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Greggegner · 02-06-2014, 04:12

It is all about space, we like boats with fewer cabins and heads ( often called the owners version). Unless two couples are buying the boat you will be by yourself after the first year. We removed our aft head and turned it into a walk-in closet. The front head is now a composting head...we don't need to redo those threads...Besides removing the head, we eliminated 1 holding tank (new storage locker) and >1/3 the water lines. Buy the boat you want.

Fulmitz · 29-06-2014, 22:05

Well, here is another update. I waited until I was sure, I found a 2012 Jeanneau 44 DS 2 cabin/2 Head, placed an offer, they accepted, the "money was seasoned" and I got the financing from SGB. The boat is in FL so I'm buying site unseen. I'm using my broker here (the one the Beneteau 41 fell through with) as my eyes and ears as they have a location in FL as well as New Orleans.

If the boat passes inspection this Wednesday then we should close on or before July 12th. I can't go there to check it out as the wife is due in 4 weeks and I won't leave her just to look at a boat. I trust my guys there and the inspector.

It has AC, Generator, Bimini/Dodger, forward/reverse electric winches, and extra fridge, huge owners cabin, and 360 docking (Jeanneau's version of Beneteau's dock and go). I'll keep y'all posted.

sailorboy1 · 30-06-2014, 03:39

wow buying a boat unseen

good luck!

Kevin84 · 30-06-2014, 08:33

You're braver than I am, buying a boat sight unseen. Good luck and I hope it works out well for you!

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BWB75 · 30-06-2014, 17:15

Well, it is not exactly as if Fulmitz is buying a 1970 steel custom, or even a moderately older production boat. A 2012 Jeanneau is a pretty well known quantity and the boat is probably too young for accumulated deferred maintenance to offer up many surprises. Between a trusted buyer's representative and a good surveyor I fail to see the problem.

Fulmitz, congratulations on getting close with another great boat! Please keep updating as things develop!

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Fulmitz · 30-06-2014, 17:31

BWB75,

Thanks! My thoughts exactly! It's 2 years old, not 12 years old. My broker checked it out first as he's not the main listing agent. It would behoove him to steer me clear of another brokers boat and get me to buy one he is listing as he would get full commission instead of splitting commission, but even he said he was very impressed with this Jeanneau.

The survey is this Wednesday morning. If there are any issues or if anything is questionable he will call me right away and he can always order me a new Beneteau (which would run me $100k more similarly equipped). I even checked with a Jeanneau dealer and a 2014 similarly equipped would run me As far as he can see so far, the only issues are cosmetic, the teak on the deck is greyed and the varnish on some of the wood was neglected. Besides, I'm a total novice. This is my first boat. I wouldn't know what to look for even If I was there that's why I have people who know what they're doing.

I'll keep everyone posted. Very excited! Now I'm working on a name for the boat!

Pelagic · 30-06-2014, 17:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fulmitz

.... I'll keep everyone posted. Very excited! Now I'm working on a name for the boat!

How about " Double Delivery" or "Great Expectations".

)

Congratulations

deluxe68 · 30-06-2014, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fulmitz

Thanks for all the advice guys! I signed a contract pending fianancing on the 2 cabin 1 head. Just waiting to hear from SGB, Beneteau's fianancing company.

Congrats on the new boat. SGB has great rates but their customer service is really bad. Good luck with them.

Fulmitz · 30-06-2014, 18:17

Pelagic,

Thanks but I've been told one word names are the way to go in case of emergency. I was thinking of Genesis, Phoenix or Kukla.

Deluxe68,

We had to file for an extension with the seller because SGB didn't even get to my application for over 3 weeks.

Fulmitz · 02-07-2014, 17:07

Okay, so here is the update.

The surveyor called me and gave the low down and will forward a written report by Saturday. The biggest problem is the generator. It runs for 30 sec and then shuts down. It only has 27 hours on it and he can't examine it further as it's been put in a weird place that is extremely difficult to access. The teak is wrecked and needs to be wooded and refinished? There are deck leaks, a cracked hatch with water that leaked below onto cushions, the wind instruments don't work, there are 4 compasses that are all off by 20-30 degrees from each other, a rotted line on a buoy, rubber gaskets on the hatches need to be adjusted and re-glued, needs a bottom job and the position of that generator may make further maintenance difficult down the road. Also one battery is running 30 degrees hotter than the other 4 and the other 4 are doing more work so something is hooked up wrong and the batteries should be buckled down but it was broken and someone just tied it down by putting the straps into knots. There were some kind of pins missing from the bottom of nuts to stop them from loosening so the nuts were loose and some screws were just completely missing. I'm sure there's more but that's what I can remember. He figures this is because it was a demo for the boat shows and they probably rushed to get it ready and then never went back and fixed it when they sold it and the owner was oblivious.

He said the 360 docking system worked great and they boat is amazing to sail. The sails are fine as well. He recommended they get the generator up and running so he can inspect it, the rest can be fixed and shouldn't' be a deterrent from this boat. The seller apparently was very lax in caring for the boat. Oh, there were some cracks in the gel coat.

Is this a lot for a 2 year old boat? He seemed very thorough and I don't think he missed anything. I'm wondering were would be a good place for the gen as he said were it is now is not good at all! Also this was hull #3 so it was one of the first of the boats off the line for the redesign in 2012.

Pelagic · 02-07-2014, 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fulmitz

..... He figures this is because it was a demo for the boat shows and they probably rushed to get it ready and then never went back and fixed it when they sold it and the owner was oblivious.

.......Is this a lot for a 2 year old boat? He seemed very thorough and I don't think he missed anything. I'm wondering were would be a good place for the gen as he said were it is now is not good at all! Also this was hull #3 so it was one of the first of the boats off the line for the redesign in 2012.

While the Surveyor identified a lot of issues and probable cause as a demo.... you can assume there are other issues that will take more effort to discover.... Some could be expensive to remedy.

If it were me I would renegotiate the price to cover your cost of spending a week to self survey actual condition from your owners perspective.

The Gen issue is typical of builders installation with no thought to maintenance. (One of my pet peeves)

The only practical solution may be to remove the sound shield for sufficient access and improve on ER sound insulation to compensate.

This is why you need to be down there when problem solving to test if you can live with it.

tego · 02-07-2014, 20:46

I can think of no greater waste of space than 2 heads on a 40' boat. It would be far better with one head with a separate shower. It's great for hanging soaked foulies to dry. I hate standing over the toilet with a shower wand and soaking the whole head space. I've never had a problem with lots of guests (and we had lots!) on our old Pearson 424 ketch. A single larger head is the best in my opinion. Ben

Kevin84 · 02-07-2014, 23:38

That is a much longer list than I would expect on a 2 year old boat. My worry is, if the owner was that oblivious, what are you going to find in a month? Two months? A year? Ask yourself this: if you had seen this boat in person prior to making your offer, would you have made an offer to begin with? If the answer is no, don't walk, run away. This is the problem with buying sight unseen. You don't see any of the boat's issues until after you already have money invested in purchasing the boat. I know a few people who did this and ended up buying a boat that they otherwise wouldn't have simply because they'd already had money in the boat for haul, launch and survey (and in one case, a Captain for the survey). In short, don't throw good money after bad.

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