For my survey of Fortune’s Fool I hired Rob Eberle. He said he would be ready to start the inspection NLT 0830 and when I showed up at 0800 he was already on the dock making initial notes about the exterior of the boat. His professionalism and thoroughness was excellent. He started with the helm and worked his way to the initial inspection of the engine. He would later re-inspect the engine during the sail test. After about an hour on the boat the seller’s broker arrived to ensure everything was going well and to confirm our haul out time. We used Bridgeton Boatworks and they were ready with 4 personnel to catch us at the dock and get us secured into the travel lift. They pressure washed the hull down so we could see the bottom clearly free of barnacles. The underside showed just a few chips in the gelcoat as well as some exposed fiberglass where it will have to be redone during the next haul out this winter. When Rob was finished with the bottom inspection the guys at Bridgeton Boatworks were ready to drop the boat back into the water and we started the test sail. We had to motor south of the SR 55 Bridge to get enough room to make a few tacks into the wind and test out all the sails and rigging. The sails were not furled very well before we were on the boat so after some initial wrangling with the sails everything worked well and we glided across the river. After the sails were inspected and the handling of the boat was checked out we motored back to the dock at Galley Stores Marina checking the engine and capabilities under power. When we were back at the dock Rob finished up a few more checks with a moisture meter and phenolic hammer on the topsides and went over the findings for the day. A full written report was emailed to me four days later.
There were no major defects found and the previous owner had taken good care of her. There were mostly minor issues such as expired safety equipment; flares, fire extinguishers. The bottom paint was worn and could use a new coat and a couple pages of other issues. The biggest things found were; alternator was not charging the batteries. I’ll check that out after the first sail and it will likely need a rebuild. The VHF was not transmitting or receiving. I will purchase a small antennae to see if that is the culprit and trouble shoot from there.
The survey wasn't too surprising after my initial inspection. The only things I was unaware of before Rob took a look were mostly dealing with the boat running. I didn't get to start the engine or sail the boat before the inspection.