Under contract to buy Sunseeker Portofino 46

RER, thanks for the feedback!
I was looking for a cruiser in the 40ft range. 1. under 300k. 2. no IPS 3. an engine room you dont have to crawl through. 4. hydraulic swim platform. 5. priced properly

older Searays are an option but most dont have the swim platform and I just dont like the look of them or the layout.
a few older boats would work but they have old questionable engines as well (23 yr old boat with 600 hrs on it for example, and no maintenance history)

the Portofino 46 has engine room you can stand up in, and room on either side of engines for maintenance
it has a swim platform operated by electric motor that drops down into water on a "slide" for lack of better term, leaving the mechanical gear up out of salt water and thus much less maintenance and repairs
the one im looking at has a repower and with cummins engines
its priced about right in terms of the comps im looking at for that boat, assuming boat wizard can be trusted
lots of boats are priced very high and owner has a loan he cant get out of or he wont come down in price, so that kills most deals.
Houston area (that the boat is located) has brackish water. people get bottom cleanings every 8 months. and reputable engine shop said aftercoolers need cleaned every 1000hrs. Brackish water is a lot less hard on a boat than the Florida salt water, which is the worst

There is a Portofino in Miami but it looks terrible, with obvious neglect and lack of maintenance, as is the condition of lots of boats here. and owner wants way too much for it compared to what its worth after i factor in repairs needed

ok ill look into an engine survey today.

I think the crazing will be ok as far as functionality goes, and it will just serve to get me into a boat at a cheaper price.

I've considered going straight to 55 or 60, but right now i dont want to spend that much money.
Also insurance is not kind to me if going from 30ft experience to 60ft.

Ill do survey next week and report back.

hull and engine survey went well. only a few minor issues to take care off. hoping to close on it next week.

I hired LHS marine / Louis H. Stahlberg for the survey. He came recommended on the forums.

1. Lou said boat was overall in slightly above average condition. he gave a value of 210k. Im closing on it for 192k after a few minor concessions.

2. We didn't find any moisture or delamination in core or on the deck. hull didn't show any damage. We replaced zincs during haulout.

3. We didn't find any issues with how the boat was sitting in the water. the waterline paint is perfectly level until the very front bow area, where it has to angle in to follow the boat hull contours. and from that point, the last 5 or 6 feet in the front, the prior bottom paint is just an inch low. it was just obviously not done correctly in past. it just needs an 1in or 2 higher bottom paint to be applied in the front to be corrected.

4. boat was weighted and came in under weight around 28k lbs, with 1/4 fuel and full water (per gauge). which is well under the full reported weight of 34k lbs (assuming 34k lbs number i found online was wet not dry weight).
I had it hauled at a marine that had a new travel lift. Weight numbers may not have been perfectly accurate, and i'm not even sure what the actual weight should be, but 28k for a 46 cruiser is about right. I was just looking to make sure it didn't come in super high or something.

5. engine survey came in good. boat engines ran perfect, no smoke at all, instant cold start. smooth idle, perfectly smooth gear shifting.
top speed seen on my phone GPS was 31 knots, which is spot on for this boat in new condition with 480hp engines.
RPMs on each engine was within 50 rpm of each other.
we saw the engines top at 3350/3400 rpm (redline) while boat made top speed of 31 knots in 1ft chop
I've read this engine should be propped to max at 3200 rpm, but I have no plans to spend any time at all near redline so it may not be a issue for me
Additionally this top speed run was done on 1/4 fuel and 4 people on board. I think we maybe should have done test at full fuel but not sure on this.

Engine temps were in the 175 deg range for both engines
Oil pressures in the 40 to 50 psi range, same for both engines

6. No vibrations or noises were noticed during operation or during hard turns to port/stbd.
aftercooler temp drops were measured. we saw excellent temp drops of air passing through aftercoolers. no hose swelling. no worn or bulging hoses. normal blow-by/no smoke.
no signs of any leaks on engines

aftercooler bottom zincs were gone, and top aftercooler zinc intact but was covered over with some sort of green/yellow growth.
I will service aftercooler cores ASAP when I get delivery and document the service in my records.

6. All seacocks were operational and in good condition, no heavy corrosion or other issues noted.

7. Bilge was dry, no oil or high water stains/marks

8. About avg rust in engine room. little parts here and there on engine. one motor mount was rusted but will clean up ok, no structural damage

only 2 issues that makes the boat not worth 230k or 240k is the gelcoat crazing and a few interior spots in the woodwork in misc areas that are show signs of delamination.
most of the crazing is on interior cockpit areas, non structural areas, and areas that aren't even direct exposure to the sun. so its clear that the crazing is just an issue from the factory and not structural.
I'm going to sand down and repair gelcoat myself to save a fortune on the crazing issue.
I'm going to layer over the old style red laminate wood with the new style stick on vinyl regardless so it wasn't an issue for me.


Thanks for all the feedback and assistance so far!

I'm currently looking for slips in the Miami/fort Lauderdale area. I can also keep it behind a buddies house temporarily if needed, so no rush.

I'll keep you guys posted and get some photos when I get a chance.
I'm going to do a complete inspection and partial teardown/cleaning of every system, aftercoolers, heat exchangers, clean all ground connections, bonding connections, etc and test for any galvanic corrosion issues or ground leaks and report back over the coming month or 2.

-Phil

thanks for that info!
and yes I noted that the new engines were saving me 300 or 400 lbs each. this could account for the slight forward lean, if there indeed is a lean. we also had 1/4 fuel, and tanks are in engine room next to engines
so combination of low fuel and less engine weight would mean potentially 2500lbs weight was missing from the stern, which could effect the way it sits in the water for sure i would think.

we saw a good speed for that boat of 31 knots and almost 1 MPG fuel economy at 18knots, ill get more exact measurements later on the fuel economy but it looks decent so far.

given the very few checks that were done for the engine survey, the simplicity of the checks, and the minimal time it took.....plus when compared the the cost of the engine survey, I'm definitely leaning toward doing my own engine survey on my next boat.


oh, forgot to mention...Oil samples came out good for port/stbd engine and generator as well.

i havnt heard about doing a coolant sample before, i will research that.