Committed

Well the survey and rigging check went OK. There were some things pointed out as needing attention, but overall the surveyor seemed very impressed with the boat. In fact at one stage I thought he was going to make an offer on it.

Most of the things needing attention are simply to clean up and apply lubricants to moving parts that haven't been used for a couple of years. A couple of minor fuel leaks at the pump and filter, the anchor chain needs renewing, the anchor windlass is seized, and the macerator is inoperative. What's that you ask? What's a macerator? Well, it's ... umm ... part of the ... waste treatment and pumping system. It ... err ... chews up and pumps out ... umm ... 'solid waste' from the toilet. Well, you asked! So anyway, it needs to be repaired or replaced. They aren't a very expensive unit, so I'll probably just replace it. Which is a bit of a relief, as I wasn't looking forward to disassembling a very used poo pump to find out what's wrong with it. Removing it will be bad enough, thank you very much.

The rigging inspection report was a bit ambivalent. It's apparently all quite sound, but getting on a bit in years. So the rigger said that if the boat was going to be used locally he'd say it was fine for another 3-5 years, but if he was taking it on an ocean voyage then he'd replace the shrouds, which will cost me at least a couple of thousand dollars. So now I need to decide if the rigger was just being professional and/or perfectionist, or if he just felt the need to report that something needs doing, or if I think I need to replace the 'fine for 3 - 5 years' rigging at a budget blowing cost. I'll be having some further dialogue with him on this before I decide if it's 'necessary' or 'precautionary'.

The big relief though is that the survey reported that the structural elements and hull are all in good condition. No blisters, no de-lamination, no significant corrosion. On that basis I spoke to the broker and said "Would the vendor be willing to contribute to any of these items, particularly the macerator and windlass, as these were listed on the original advert, without mentioning that they weren't in working order. The broker was clearly a bit reluctant. He indicated that to do so would constitute a 'reduced offer' on my part, which the vendor was likely to reject as another prospective buyer had appeared on the scene and made an offer on the advertised price without haggling. I have my doubts about this, but in the end I just went ahead and said that I was confirming the offer 'as it stands', rather than getting into a game of bluff. That was late yesterday.

So last night I initiated the transfer of the balance of the sale price, and today I went back to the broker to sign the confirmation of final offer. While I was there the broker mentioned that the second prospective buyer had asked him to communicate to me that the second buyer would pay me $2000 to walk away so he could buy the boat. I still have doubts about the existence of this second buyer, but it made for a good story.

There we have it. I am now irrevocably committed. Give me a couple of weeks to do the preparations and some familiarisation sailing, and I'll be off.

On to the next stage!