You are probably right. The link that MM posted has advertised pricing in GBP.
What a disappointing way to see North America.
Probably no repeat visits.
Boat Rentals
- Thread starter mimico_polak
- Start date
What a disappointing way to see North America.
Probably no repeat visits.
Nothing like being trapped on a ship with a bunch of English speaking people to get more worldly.
Ok ill take you guys on an English ( only language option unless my wife comes , then your getting Italian) speaking tour of the Great Lakes , to be fair in two weeks we will barely clear Lake Erie . Food will be very mediocre and you may need to hot bunk. 10.5k each . It’s under market costed .
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Mad Mike
Well-known member
Beautiful show of trees changing colours?
I'll bet most of the passengers are British.
Getting a week-long culinary experience where meat isn't boiled, potatoes aren't fried and everything else isn't curried might be worth it.
100%. As much as those of us who live nearby the Great Lakes, Niagara Falls, the Trent Severn Waterway, etc. etc. have become accustomed to and even jaded by their existence, reality is people come from all around the world to experience them.
Talk to the “Great Loop” boaters who plan for years and spend 6-12 months and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars doing the trip on their boats up the east coast, down the St Lawrence, through the Trent Severn and back down how much of an experience it is for them. Meanwhile we’re all like “yeah, I went for a boat ride and through a few locks, back to work Monday…”
One of my bucket list items is going to the UK and spending a few weeks doing a canal boat trip. I’m sure many UK residents are equally as jaded about that whole thing which would be easy if you owned your own canal boat or lived on a canal, and I am sure there are many UK residents who think people flying in from around the world to spend a week doing that sort of thing are a bit nuts, on the flip side.
Travel anywhere is for the tourists . Folks living in the Rockies see snow as inconvenient for driving. People in Hawaii don’t like volcanos and Machu Picu wasn’t a lost city if you are Peruvian, it was just a place nobody needed to live in.
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So, picking up from earlier in this thread, my sister and BIL didn't go for the Doral. Reasons.
Have been looking at a few other options. Lots of stories, but anyways, my sister found another good solid option she was interested in, and best part was that apparently it's still in the water up in Barrie. Good for a water trial.
So, she reached out to the yacht broker company that's selling it and got a response back that they won't even show the boat without a written offer to purchase. For a boat that we haven't even set eyes on yet and might turn out like some others where the photos were 10 years old and what we saw on arrival was not what the photos promised. Or had mechanical issues as soon as you started looking and listening closely.
WTF? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I of course don't deal with yacht brokers on a regular basis, but is this customary? If so, there's a lot of people who are just going to have "GFY!" moments like my sister did and the seller is probably left sitting wondering why their boat that they hired someone to sell still hasn't sold. Boats aren't exactly flying off the shelves this time of year, you'd think that a yacht broker would be falling backwards over themselves to actually have someone interested in making a sale this time of year, and instead, we get that?
Have been looking at a few other options. Lots of stories, but anyways, my sister found another good solid option she was interested in, and best part was that apparently it's still in the water up in Barrie. Good for a water trial.
So, she reached out to the yacht broker company that's selling it and got a response back that they won't even show the boat without a written offer to purchase. For a boat that we haven't even set eyes on yet and might turn out like some others where the photos were 10 years old and what we saw on arrival was not what the photos promised. Or had mechanical issues as soon as you started looking and listening closely.
WTF? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I of course don't deal with yacht brokers on a regular basis, but is this customary? If so, there's a lot of people who are just going to have "GFY!" moments like my sister did and the seller is probably left sitting wondering why their boat that they hired someone to sell still hasn't sold. Boats aren't exactly flying off the shelves this time of year, you'd think that a yacht broker would be falling backwards over themselves to actually have someone interested in making a sale this time of year, and instead, we get that?
That sounds dumb. I'd have no problem sending some money to a charity or something to deflect most of the tire kickers. I'm not signing an offer to purchase before I see it. Maybe I don't like how the layout feels and then I'd be in breach.
I had similar where a dealer was trying to sell me a 235M that they refused to take it out of showroom without a deposit and signed offer.
I told him point blank he’s an idiot and walked out.
They kept calling me for 2 more months trying to get me to take it but I refused over $500 simply due to the fact he was a d$@k.
As for a boat….
good luck w that to the broker.
Hell, I'd even be ok throwing in couple hundred in gas. Nobody is joyriding in October.
The broker seems to have gone off the rails as to the order. Like a home inspection, survey can come after offer but unless you are on the @Evoex baller plan, I'd prefer to know how the toy handles/behaves before I've bought it. Finding out it's a dog or is no fun after I own it is a rich man's game.
@PrivatePilot if you really want to see the boat, and you know where it’s sitting I’d go to the marina, and see if you can look at it. Better yet talk to the folks at the marina and ask them to contact the owner as the broker is being unreasonable.
I’m sure they would like to sell the boat privately without having to pay a broker, but not sure what those contracts looks like if seller sells private when signed with a broker.
I’m sure they would like to sell the boat privately without having to pay a broker, but not sure what those contracts looks like if seller sells private when signed with a broker.
A friend wanted a ride in a Formula off shore and asked Formula about a test ride. They were pleased to do it if he signed a purchase agreement. He was prepared to pay for the ride but there was no way in hell his wife was letting him mortgage the house for a toy.
Selling a boat to a novice is challenging. It isn't a floating house connected to water, sewer and power lines. Fun changes to terror at the whim of the weather.
Maybe the seller got stung by a hull kicker who brought the family along for a free fun ride with no intentions to buy anything. The solution is principles only on board. The sticky fingered ice cream lickers stay on the dock. Bring your own life jackets and deck shoes.
A sea trial is to demonstrate an agreed upon performance level, not determine if you like it. That is why a buyer reads reports and projects their usages. The deal is firm if the boat does the XX MPH agreed upon. Whether you like the way it does it is up to the buyers research.
Many years ago at the boat show I overheard a potential buyer discuss high level technicalities of a mid 30s C&C for a half hour. The sales rep then asked about the potential buyer's present boat. It was a Sunfish.
I totally get the whole hull kickers routine, and perhaps that is the immediate thing that set off the broker in this case as my sister is not great with phraseology and may have come across in such a way that the broker just assumed that’s what was happening here.
Little does he know that he has several birds in hand and is choosing to yell and swat them away instead of seizing upon the opportunity. My sister is also the sort who will spend 10 minutes aboard, sit in a few different seats, look around, ask me if it is mechanically sound after a quick sea trial (at least so far as can be assessed before a full survey) and will be ready to sign on the dotted line and go to the bank and get a wad of cash.
Given the time of year and the apparent urgent desire for the owner to unload the boat, the agent seems foolish on several levels. Having some skin in the game so far as some sort of financial or paperwork commitment is fine, but the way I read it he basically wants a firm contract to purchase the boat before anything else whatsoever happens.
My sister is quite particular with regards to things like floor plans and such, so there is no way in hell she is going to make a firm agreement like that without even having stepped foot on board yet. She basically almost lives a board from early May when the boat goes in the water until the last day before it comes out, which this year was just a few days ago. So it all matters.
And ultimately in the case of the current boat they are looking at, it’s a ~$70,000 vessel, not a $250,000 plus yacht or something, another reason I don’t get the broker treating it as if it’s some mega yacht or something.
My sister has been contemplating going smaller for a while (easier to handle for just the two of them, plus actually trailerable by a normal person with a road trailer versus hydraulic or slinging which is the reality with their current boat. They are contemplating selling their house and moving to a place on the water, so trailerable and able to be parked right at their own property during the winter has significant appeal now. And stern drive is also on the must have list (for shallow water possibilities) which further limits size - it’s uncommon to find stern drives on vessels much beyond 35’.
Little does he know that he has several birds in hand and is choosing to yell and swat them away instead of seizing upon the opportunity. My sister is also the sort who will spend 10 minutes aboard, sit in a few different seats, look around, ask me if it is mechanically sound after a quick sea trial (at least so far as can be assessed before a full survey) and will be ready to sign on the dotted line and go to the bank and get a wad of cash.
Given the time of year and the apparent urgent desire for the owner to unload the boat, the agent seems foolish on several levels. Having some skin in the game so far as some sort of financial or paperwork commitment is fine, but the way I read it he basically wants a firm contract to purchase the boat before anything else whatsoever happens.
My sister is quite particular with regards to things like floor plans and such, so there is no way in hell she is going to make a firm agreement like that without even having stepped foot on board yet. She basically almost lives a board from early May when the boat goes in the water until the last day before it comes out, which this year was just a few days ago. So it all matters.
And ultimately in the case of the current boat they are looking at, it’s a ~$70,000 vessel, not a $250,000 plus yacht or something, another reason I don’t get the broker treating it as if it’s some mega yacht or something.
My sister has been contemplating going smaller for a while (easier to handle for just the two of them, plus actually trailerable by a normal person with a road trailer versus hydraulic or slinging which is the reality with their current boat. They are contemplating selling their house and moving to a place on the water, so trailerable and able to be parked right at their own property during the winter has significant appeal now. And stern drive is also on the must have list (for shallow water possibilities) which further limits size - it’s uncommon to find stern drives on vessels much beyond 35’.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Brokers are familiar with process and can usually figure out whether the shopper is novice or a salty dog. different users. It not unreasonable for a broker to suspect a novice when asked for a “test ride” to think the buyer might be a novice.
I’ve bought a few boats, always conditional on a sea trial. Not as formal as a broker purchase, my deals have been private but most sellers wanted a handshake conditional offer.
Think of selling your $25k motorcycle to someone who shows up with a bag of cash and demands a “test drive” 3hours after @Evoex granted him an M2 using a Grom. Are you giving him the ride if he just flashes the cash?
A spin around the block is an expensive exercise considering time, hourly operating expenses can be $250/hr, plus the cost of a captain for a few hours.
If you are interested, I’d approach the broker and have a conversation about the boat, your needs, and what you’re expecting from the sea trial.
Then turn the table and offer $300 refundable deposit for the sea trial. The broker will probably say no, but engage and help you draw up reasonable conditional offer.
I agree that it was probably the kneejerk “this person doesn’t own a boat and is just window shopping and going to waste my time” aspect that lead to that sort of response, however still, given the time of year and that the opportunity to sell a boat in almost November is kind of hanging there in front of you, trying to come across somewhat more tactfully and reasonably would have been a better choice in my opinion.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Yup.
. If it were Miami or even Toronto that might be a full time job and the broker would have idle time to further qualify atypical buyers. Boat brokering around here is mostly a side hustle, not the core profession for these guys so they are qualifying buyers based on experience, an atypical buyer could easily be dismissed.
I called the broker and had a discussion, I definitely got the impression that he had just discounted my sister as a hull kicker/joyride seeker, however I corrected him and explained that the reality is anything but and that he might wish to pursue this one.
That said, going into any offer to purchase without even the most basic level of mechanical test ahead of time just seems crazy to me, “standard yacht broker procedure” or otherwise. Again, we are not talking a multimillion dollar yacht where a crew needs to be assembled and it’s already cost $1000+ before you even consider starting the mains. I understand the desire and need to weed out the time wasters, but surely this time of year some sort of sane middle ground can be met. I know if I I was a broker I would be trying to do exactly that to have some hope of eeking out another sale this time of year.
The broker is reaching out to the owner to see what he can negotiate…
That said, going into any offer to purchase without even the most basic level of mechanical test ahead of time just seems crazy to me, “standard yacht broker procedure” or otherwise. Again, we are not talking a multimillion dollar yacht where a crew needs to be assembled and it’s already cost $1000+ before you even consider starting the mains. I understand the desire and need to weed out the time wasters, but surely this time of year some sort of sane middle ground can be met. I know if I I was a broker I would be trying to do exactly that to have some hope of eeking out another sale this time of year.
The broker is reaching out to the owner to see what he can negotiate…
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Offer to purchase is a standard form almost any broker in Canada is using , ( and US also) . It’s in no way binding , it gives the broker some protection so if a fat guy falls down the stairs , he was there on an offer to purchase . Unless your at an “in water” boat show like port credit and Kingston run , or better Annapolis, there you can wander through 50 boats for sale , ( with an agent it tow) . The offer to purchase will also include an out on the survey . Even a brand new boat can “ fail a survey” . Offer to purchase is just a liability cover, you can include the line when you sign , subject to approved finance they say Mom wouldn’t give me the money.
It’s correct there are lots of boat brokers but for many it’s part time work, you like boats so you become a real estate agent for boats .
Many nice boat owners will tell the broker , offer to purchase in hand , just so you don’t have Saturday shoppers going through your boat. If you’re legitimately shopping in the big league , it’s just a technicality to weed out looky loos . You don’t have to buy the boat . And a deposit to look ? Never .
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It’s correct there are lots of boat brokers but for many it’s part time work, you like boats so you become a real estate agent for boats .
Many nice boat owners will tell the broker , offer to purchase in hand , just so you don’t have Saturday shoppers going through your boat. If you’re legitimately shopping in the big league , it’s just a technicality to weed out looky loos . You don’t have to buy the boat . And a deposit to look ? Never .
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One sticker is "Will I like the way it handles?"
A deep vee hunts at low speed but handles rough water better than a conventional hull. I had a KMV that blew through waves like a champ but rocked and rolled at anchor. Research and experience is needed for the trade-off.
PP's sister needs to sit and lie down where she's going to sleep. Trailer-able cruisers tend to have berths for short people only. A tight berth might be OK for a nap but a full night's sleep, not so much. Try the seating and sleeping stuff for more than a few seconds.
