good luck and welcome.

if you are afraid of replacing a bilge blower and a macerator, forget about buying a boat!

first, unless you're going to routinely go 3 miles offshore where it's legal to pump overboard you dont' even need the macerator anyway... and if it's one of the POS Jabsco or PAR impeller macerator, they dont' last more than a couple of years anyway...

bilge blowers also fail pretty regularlry, if original to the boat, they're 15 years old!

did you get the boat surveyed? i can't believe that these woudl be the only issues on a 15 year old mainship... you're talking pocket change parts here ($100 each or so).... if that stretches your finances, you're in for a rude awakening when the real problems come up.

The macerator pump is a bit of money, but no big deal. You won't be using it often. The blower is cheap, but worrisome. This is a gas boat. Without a blower this owner has risked blowing up every time he turned the key. Makes me wonder about all sorts of things, but mainly, why wouldn't he have had that fixed before putting the boat up for sale. Blowing up on sea trial would certainly upset a sale. From what you say, I assume you've had a survey and this is all that was found. If that's actually the case it sounds ok. Good luck and safe boating.

well, it's easy to figure out... get a tester and check for power at the wires going to the blower! takes 1 minute...

now when you say "bilge blower connected to the breaker panel is not working." do you mean that the blower can only be turned on by a breaker on the electrical panel? if so, blowers should be activated by a switch at the helm to make sure you dont' forget to turn them on. if you have to use a CB inside teh boat, it could be an indication of creative wiring like having bypassed a bad switch or wiring issue to the dash.

have you sea trialed the boat yet? this shoudl be done BEFORE the survey to make sure the boat runs properly. you dont' want to spend $1000 or more on a survey, haulout, etc... only to find out one engine is overheating or the boat has a nasty vibration underway.

your contract and offer shoudl include a sea trial before survey (which will include its own sea trial).


if the seller is refusing to repair a $100 macerator now, you bet that once you've already spend $1000+ he will be even less likely to fix other issues.

but again, your are talking about a 15 year old boat built by an average (some will say below average) buidler. there will be surprises, if you're stretching your budget just to buy, it will not work out. you need to budget at least 10% of the purchase cost for post purchase repairs.

Hi,

And this is not just in the first 12 months of ownership, it just goes on and on in a sometimes non linear relationship to the time of ownership.

I agree with everyone else. Maintaining a boat of this size is probably going to cost a lot more then you think it's going to be. I think the Searay is a better boat, both in quality and the fact that it has diesels. However I don't know the condition of either boat you're looking at.

Changing a macerator pump takes 1-2 hours, and the pump is around $200. The bilge blower could be anywhere from $40-200 and is also not a big deal to change.......but as NYCAP said Very Very important to have working.

Get a survey done. If you're not already in a contract make sure the contract is contingent on a clean, or fairly clean, survey. You should have any boat surveyed you are contemplating buying but especially one that old.

Both the macerator pump and blower are minor repairs. Like others said, if paying for them bothers you maybe you shouldn't be buying a boat. The oft repeated saw that "A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money" is repeated because it's true not because it's funny. A corollary might be "that gets bigger and deeper with age".

If all you said is true, run don't walk away.

Buy a boat you can realistically afford. You'll be happier in the end and may even still be married.

Hi,

The OP States in his Profile that a 17 ft Sunbird Bow Rider is a Sinkhole for money.

As I said above if this is how he sees boating now he will not be overly impressed with the costs of owning and operating a larger boat at all.

Given his posts since then I see the purchase of this or any other larger boat as something that he and his bank manager and or other loved ones need to consider closely before taking that next step and buying the thing.

It wont be all hard parts, flat stomachs and G Strings like the glossy magazines might have you believe.

Agree with the financial statements above, but my big concern is that blower. I wouldn't even turn that key much less survey & sea trial until that is fixed. You just don't start a gas boat without using the blowers. Kaboom!

If the broker is convinced that these are not a big deal, have him repair them. Consider it a reduction in his commission to close the deal.

If there's a little nagging voice in the back of your head, back out. All the voices in your head should be telling you to buy. If someone in there isn't with the program, find another boat.

Hey all.
You don't have to worry.. we have no hard bodies and g-strins will not be allowed. We have allowed significant funds in our budget for repairs , we are just somewhat irritated that he won't cough it up to fix the things that have occurred on his watch just as we will do on ours. Thanks so much for the advice.

Me thinks the survey will be interesting. BTW, "g-strings will not be allowed"? You do know that implants float right? Those hardbodies are considered part of the safety equipment.

It would be disconcerting to me that someone selling a boat is not willing to fix these two simple (or should be simple) items. I can understand the seller taking a pass on fixing the pump but the broken blower rubs me wrong. Two things come to mind.

1st is the seller is a nitwit. Who in their right mind uses a gas boat with no blower?

2nd thing is if he's not willing to fix the blower then what else has he not tended to? Ah, that's what the survey is for but will it be a waste? I'm not sure I'd want to gamble the cost of a survey on this boat based on what you've told us. There are too many boats on the market to have to settle for something like this.

With this challenging market for used boats I would think that as a seller you'd want to make your boat reasonably presentable. Not fixing the blower suggests to me that there's more involved than there appears. I could be wrong, I'm just saying how I would look into a deal. As was mentioned by Pascal already you can bet the seller is going to play hardball in negotiating once they know you have more money into this with a survey.

1. Fire the broker.
2. Take Capt Bills' advice.