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August 15, 1998 Issue


August 1, 1998 Issue

August 15, 1998 Issue


Questions You Wished You Asked

By Mark Reveaux

Many of us small boat enthusiasts have either bought boats that were built by individuals, or bought plans for our own construction projects. Our experiences have varied greatly between the quality of the amateur-built boats and the explicitness of the designs we've purchased.

There are some lessons I've learned that I want to share with others who plan to buy an amateur-built boat or build from someone's plans. Asking the right questions can often save you from making an irreversible mistake, costing countless hours of time and expense.

When I decided it was time to build a large vessel, I chose steel, took welding courses, and started to look at designs. I drove down to Florida where I visited a steel boat operation. I looked at one of the hulls and found it had a slight twist because the builder wasn't using frames. The builder said, "You don't need frames and a little twist never hurt anyone. All you have to do is set your rudder off a few degrees and it will compensate." Can you imagine buying a finished boat like this, not seeing the twist, and then have the boat veer off course when the rudder was straight? I bet that the owner wouldn't inform the buyer of the problem, and I'm not even sure that a surveyor would have noticed it.

I built a 34' gaff cutter of steel. The naval architect's prints were professionally done, but finishing the boat took more time because there weren't enough details. The boat turned out well, but it the project would have taken less time if I had asked the right questions in the beginning.

A friend asked me to survey a boat he was interested in buying in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a 46' schooner and advertised as pin-perfect. What I found was a laundry list of problems not readily visible when walking through the boat. All the problems were hidden behind panels, floor boards, headliners, cabin joinery, bunks, and engine compartments. It turned out to actually be a restoration project, and a very expensive one at that, for any unsuspecting buyer who took the seller's word for it.

I purchased a 9' catboat from a girlfriend's nephew. Because of our relation-ship, and because the boat was recommended by his uncle, who was a carpenter, I didn't question the workmanship and essentially bought the boat after a brief oveview. When I brought the boat home, I found he used exterior plywood and not marine, used an ironing board for the centerboard, which explained why it was severely warped, and used clothes line for the shrouds. The hardware came from True Value. The mast came from a junked Blue Jay. The boom and rudder came from a sailing pram. Fiberglass had already started to delaminate on the 1/4" hull.

The paint used was interior latex, the kind you would use for your living room. The sails had been crammed into a laundry sack and stored on a garage shelf. They had mildew stems throughout, were too small for the boat and the hardware wasn't compatible with the spars. It took me a month to rebuild the boat to the extent that it could be resold. And what could you say? He was my girlfriend's nephew.

I bought a 16' Swampscott dory from an older gentleman who represented it to be solidly built and without problems. Looking at it from the stern, there appeared to be a slight twist. When I questioned the gentleman, he replied there was no twist in the boat. The bow couldn't be inspected because it was up against the boatyard barn. I asked the man if it had any problems and he said no. It looked OK from the stern. It was loaded on my trailer and it was not until halfway home (a 200-mile trip each way) when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw a pronounced twist in the bow. I pulled into the rest stop and took another look. Sure enough, there was a twist.

I got the boat home, unhitched the trailer, took a few steps back, and the twist was even more evident. It cost me $150 to return the boat; $50 in gas, the entire day driving 400 miles and $100 that the gentleman required to accept the return. Plus, I had to return it to his house, which was five miles from his boatyard. So over one weekend, I ended up driving 800 miles so that I could pay a man $100 to transport his boat from the boatyard to his house. The man wasn't dishonest about it, actually. When I asked him about it, he said that a twist in the hull was OK and wouldn't affect the performance of the boat. He was right, performance probably wasn't affected, but in this case we have a difference of values in what we consider acceptable workmanship.

For me, it was a mistake, and it would have been even more bothersome if I had kept the boat. And when it came time to re-sell the boat, the buyer may not like the twist any more than I did, and consequently offer much less than what I paid for it. It's really supposed to be the other way around. Improve the value of the boat and get more for it than what you had originally paid, but this is only possible if the problems are correctable.

I sent away for plans to build a kayak. What I received (for $95) was a videotape of the building process and two small prints that didn't show sufficient detail for building the boat from scratch. The designer explained later that the plans were only intended to be part of his kit. I looked at this as my fault. I should have asked more questions.

I'm currently working on a kayak project, but this time I asked the right questions, the designer is helpful, and it should go well.

From my previous experiences, I've made up a checklist that might be useful for anyone contemplating the purchase of a used boat, especially one built by an individual, or plans for a boat building project.

Purchasing a boat:

If you really plan to look at the boat:

How far away is it? How interested are you really? If you're very interested, arrange to take a friend with you who's knowledgeable about what you're going to look at it. If you drive all the way there on your own with enthusiasm about seeing this boat, and if you have your boat trailer hitched up, you could become a kid in a candy store the minute you drive into the boatyard and be ready to buy anything.

The longer the trip, the greater the chance of your taking less time to look over the boat carefully enough. Kind of like getting buying fever. This is when you're most vulnerable to an impulsive decision. A friend, who isn't emotionally involved in the purchase, would look at things you may overlook because of your enthusiasm. He/she could keep you from making a mistake. After looking at the boat, you tell the owner you're going to lunch and you'll get back to him/her. At lunch and away from the "pull" of the boat, you can talk about it rationally. If you both agree you should talk about an offer, then we get to the contract stage.

Contract Stage:

"I'm interested in the boat, but have some questions. Because of the distance between you and where I live, I won't have a lot of time to evaluate the boat. If I take the boat home and find problems that were not evident here, I need to know if I can return it for a refund. I wouldn't be comfortable signing an "As Is - Where Is" sales agreement. I might be willing to pay a fee for your inconvenience if I do return it, and I would return it within a week."

The above is one approach, but you'd want to tailor your way of handling it depending on how you feel and the owner's disposition. In some cases, even if it's an individual owner sale, you might be able to work out a contract whereby major items would be guaranteed for a specified amount of time.

If you're buying plans for building a boat:

The single biggest questions you need to ask are:

Further questions would be:

Most reasonable designers would agree to a reasonable re-stocking charge.

If it's possible, ask if you can contact people who have built this particular boat from his plans. A call to one of these people could be worth its weight in several Americas' Cup class winches.

Communication is one of the single most important tools you can use when deciding to buy or build a boat. This also holds true when signing on as crew. What are the captain's plans and what does he/she expect of you? Don't feel like you're being a pain in the neck. You're the buyer and it's your right. If you're the one who has to drive a hundred miles to look at a boat, or pay for mail order plans and spent lots of hours building your project from them, it's your right to ask as many questions as you need before committing yourself. Good luck, and good communicating.

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August 1, 1998 Issue


Activities & Adventures...

Vireo Is Ideal

Last week I rowed from Providence to Newport in a Vireo rowboat I built this spring to Jim Michalak's plans. This 26 mile (land miles) trip took me 6 hours, 12 minutes on a beautiful, calm morning with a fair tide, without much effort at the oars.

The Vireo is almost ideal for this kind of rowing-cruising. The V-bottom design went together easily with taped seam con-struction. The plans are very clear, and this was about the simplest of several small boats I have built over the years. Construction took about 30 hours with work boat finish. The boat inspires confi-dence afloat, staying dry in a chop and tracking well. While its length of 12' does not allow a very high maximum speed, it slides along at 4 mph or so with little exer-tion, feeling like a leisurely stroll rather than an athletic event. The weight of 57 lbs. with hull of 6mm okoume plywood makes it very easy to handle off 'the water.

Frank M. Kahr, Providence, RI


Tin Boats for Transportation

My childhood chum from the 1,000 islands, Charlie Donevan, who was the co-conspirator in the recreation of the tin boats in the islands after a 50 year absence, has told me the do-it-yourself tin boat concept is alive and well. They will be a featured event in the annual Festival of the Islands held every August in Gananoque, Ontario, Canada. Gananoque, quite rightly, has long proclaimed itself as the Gateway to the Thousand Islands. It's the heart of the islands on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence River.

The Gananoque Festival, one of the largest summer celebrations in eastern On-tario, runs from August 14 to 23. It boasts many events, the newest of which is the Tin Boat Regatta held on Confederation Pond August 17 in the center of town next to the town hall. Participants will be di-vided in two groups of up-to-8 years old and 9 years and older. Awards for best designed, best decorated, first to sink, last to sink, and the like will be included in addi-tion to races across the pond.

Who knows? Tin boats may become the preferred mode of transportation for youngsters between islands, once again af-ter 50 years.

J. Peter Hughes, Lake Bluff, IL


Small Craft Festival at Clayton

The Antique Boat Museum is hosting a Small Craft Festival in Clayton, New York in the Thousand Islands area on Au-gust 22. Presenters and boatbuilders are invited to participate at no cost. The day from 9am to 5pm will be devoted to demonstrations and tryouts, with land display.

St Lawrence Skiff events, rowing and sailing, canoe races and a kayak presentation are scheduled. A small craft crossing cruise to Grindstone Island for dinner is planned.

Call for details if this interests you.

Antique Boat Museum, Clayton, NY, 315-686-4104.


Pond Yacht Exhibition

An exhibition of Pond Yachts will take place during July and August at the Port Washington, New York, Public Library. The exhibition is presented in celebration of the Port Washington Mill Pond Model Yacht Club's 100th anniversary, and will feature boats of all popular racing classes.

"A" Class boats up to 6' in length will be included as will the Marblehead "M" class, which is 50" long with 800 square inches of sail. Memorabilia, arti-facts and examples of steering and sail control systems, old and new, will be shown.

Queen of the show is a gaff-rigged sloop built in the early 1900s, which was recently rescued from a Port Washington attic and restored to pristine condition. Other boats will show how boat design, steering and sail control, space-age materials and remote radio control have evolved over the years.

The Mill Pond Model Yacht Club was founded in 1898 by Port residents Charles Dodge, John Erickson, Fred Farmer and Harold McKee. Improvements were made to the pond in the early 1930s, and in 1933 the Mill Pond Model Yacht Club was reorganized. Pond Yacht racing has taken place on summer weekends ever since.

The present clubhouse was originally a small waterfront shop which, after the 1938 hurricane, was moved to Smull Place and later to its current location at the head of the Mill Pond.

The library is located at 1 Library Drive in Port Washington. Hours are 9 to 9 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 11 to 9 on Wednesdays and 9 to 1 on Satur-days. Mill Pond is located on Mill Pond Road, off of Shore Road in Port Washington. This exhibition is sponsored by the library's Art and Nautical Advisory Coun-cils, and Port Washington's Mill Pond Model Yacht Club.

Mill Pond Model Yacht Club, Port Washington, NY



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