For those of you new to our channel, we have been in the boat buying process since April. We narrowed down our choices to a few boats and one of them was the Voyage 500 catamaran which we proceeded to sail on and really like her...so, we proceeded to schedule both a rigging inspection and a marine survey. If you're not familiar with the process it's essential to buying a boat as well as a very interesting process.
This video chronicles the two days we spent with the inspectors and includes a beautiful sea trial sunset sail starting at the Catamaran Boat Yard in Key Largo and though the Snake Creek Bridge and ending at Venetian Shores in Islamorada, Florida.
We hope you enjoy and learn from this video and our experience.
NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia.
So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too!
As a viewer, we consider you to be part of our family and look forward to getting to know you. Don't hesitate to comment on our videos and ask questions. We will do our best to answer every correspondence! All we ask is that you have patience with us as we work really hard to improve our camera/video techniques and ability to tell a story. Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing and producing our adventures!
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Today we have a rigging inspection. Hey there. Since y'all have been following us on our boat
buying journey, you know we have been considering a number of boats, one of which is a Voyage 500.
Well we came down to the Keys to take a look at her and after sailing her we decided to move
forward in considering her for purchase and we wanted to share that adventure with you. As this
came together, we realized that we should make a video on the entire boat buying process. However,
we haven't completed that process yet. So this video will seem a little bit incomplete because
it's only going to focus on the rigging inspection and the marine survey. For those of you who have
boating background, you might think that a rigging inspection is not necessary and for most cases it
isn't. But since our plan is to circumnavigate, we wanted to ensure that our rigging was secure
and structurally sound. Secondly, we had a marine survey. We were really fortunate, thank you Tracy,
for some excellent recommendations in the Miami Fort Lauderdale area and we ended up with a
wonderful surveyor to help us with our survey. This person is worth his or her weight in gold
because they really give you the information you need to be able to make a decision on whether the
boat is fit for intended use. And our intended use might be different from someone else's. We
want to circumnavigate the globe. Other people might want it just for a coastal cruiser and so
the survey caters to what the client is going to use the boat for. We hope you enjoy this video
that will talk about and show you the rigging inspection and the marine survey on the Voyage
500. I am headed over to the boat right now and there's the rigging team. The work of the rigging
company is to go up and check all the lines to make sure the mast is correctly positioned and
strong. Right there there's a little monkey going up the mast right now to check the security of that
mast. Hey guys! All right, you guys doing all right? We'll talk about it after you're done.
With the completion of the rigging inspection, our attention turned to the marine survey scheduled for
the next day. So here I am at the boatyard waiting for the surveyor to show up. It's a beautiful
morning and I'm going to take him and drive him to where the boat is. In Almerada, he's going to get
started and work there for a couple hours and then we're going to do the sea trial on the way
to Barga and get hauled out. And here's the big machine that's going to take us out of the water.
So there are very few that can pull a boat out that has a 27 foot beam. We have Ian the inspector
on the boat and he's working away over here and we are hoping to make the noon bridge out to the
ocean so we can make our way up to Key Largo and get this thing hauled out. During a boat inspection
which takes about three to four hours, an inspector goes through all of the boat and its systems for
basic operation and adherence to applicable regulations and standards. He or she is looking
for any warning signs that might recommend additional inspections by a specialist and
determine the boat's overall value. Very exciting today instead of going to the right
we are going to the left and then we're going to hang out here
because we've got to wait for the drawbridge to open. This is pretty cool.
Every hour on the hour the drawbridge opens and you just have to tell the person in the tower
that you're interested in going through. So we're going to hang out here for another 10 minutes
and wait for it to open up to cross through to the Atlantic side. First time through a
drawbridge. All right traffic is stopped, bridge bell's going, gates are down. Snake Creek Bridge
is famous for being the only remaining drawbridge operating in the Florida Keys. I believe it gets
its name due to the snake-like sinuous path a boat must take to safely exit or enter the creek.
We are on the Atlantic. It's pretty flat. We are en route to the boat yard to have the boat hauled
out and finish the survey. So it's great being out on the big ocean. Right now we're doing the
sea trial right? Yep. A sea trial is just a fancy term for a test drive designed to test speed and
maneuverability as well as to check for vibrations and observe other systems that can only be tested
in the water. This usually takes up to a couple of hours.
All right she's done. She's done. Good job sweetie. Okay it's really shallow. We're coming
into the boat yard and I'm over here looking down into the water to make sure that we're not going
to hit anything because it's going to get to within like a foot or two and we can run aground.
So we're backing in right now so it's crazy tight. Get this thing in without it
banging up against the wall. Look how tight it is right here. Man this is really tight.
Haul outs as part of the pre-purchase survey are highly recommended and some insurance companies
require this as a condition of coverage. Issues such as loose struts, bent or worn props,
engine alignment issues and keel attachment deficiencies are just some of the possible
faults only discoverable with a haul out. One of the tasks during a haul out is to check for
delamination. This is why Ian is tapping the hull. Delamination is when the layers of fiberglass
separate from each other or from the core. The boat yard out and we are way up in the air
and one long step could get super crazy. While the boat is hauled out at the expense of the buyer,
an owner might take advantage of this time to complete some projects like installing a seacock
for a new water maker. This installation requires drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat.
Boy that gives me chills just thinking about it. But like a pro, Ted installed the seacock in record
time, changed up the zinc on the sail drives and ousted the barnacles that were bumming a free ride
on the props. I mean just looking at you in front of it it's just oh man the scale yeah.
With the survey and projects completed we were really excited to be back in the water
and ready for a beautiful sunset sail back to the slip. We now await the written report
from the inspector which should arrive in about a week. This report will include four things,
the descriptions of the boat and each system on board, findings and recommendations divided into
levels of importance, a statement of the boat's overall condition and lastly fair market and
replacement values for the boat. This report and the findings already communicated throughout the
day are the basis upon which a buyer makes a decision about whether to proceed with the
purchase. It's a big decision. Eileen is coming in on Snake River coming into the bridge. It's
like a obstacle course isn't it? It's like the slalom course. Yeah it's crazy. Look at the beautiful
sunset wow and then back here how beautiful that is and it's like a snaky course getting through
these buoys and if you get to the left to the right of them you're gonna run aground it gets
really shallow you can't see it uh this time of the day wow look at that she's doing a good job
we're here we're gonna uh make the eight o'clock bridge otherwise it's another hour we've got
eight minutes so we're right on target there's captain Eileen and there she goes all the cars
are stopped and the bridge is coming up and we are to wait for her to go ahead
and uh to go into the bridge oh look how pretty that is that's amazing how are you feeling
confident with ted here telling me what to do totally i'm like right here
how'd that feel dude awesome good job congratulations
i did it yay brought her into the dock
