[Public-List] Buyer beware!!

[Greg Dawson via Public-List]

Hi all.
 
So, our boat came out this week, or perhaps I should say our project !! There is much to do from removing mould in the cabin to replacing bulkheads where water entering via the chain plates has rotted the ply to repairing the mast & completely rewiring her. 
 
As part of the project we decided to pull our old atomic 4 and check it over, it would also give us chance to replace the leaking stopcocks on the cockpit drains, replace the packing on the rudder and prop, renew the wiring to the engine that was in a bad way and generally paint and tidy the engine compartment, oh yes and replace the bilge pump and blower that no longer work and add a fume detector !!
 
At some point in the past week the previous owner visited the yard and was heard to comment "don't know why they are pulling the engine, it's only got 60 hours on it". I'm so glad that I pulled that engine out because I discovered two leaks in the exhaust and the block drain tap broke off as I tried to open it with two fingers.
 
The survey couldn't have detected the faults as all looked good and they weren't the fault of poor maintenance on the part of the previous owner.
 
I have no complaints about buying our boat, she's going to be beautiful once again and just needs a bit of TLC and a cash injection. The reason that I am typing this is simply, if it wasn't for the fact that the engine was running poorly and that it wouldn't shift into reverse we might have left it in place for the year and concentrated our efforts elsewhere.
 
The consequences for myself & my family could have been dire. Next year apart from bilge pumps, blowers & fume detectors there will be a CO detector on our boat!! 

Food for thought, Off to drain contaminated fuel out of our tank before Thanks Giving Lunch!!

Greg.
#348 Good Hope.