Seems like an endless amount of expensive repairs since buying it. Was this at least expected? Meaning did the selling price of the boat reflect the shape it was/is in? Or is this all a sudden surprise?

Obviously Alex has a very sharp and discerning eye and makes good decisions about what he sees.

I am familiar with bosun's chairs(literally, boatswain's chairs) used for mast inspection. Bosom chairs sound highly imaginative, if not imaginary.

What a silly statement from Mr. Anonmyous. Any older boat will require an almost total upgrade/overhaul of the systems over a number of years. If you buy an older boat you factor this into the cost, if you are lucky you can stretch this work over a number of years. Safety work like mast and rig fittings can never be deferred. If you can do this work yourself you at least know it was done right. I would love some more shots of the boat work, repairs etc.

Regards

Gerry

www.gerry.odonoghue.com

What a silly statement from Gerry. I bet if a competent surveyor did a thorough inspesction 50-90% of the issues would have been caught from day one. Surely you don't think " a small crevice corrosion in one of the cap shroud tangs at the top of the mast." magically appeared in the past" inbetween all these 'regular' mast checks.

It's been there from day one. Someone with experience knows where to look and for what. While Alex may be a great handy man at boat repair, it's not his expertise to know what should fail, when, where, after how long, etc.

Anonymous: Not sure what "this all" refers to?
Obviously it was "at least expected", very much so in fact. That's the reason we got the boat for the price we got it for after many hours of negotiation..

You are correct, a proper survey and inspection should catch most of the issues from day one, that's exactly what our (two) surveys did, however there's never a guarantee that one will find 100% of the issues before buying a boat. I'm sure you wouldn't expect that either.

We are very happy that we bought just this boat. Her grace, style, sailing performance, character, history and the price we finally got it for makes us forgive the many hours of work that needs to be done on her. And Alex has come a very long way perfecting her already in only a few months.

"all this" refers to weak bulk heads, rotting masts, the big obvious critical things one inspects first and foremost.

Of course we knew all about weak bulkheads, leaks on deck, spreaders in need of work and a bunch of other things, big and small, that are very clear after even the first inspection with bare eyes.

A small crevice corrosion at the top of the mast, no, I'm afraid we didn't know about that one. But honestly, who cares as it is easy to fix? That's why we're glad we figured it out now before the damage got bigger, also very glad Alex can do all of the work himself.

Not sure where you got the "rotting mast"-thing from but I guess some people have a tendency to read more negative into things than others.

lol. I asked a very simple question in the first post. After all this time you answered it. Why not answer it the first time around instead of creating drama along with the other fella who felt inclined to chirp in.

I asked if this was a surprise, to which you answer (finally) yes, this one we did not know about, and I asked about all the other repairs (big and small), whether the price you paid for the boat reflected them (meaning you were aware of those). And again you answered yes.

How simple to answer the simple question the first place?

Lol, Anonymous, you sound like a few of the cruising wives I have met who whine, "why is the boat always breaking down". Maybe you are one such cruising wife. A boat is an amalgam of hundreds of systems, many of which are built by the cheapest bidder. A good cruiser is one who can fix these systems and keep his/her boat moving. As you say " a competent survey can get 50 to 90% of the issues that leaves 10 to 50% of issues that you have to deal with and not reach for the nearest lawyer.

yabut, they haven't even gone anywhere yet. Expecting to depart right now. As now admitted this mast is indeed a surprise. In other words the two months Taru was in europe, it could have been fixed. Had it been known. Not on the day they're planning to depart on.

Now that that is covered all other critical points are known and they are aware of them and have addressed them, hopefully this massive object the mast that has gone unnoticed between all regular mast checks, will be the last major suprise.

From the sounds of it, you'd actually wing it and depart anyway right? Fix the rotting mast on the fly? Like a hero?

Wow, Anonymous, now you sound like Alex's ex wife. Lighten up, its a boat. I occasionally deliver the bloody things and if they are not trying to kill me its a good day. Cruising is correctly defined as "fixing your boat in exotic places".

LOL @ anonymous who doesn't understand the answer to his question first time he reads it. Don't bother with the stupid, Taru!

It’s obvious that Alex is completely on top of what’s required to make a seaworthy vessel for extended passage making. I wish I had the money to buy Chaos, I’m sure it would have been meticulously maintained.

Do not glass the rotten spreaders!! Make new ones and no glass. The glass will cause rot as no air/moisture transfer-read my lips!!!
Gary

I think any reasonable new Captain (and crew) expect to make serious repairs and to go into an enterprise, like "anonymous" seems to think, would require a logical budget to make repairs. It is as Taru said, in the offer and final cost of the boat on purchase.

The measure of a Captain ISNT when at anchor in port, it is at sea in a squall...

Taru and Alex, this too shall pass.