Notes from Florida trip and the boat survey.

The long flight (red-eye) from Las Vegas arrived in Fort Lauderdale by 9:00 am eastern time. I was exhausted, but ready to go eyeball the boat. I was also ready to pull the plug on the survey process if she was not “as advertised.” Mike the seller’s broker met me and guided me through the residential neighborhoods to the home where the boat was berthed. I spotted her “Sunsail Red” cover on her genoa and knew I had arrived. It was now time to put on my sour face for the seller’s broker. It’s never to late to start the negotiations.

CURLEW II, a 2008 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i, was snuggly ensconced in a tight little residential canal filled with gorgeous boats. She looked right at home. I began the slow and tedious process of looking her over, while trying not to show my excitement. Mike was patient and regaled me with an assortment of sea tales from his days working for the Moorings in the islands.

The good news first … she was a solid, seaworthy and somewhat ship-shape example of the design. All the key elements that made me pick her as a candidate were in order.

The bad news … there was some piling damage on her port gunwales. And she was not as cleaned up and “survey-ready” as she should have been. The seller’s broker stormed around and fussed at his maintenance company on the phone. So I guess I got to see most of her warts.

The surveyor, Jonathan Sands, arrived for the first half of the survey to examine the rig and check all the electrical systems. Jonathan was a solid fellow. And he had my confidence based on the many recommendations her received from fellow sailors. He also had extensive experience with the 36i.

Jonathan found a few issues, primary among them being wear on the fore stay from the furler. This was minor wear, but hey, it’s the fore stay. I decided this is something that should be replaced. He also noticed the rather odd situation of two brand new deep cycle batteries being wired as starter batteries while two older starter batteries were acting as the house supply. Again, this was something I would have to rectify. As Jonathan wrapped up this days work, I was feeling the affects of the long flight and the setting sun. I still had to get to my hotel.

Now thing take a tedious turn. The hotel (NOT) was a beat up flea-bitten old motel. The manager was kind enough to tell me they get great reviews online because it’s used as a hook-up joint. Not confident I could get a good sleep I was forced to drive around to find a reasonable place to lay my head. I finally found a nice clean room at the Comfort Suites. I checked in dropped my bags and went out to grab a meal. Here my luck held. I had a terrific meal of oysters, followed by a nice gumbo and couple of   glasses ice-cold draft beer. I then went back to the room and slept for 12 hours straight.

Upon awaking Friday morning, I grabbed a quick bite and headed over to the boat to continue my examination. I did find the push lighters for the stove were dead. She lit and ran fine with matches. I do wish it was a 3-burner. Another deficiency I found was the need to service all three winches aboard.

The surveyor arrived and resumed his survey from the day before. The only real surprises were the life raft (she has one!) and the dinghy’s outboard (it don’t run). I should mention the 3-foot long iguana that decided to hop aboard to sun itself. It was so quiet I did not realize it was there. I could only admire it emerald green coat of skin and scales.

Jonathan checked the Yanmar 3YM30 … oil and fluids OK, compression OK, temperature OK and RPMs OK, all good news. The only negative was the need to have the heat exchanger serviced. No surprises here.

So off to the haul-out we go. I was truly awe-struck by Mike’s ability to spin a 35 foot sloop around under power in a 50 foot wide canal lined with boats. I can only hope to achieve that kind of proficiency. In the interim, I’ll just spin her around on the dock to get her pointed in the proper direction. We quickly made it to the yard where she would be hauled (subtract $250 from the boat money). The haul out went smoothly. She will need bottom paint in the next year. The broker and the surveyor said do it in the islands, supposedly labor is much cheaper there. The anodes need to be replaced and the prop was showing some wear.

Splash, she’s back in the water and off to our sea trial. The only enlightenment received during the sea trial was that this boat is fast! 8.2 knots at 3000 RPMs! Wow. I guess Galadriel’s lady-like ways had not prepared me for Curlew’s raw power. I am not complaining.

I am writing this as I sit in a tiny uncomfortable seat cruising over the lower 48 on my way back to heart, home and my loved ones. When I land there 10ish tonight, I will have been awake since 3 a.m. PST. We expect our formal copy of the survey this weekend, then it will be time to reenter negotiations with the seller.