(17 July 2017) After many months of looking online at boats on Yacht World we knew our criteria and our price range and were ready to start looking in person. Our broker set up a trip starting in Jacksonville going through Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, and returning to Niceville. We had a list of about 10 boats to check out at various locations. Our initial impressions were not favorable. On our way to Fort Lauderdale our broker called and said that a new boat had come on the market and that we should take a look. It was slightly above our budget but it looked really good. We agreed and he made the appointment.
We loved what we saw on our initial look at Distant Drummer and decided even though she was above our budget we would go ahead and make an offer. In fact, we had 4 or 5 more boats on our list to visit and decided to cancel the rest of our tour and to try to make a deal. Of course our offer would be contingent on a successful sea trial and survey. Our initial offer was accepted and we set a date for the trial.
We arrived bright and early on the appointed day. According to the owner Drummer had gone through a major refit in 2014. The owner was obviously very proud of his work and was anxious to show it off. We arrived at 9:00 and crawled over the boat looking at this and that while the surveyor did his thing. At 11:00 Jan and I, along with the owner, surveyor, our agent, and the seller’s agent departed for the sea trial. Drummer was docked on a canal along the New River in Fort Lauderdale and, with 5 bridges between us and the Atlantic, it took nearly an hour to get to open water. By the time we passed the next-to-last bridge the wind had picked up and we decided to stay in the bay. The Port Everglades Turning Basin is fairly large and deep. It is used by the large cruise ships that dock in Fort Lauderdale, so we had plenty of room to test the sails.
The owner’s agent was at the helm, our agent was manning the winches, and the surveyor was inspecting the steering quadrant in the aft lazerette. Jan and I were just along for the ride. They rolled out the jib and we headed downwind. The wind was picking up so to keep from overpowering the boat they rolled in the jib and hoisted the main and headed upwind. The sails were fairly new and everything looked good. The wind was gusty and the boat was flying and heading directly for the large concrete wall where the large cruise ships dock.
Suddenly there was a loud pop. The guy at the helm yells “I’ve lost steerage!” and at the same time the surveyor pops up from the lazerette and yells “Your steering cable just broke!” Everything kind of froze in time. The guy at the helm was helplessly spinning the wheel. The owner, surveyor, Jan and I were bracing for impact. Fortunately, our agent took command and started barking orders. “Drop the main! Put it in reverse!” (The engine was left running in neutral while we were checking the sails.) “Drop the anchor!” Everyone but Jan and I sprang into action. We were still frozen, looking at the concrete wall.
Drummer came to rest about 50 feet from the wall. Within minutes the marine patrol shows up. It turns out that the Everglades Turning Basin is a Security Zone and boats are not allowed to anchor. Not only that, it turns out that a cruise ship was due into port within a few hours. We had to move. The owner contacted SeaTow to arrange for the boat to be towed back up the New River, past where she was docked to the Lauderdale Marine Center (LMC) where she was scheduled to be hauled out for the rest of her inspection. The time of day was going to be a problem for the tow. The tide was going out and controlling a 47 ft boat would be difficult for a single tow boat so a second SeaTow was needed.
The tow back up the New River was mostly uneventful. However, putting a dead boat into a slip for haul out at LMC with a cross current was not. The two SeaTow tow boats had to pivot Drummer on a piling against the river flow. This resulted in a large scrape down her recently painted and buffed blue hull.
When Drummer was hauled out not only did she have a paint scrape down her starboard side but it was also apparent that she had had a fairly hard grounding. Her keel had a fairly large gash on the bottom leading edge.
I pulled Jan aside and asked “Should we walk away or should we run?” We were on the hook for the expense of the survey and the haul out – roughly a grand. Our broker came over and said “I know what you are thinking, but you need to look at this as an opportunity. All boats have ‘issues’. You need to come back with a revised (lower) offer and include the stipulation that repairs be made to the steering cable and the keel.”
“Oh”, he said, “there is one other thing. The owner has let his towing insurance expire. Do you have towing insurance on your current boat?” I did. In fact I had the ‘gold’ package, although I had never used it. He said “If you are serious about purchasing the boat your towing insurance will cover the cost of the tow (roughly $1,600).”
Jan and I looked at each other. “Do you want to go for it?” I asked. She said she did. We consulted with our broker and went back to the owner with our revised offer. At this point he looked like someone had punched him in the stomach. He accepted.
In retrospect, he may have been too eager and perhaps that should have been a warning. But, more about that later…
Distant Drummer 