Yachting Monthly — November 2017

44 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com november 2017

In the course of my sailing career I

have taken on several craft needing

some serious upgrading, so I knew

that Pavane would be a challenge and

we thought it made sense to get an

expert view.

Colin, our son-in-law, is a marine

surveyor living in the Highlands. He

listened, looked at the pictures and

tried to warn us off. No chance. All we

could see was the end result. This was

followed up with unsolicited advice

from our children, suggesting that

perhaps we were beyond the point

where a project boat was a suitable

investment. No one actually said ‘At

your age!’ but their faces said it all.

A compromise emerged: we would

make an offer subject to survey then

engage a surveyor who lived in the

Devon area, recommended by Colin.

His report came through in early

January. Its findings made serious

reading and were summarised in the

and she seemed good to go. I checked

every bolt and bottle screw, cleaned

the running gear, tested the rudder,

made sure the sails ran free on their

rollers, listened to the gentle throb

of the engine, alert to signs of the

dreaded diesel bug.

I knew of just one idiosyncrasy:

as a deck saloon, Pavane had two

steering positions – undercover in

the wheelhouse and at the wheel

outside. It didn’t seem such a big deal

when the engineers told us that on

our voyage home to Ireland we would

have to rely on the inside control

only. We could live with that plus a

further complication with the gear

lever, which, while fully operational,

was operating in a counter-intuitive

manner – you had to push forward

for reverse and back for ahead. What

could possibly go wrong?

We were soon to find out. With my

old pal Derek White, a man with many

last paragraph ‘... this boat must NOT

go to sea in its present state.’

Our hearts sank. How about taking

her home by road? We priced this

option too – with equally chastening

results. Time for a rethink.

It seemed that we were back to

square one in our search. We even

clambered over a few closer to home,

hoping some magic would strike but

none measured up to Pavane. It’s a

fine madness this boat buying lark,

so we agreed a compromise with the

vendor and the broker for Pavane’s

problems to be rectified. After several

months’ work and one false start, she

was finally ready in early May.

More air fares, a week on board

Overcoming a

damning survey

ÔThis boat must NOT go to sea in its

present state,’ the survey pronounced.

Scanning through the report, the

problems were manifold. In brief, the

forward bulkhead had rotted due to

weeping deck glands, the king post

supporting the main-mast had rusted to

nothing at its base, the engine was a

nightmare, the gearbox was leaking oil

and the steering quadrant was iffy.

This was where the problems of buying

at a distance made themselves felt. On

our home turf in Ireland we knew trusted

shipwrights and first class engineers who

could get the job done. In Devon, we

knew nobody and the projected costs

began to mount alarmingly.

But they knew we wanted to

buy. Our persistence from such a

distance was evidence enough,

and we knew they had no other

offers on the table. A further chat

with the broker saw a solution

emerge: the vendor would deal

with the bulkhead and king-post

issues at his expense, while we

would finance an engineer to sort out

matters mechanical. When all this was

passed by survey, the price would then be

adjusted downwards. Settled!

HOMEWATERS

It’s a fine madness,

this boat buying lark

The elegant Pavane on the water

Clear-out of obsolete equipment

David helms for home on a broad reach

The faded glamour of

Pavane in the boatyard