Looking to buy a 10 Meter

[captainmaniac]

I would be walking away. Even if the current owner has things fixed up and can demo it running well for an hour or two, you won't know if it is permanently fixed until after you have signed on the bottom line and he has your money. A good mechanic may be able to hide the symptoms for a short time, but 10 hours later it might bite you in the arse.

When I bought mine I had a mechanical inspection done and a sea trial - 2 hours running - and everything was fine. We did the deal. Two weeks later I went back to pick the boat up and had to bring it home through a bunch of locks on the Trent Severn waterway. As travel day 1 went along one engine got harder and harder to start after each lock. By mid way through day 2 it quit as I entered a lock, and wouldn't turn over when we went to leave.

The cause : cracked exhaust manifold. Every time I turned it off, water in the manifold was draining into whatever cylinders had open exhaust valves. The more I turned it off, the more water I ingested and the worse it got. Eventually had enough water in the cylinders that starter couldn't crank the engine against the back pressure. Sea trial was okay as it was never turned off, so exhaust pressure kept the water out of the cylinders.

$1800 later, and stuck for 3 days waiting for parts, we eventually continued on our way (with a determination to NEVER AGAIN deal with the brokerage or marina we bought the boat through).

[tsawyer]

Well, I've learned a few things about how this all works.

1). I should have had just a mechanical inspection and maybe a trial run before spending the money on the full survey.

2). Make sure I bring my own handheld vhf radio with me on the sea trial.

3). The grass is always greener on the other side

There is an 89 10 meter the next county up and I have an appt to see it tomorrow. It is a one owner boat and the current owner has already bought a new one.

I'm going to give it my inspection, followed by a discussion about price, then the mechanical inspection, sea trial and rest of the survey. In that order.

This boat appears to be in better shape and includes a few grand worth of electronics that the prior boad didn't.

BTW - the full survey (or at least the parts he could complete w/o generator power) had a list of 60+ items that needed repair/replacement. Most were small, but let's see how this other boat looks.

Thanks for all the info, I'm now looking at boats online and can identify visually the mid cabin vs the express, etc.

Tom

[tsawyer]

Just an update..

I've contracted to buy an 1988 10 Meter Mid-Cabin. Survey and sea trial went good and there are only a handfull of maintenance issues to take care of.

The surveyor indicated that this is a much much cleaner boat and there isn't anything I really need to do for another 6 months.

That being said, it appears that the risers and elbows are original. The company that did the engine survey for me said they should usually be replaced every 4 years and that the cost would be approx $1800.

It was a big yard that did it, so I'm guessing their price is high. I would love some input on this issue as far as how often and at what cost this is done.

I'm waiting for transfer paperwork and should take delivery of it mid week.

Tom

[BobCT]

risers and elbows are pretty straight forward and roughly $500 if you do them yourself. That's the 1st thing I did when I got my '88 mid cabin last year. I got an amazing deal on 4 brand new exhaust manifolds so I did those as well. Probably could have gotten more life since the engine is FWC but I did them anyway.

Plan on replacing the exhaust hose, it's really hard to get the hose off the elbow w/o doing damage (unless they've been off recently). I would actually try getting all four hoses off 1st so you can plan accordingly. I didn't even think of that and then had to wait for hose to come in.

I replaced every hose, both fuel pumps, rebuilt the carbs, coils/wires, plugs, thermostats. Some things I replaced proactively like the fuel pumps, coils and thermostats. I did this based strictly on age. The upside is now I have known good spares on board, the tools in the box AND the knowledge on how to change the parts on the off chance a "new" one fails. I changed all the fluids, new coolant overflow bottles which I relocated behind the engines on the aluminum crossmember. This way there not getting kicked everytime you work between the engines. I replaced and move the fuel lines coming from the shut off valve more to the side for the same reason.

My next and really last item is changing the u-coolers. If they fail it can be catastrophic to the engine or transmission. Mine are original and probably 10 years past their service life. I have the new ones on board and will do them next week sometime.

A did a bunch of other stuff as well but that's a good start!

Bob

P.S. - seal those limber holes and someone come up with revised air intakes that doesn't leak when it rains I'll buy two!

[prowlersfish]

I would Not have done the survey . The boat failed the sea trail so you can back out , why did you have to hire a capt for the sea trail ? and pay to wash the bottom ? I know you have to pay the haul out but to wash it ? unless your buying it forget it . and if the broker or owner did not pay your cab fair , I would walk away and tell everyone to stay away from both of them .

[RWS]

risers and elbows are pretty straight forward and roughly $500 if you do them yourself. That's the 1st thing I did when I got my '88 mid cabin last year. I got an amazing deal on 4 brand new exhaust manifolds so I did those as well. Probably could have gotten more life since the engine is FWC but I did them anyway.

Plan on replacing the exhaust hose, it's really hard to get the hose off the elbow w/o doing damage (unless they've been off recently). I would actually try getting all four hoses off 1st so you can plan accordingly. I didn't even think of that and then had to wait for hose to come in.

I replaced every hose, both fuel pumps, rebuilt the carbs, coils/wires, plugs, thermostats. Some things I replaced proactively like the fuel pumps, coils and thermostats. I did this based strictly on age. The upside is now I have known good spares on board, the tools in the box AND the knowledge on how to change the parts on the off chance a "new" one fails. I changed all the fluids, new coolant overflow bottles which I relocated behind the engines on the aluminum crossmember. This way there not getting kicked everytime you work between the engines. I replaced and move the fuel lines coming from the shut off valve more to the side for the same reason.

My next and really last item is changing the u-coolers. If they fail it can be catastrophic to the engine or transmission. Mine are original and probably 10 years past their service life. I have the new ones on board and will do them next week sometime.

A did a bunch of other stuff as well but that's a good start!

Bob

P.S. - seal those limber holes and someone come up with revised air intakes that doesn't leak when it rains I'll buy two!

=====================================

Bob's got the right idea.

Be proactive.

Consider the age of the boat.

Do this consistently and she'll never leave you stranded, every system will operate every time and you will have a relaxing and enjoyable time on the water.

RWS

[tsawyer]

I would Not have done the survey . The boat failed the sea trail so you can back out , why did you have to hire a capt for the sea trail ? and pay to wash the bottom ? I know you have to pay the haul out but to wash it ? unless your buying it forget it . and if the broker or owner did not pay your cab fair , I would walk away and tell everyone to stay away from both of them .

That was the 1st boat I looked at and I did indeed walk away from it. The sea trial was at the time of the survey and that 1st boat didn't have a broker involved.

The boat I am buying did just fine in the survey/sea trial. The broker has been great and ran it for the sea trial.

Thanks for the ongoing advice.

[gardnersf]

Bob,

Good idea on moving the coolant bottles, I'm always banging them.

I did rebuild my radar arch, but it sounds like you passed on that boat. I love my 10M mid cabin and the engines shoudl last a long time if well cared for.