About to close on a 3606 aft cabin.

[Harvester_1]

Hello fellow carver owners,
I'm not new to boating and this is not my first yaht but it is however my first carver. Also I'm new to inboards. I'm used to being able to lift my out drives in shallow water.... guess I'm really gonna have to pay attention to the local tides!....lol
I do most of my own maintenence all the way up to engine pulls or installs but that's not to say I'm an expert. I'm still learning and hope i always will be. We am closing on a 36 footer next Tuesday. We already had a survey done and she is in fne shape. The only problem is the halon system in the engine room is empty!..... where am i gonna get that filled at? Did some Internet searching and didn't find much other than to ask someone At my local fire house....i definitly don't want to run around with that system empty. Im all about coast gard reg's as well as saftey and security,but I'm at a loss as to where to get that serviced..... see, I'm still learning. It's a new adventure....lol

[tomschauer]

Halon is no longer available as far as I know. The replacement is FM-200. Try Fire-Boy and see if you can purchase a new system.

[Viper]

Welcome aboard. Hope the closing goes as planned.

[Harvester_1]

Hey thanks for the replys... i found on the Internet that yes halon is no longer available but that if i can find a place near me to service it that most of them have recycled halon. I guess they recycle the retrofit jobs the get. I don't know if I'll be that lucky to find someone local that has that. But it also stated that even though they discontinued it, boat owners are not required to retrofit a working system. It's still abyc approved. So , in hoping to keep costs down, i hope i get lucky. Still having trouble just finding a local service company at this point.

[Harvester_1]

I do also plan to contact fire boy though just to get an idea of the cost involved in a retrofit to this fm 200. It obviously will prob. Be easier to get parts and service for a more modern system. I'm sure i can handle the install but it has to be inspected and tagged buy a licensed inspector to be abyc compliant

[tomschauer]

Not sure of the cost but I shouldn't be a big deal to retro fit. Strap the new bottle(s) into place and plug into the existing monitor.
Please let us know how you make out.

thanks
tom

[tomschauer]

Hey, if you didn't close the deal yet, ask that the current owner repair or replace the fire suppression system prior to closing.

It is something you hopefully never use, but if you need it, it could save your life and the live's of anyone onboard. I would not leave the dock without it.

[Viper]

$$$$!

[Harvester_1]

Well, as far as getting the current owner to replace the halon system b4 the completion of the sale.... it's s long story that led to an awesome deal. In short....
A guy and a carver showed up 2 months ago in my marina and it was dry-docked getting what looked like some hull repairs done. After looking at it it seemed someone was trying to clean up some little imperfect3 and pitting in the gellcoat. My partner in boating and i just loved the boat and didn't understand why someone would yry to attempt to hide such small imperfections. Ultimately leaving the hull looking spotty in color. It's a 91. Unless the whole hull was redone it seemed like a dumb attempt only causing a more noticeable problem where there wasn't one. We then meet the guy, he was doing this in preparation for a sale that eventually fell through. We made a very low ball offer to take it as is with the intention of a full survey prior to the sale . The guy jumped at it. Also he is taking my immaculate 31 foot four winns in trade wich is great. so i don't have to mess with selling that one first. It passed inspection with flying colors. Its a very clean boat and the surveyor listed it in above average condition over all. Ill have the whole hull redone next year. Its worth it to me and my partner. This is sort of a bucket list boat so cost is not an option when it comes to repairs or upgrades. The owner isn't stupid but i would definitely say that it was a rookie move messing with that glass coat.
Heres the best part or most foolish part.....the inspector said that the imperfections (wich i never got to see) that this guy was trying to fix.... turned out to be tiny filled wholes that were originally "clam shell covers for the side discharge drains. Someone had done a wax job and took them off probably with the intention of putting them back on. So ...... somewhere in that boat is s box of stainless steel clam shell covers that i want to put back on so spiders n stuff don't crawl in the drain holes.... can you belive it.... he never realized it.. i can't believe he didn't find it kind of more than a coincidence that every where he was trying to clean up had the same 2 or 3 little filled wholes..???.. the hull mind you, still looks great. Just need a few passes of different compounds and wax. It is shiny as the day she was bought. It was just impossible to match the color after 25 yrs..... but the boat as a whole was well taken care of by its original owner who by the way is not the guy we are buying it from. He only had it for 4 months. He just thought he would make bank on this boat with some cosmetic attention and it got away from him. Monday we are meeting with him and the surveyor and closing the deal. Cant wait!