We bought a boat

As of the beginning of October 2014, we're the proud owners of a 1999 Island Packet 40, currently named Baboo.  After our long road trip through the gulf coast to Florida and a trip to Maryland we knew this was the boat for us and agreed on a purchase price with the previous owner.

In the water Friday afternoon when we arrived and first stepped aboard.

We actually did all of this working purely from pictures and videos. So the first time we saw her was a trip to Oxford for the survey and sea trial.  This was a little stressful since the process of surveying the boat means we had to pay about $375 to have the boat hauled out of the water and the bottom pressure washed so she could be properly inspected by a professional marine surveyor.  The surveyor came out to just under $1000 (or 1 boat buck).  The reason this was so high, was that we opted for an engine oil analysis and a rigging inspection which added just over $200.  We figured the more info we had before committing to such a large purchase, the better.

So, we arrived on a Friday afternoon and where able to squeeze in a quick walk/crawl through the boat to make sure she was in as nice a shape as the pictures indicated.  Fortunately the previous owner proved to be very meticulous and BABOO (for now) appeared to be in truly excellent shape for a 15 year old boat.

Early morning and ready for the survey.

Saturday morning we met our inspectors (father and son team) and after a bit of the typical gloom and doom warnings about the types of problems they where looking for and problems that can occur on older boats, we let them role up their sleeves and get going. They spent the whole day crawling through the boat from stem to stern.  Since we where there for the entire process they where able to point out the issues they found and in general point out the good and bad in real time.  In the words of the primary inspector, the only issues they found where "Mickey Mouse stuff"...which was nice to hear.

Inspecting plumbing under Starboard Settee

The folks at the yard where nice enough to come in on a Saturday to haul and pressure wash the boat for us. Here they're positioning the slings to prepare to lift her out.

 

Seeing a 25,000lb boat lifted out of the water with nothing more than a few old canvas slings is a bit unnatural.

The previous owner was kind enough to instal a bow thruster for us.  Should make maneuvering much nicer for us in the future.

Kara checking out the prop and rudder.  Notice the rudder on an IP is attached to the keel but is also balanced. This is fairly rare in a full keeled boat.

Me (Erin) pretty happy with what we've seen to this point.

After the primary inspection was complete, the yard lowered the boat back into the water for us.  We spent the next 1.5 hours out on the water for the sea trial.  We made sure the motor ran up to full throttle smoothly and without overheating, verified the boat speed was good (cruising speed of about 6.5 knots) and then raised all the sails and made sure they where serviceable. The sails are fairly old but workable.  They're fine for now but will need to be replaced before we can leave for any real cruising.  We did notice the main which is an in mast furling sail, was very difficult to unfurl (hard to crank).  Wish we'd paid more attention to this, more on that later.

Kara during our sea trial.  Of course it decided to rain for us while we where out, but the bimini kept us nice and dry.

Finally got a chance to raise all the sails (Main, Jib and Staysail)

Rigging Survey to end the day, in the rain.

Our surveyor was very thorough and based on his very positive feedback "You're buying a Mercedes, and it's been very well maintained" and our gut feeling... we bought the boat!  The other great thing is that the previous owner (who had the boat built new in 1999) has been extremely helpful and stays in touch to ensure we learn how to best take care of his "sweet Baboo".

 Now, we just have to get her home to Texas but...more on that next time.