• Nick1224
  
  

  • Rank: Lubber
  • Registered: Oct 20, 2009
  • Last visit: Oct 27, 2009
  • Posts: 9

  Posted: Oct 26, 2009 - 10:32 PM

  Turned out to be a big fiasco. Went to check the boat in Dania Beach Saturday and as soon as I put my hand on the hull I got bitten by 5 fire ants. My hand turned into a balloon and I was really distracted when checking over the boat. He said the hull was tight and no delamination/damage. All the rigging was good and sails were in great shape. Took the boat out Sunday and took an hour to rig it following the prindle manual. Got it out on the water and had a great first tack. Boat felt great...lots of power. Then we tacked and noticed the starboard hull sat lower, so we sailed it in. There was about two inches of water in the hull, so we took it out for another run and noticed no aditional water.
  
  Then we noticed the hull flexing with each passing wave and heard a "thunking noise". Got the boat back to shore and realized how soft the hull was Back onto the trailer.
  
  Called the seller and had a little chat (luckily we paid 2/3 by check, the rest in cash) He wasn't very happy that we wanted to return the boat, but agreed to the next morning.
  
  We drove the boat back up to his house in Dania Beach and he checked everything over with a fine toothed comb. Then he tried to tell us that the hull was perfectly fine and that he was in the boat business for 50 years and knew a good hull. My hand wasn't so swollen today and I could feel the two layers seperarated on the inside portion of the hull. He backed the boat into his car port and then parked his car in front of it.
  
  Then he told us to call him tomorrow about returning the money....
  
  Luckily we put a hold on the check today. He wasn't very happy about that and refused to return the cash portion or give us the boat. He told us to wait an hour outside while he ate dinner with his family so we sat in the Jeep and waited. Then he called us after an hour and told us he couldn't get the money tonight. We of course didn't want to leave without the boat or money. Eventually we got him to go to an ATM and withdrawal money. He only returned with 200 instead of 335 because he said that was what all the inconvience was worth to him. He admitted to being a d!$k and that he wasn't happy with us (not so politely) and told us to leave. So we got off his property and called the cops. There was nothing the cops could do of course and suggested we take him to court (for $135).
  
  We at least we don't have an unsafe cat and we can begin to look for a new one. This time we'll avoid the fire ants and the bad hulls! At least I sold some of my windsurfing gear and made up $300 toward a cat purchase.
  
  Sorry for the rant, just had to vent the bad situation.
  

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• Wolfman
  
  

  • Rank: Chief
  • Registered: Jun 24, 2009
  • Last visit: Jun 15, 2023
  • Posts: 1555

  Posted: Oct 26, 2009 - 11:02 PM

  Wow, that is a really bad experience!! I think that is why most people on this site recommend that you get the owner to take you out for a sail before you buy just to learn the basics of rigging and sailing the boat. It's a real pain in the butt but likely really worth it.
  
  This guys sounds like he knew what he doing and was trying to dump a bad boat and knew it.
  
  I myself had an interesting experience when I bought my Nacra. It turned out OK but could have been bad if the fellow was a jerk. I bought it from a fellow who manufactures agriculural tarps for a living and redoes catamarans as a sideline. Unfortunately for me he didn't know a single thing about Nacras and didn't really want to find out (he does Hobies almost exclusively).
  
  So the boat came rigged wrong (but with all the correct parts except for a couple of shackles once I found the correct manual). He made a mainsail and jib for the boat but they are very flat and the main clew grommet ripped first time out. This is mostly becuase he didn't have a lot of sailmaking knowledge.
  
  Fortunately he is a REALLY nice guy and had a top notch fibreglass person redo the hulls. He repaired the mainsail no questions asked and it works fine but maybe could be faster. Overall I ended up being really happy with the boat but it took some patience on my part and could have been bad.
  
  Just goes to show you how things can go. Hope your next experience is much better!
  
  --
  Dave Bonin
  1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
  1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  --

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• HULLFLYER
  
  

  • Rank: Mate
  • Registered: Aug 06, 2004
  • Last visit: Oct 20, 2024
  • Posts: 878

  Posted: Oct 27, 2009 - 07:39 AM

  If the boat was listed on craigs list, put another listing with a reference to that boat and describe it as it really is and if it is truly a beater boat let the boat buying public know. He deserves much worse but at least this much.

  Nick1224

  Turned out to be a big fiasco. Went to check the boat in Dania Beach Saturday and as soon as I put my hand on the hull I got bitten by 5 fire ants. My hand turned into a balloon and I was really distracted when checking over the boat. He said the hull was tight and no delamination/damage. All the rigging was good and sails were in great shape. Took the boat out Sunday and took an hour to rig it following the prindle manual. Got it out on the water and had a great first tack. Boat felt great...lots of power. Then we tacked and noticed the starboard hull sat lower, so we sailed it in. There was about two inches of water in the hull, so we took it out for another run and noticed no aditional water.
  
  Then we noticed the hull flexing with each passing wave and heard a "thunking noise". Got the boat back to shore and realized how soft the hull was Back onto the trailer.
  
  Called the seller and had a little chat (luckily we paid 2/3 by check, the rest in cash) He wasn't very happy that we wanted to return the boat, but agreed to the next morning.
  
  We drove the boat back up to his house in Dania Beach and he checked everything over with a fine toothed comb. Then he tried to tell us that the hull was perfectly fine and that he was in the boat business for 50 years and knew a good hull. My hand wasn't so swollen today and I could feel the two layers seperarated on the inside portion of the hull. He backed the boat into his car port and then parked his car in front of it.
  
  Then he told us to call him tomorrow about returning the money....
  
  Luckily we put a hold on the check today. He wasn't very happy about that and refused to return the cash portion or give us the boat. He told us to wait an hour outside while he ate dinner with his family so we sat in the Jeep and waited. Then he called us after an hour and told us he couldn't get the money tonight. We of course didn't want to leave without the boat or money. Eventually we got him to go to an ATM and withdrawal money. He only returned with 200 instead of 335 because he said that was what all the inconvience was worth to him. He admitted to being a d!$k and that he wasn't happy with us (not so politely) and told us to leave. So we got off his property and called the cops. There was nothing the cops could do of course and suggested we take him to court (for $135).
  
  We at least we don't have an unsafe cat and we can begin to look for a new one. This time we'll avoid the fire ants and the bad hulls! At least I sold some of my windsurfing gear and made up $300 toward a cat purchase.
  
  Sorry for the rant, just had to vent the bad situation.
  

  
  

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• coastrat
  
  

  • Rank: Chief
  • Registered: Jul 16, 2009
  • Last visit: Oct 28, 2014
  • Posts: 1271

  Posted: Oct 27, 2009 - 09:33 AM

  too bad about the scumbag who tried to rip you off, he'll get his back in spades believe me. when i bought mine it was the same story, everything supposed to be good. upon further review(after first inspection) i had a delam spot the size of a paper plate and a couple of smaller ones on one hull. this introduced me to hull delam repairs which is'nt nearly as hard as you think. only paid 500 bucks for the boat so i didn't complain. one hull was white and one was yellow so i already looked like the clampets out there. plan on spraying new gelcoat this winter and definitely keeping the boat. moral to the story is if the price is right, a LITTLE hull repair is cool(no clunking noises). good luck your boat is waiting! bill.
  
  --
  Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook!
  bill harris
  hattiesburg, mississippi
  prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
  --

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• Nick1224
  
  

  • Rank: Lubber
  • Registered: Oct 20, 2009
  • Last visit: Oct 27, 2009
  • Posts: 9

  Posted: Oct 27, 2009 - 01:16 PM

  Thanks. Even his neighbor came out and said "please don't judge the neighborhood by him, we're really very nice."
  
  I would have been cool with a little repair like you said....but this sucker was a couple feet long (4' after tapping it out). I feel stupid for not recognizing it on land. One thing that caught my attention as we were pulling away the day we bought it was his brother patting him on the back and said "glad you got rid of it". I thought he was just happy to sell it, but now.....
  
  Well, onto a happier note. Going to look at two this weekend on the west coast. We're going out to autoX!

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