Looking for Advice on Survey to buy a boat

[terkim99]

Hello, we are new to purchasing a big boat. We are in the process of purchasing a 1989 Carver 3607. The boat looks nice.
From an aesthetic standpoint, it seems clean and in good shape (for a boat its age). We have had minimal contact with the owners and are working through the owner of the marina, who is doubling as the broker. The broker/marina owner seems trustworthy and we will likely keep the boat at that marina (so not like he will sell us a bad boat and we will never see him again). The boat was almost sold in August and had a survey. The purchaser backed out due to realizing how much it would cost him to move the boat to his home port (so we are told...seems like an odd reason to back out). We were able to get a copy of the survey from August 2020. There were more things on the survey than we expected. Some things we knew about but others we did not. Many seem like small things but my concern is that it might point to an owner who might not have taken care of things??? Below are the things wrong from the survey. Can you give me your opinion? Are these minor things not to worry about and just get fixed on our own? Or, should we run? Thank you for your thoughts.

Generator-not running due to low fuel (broker said he added fuel and it works fine)
Main salon a/c-not working, bad compressor (we knew this in advance)
Aft head not functioning, not fully installed (broker willing to put a new tank in)
Garmin 210-did not power up
Raytheon R10 – did not power up
No signaling devices (flares)
Extinguishers empty
No bell
Flame arrestors-serviceable but dirty
CO2 detectors out of date
Batteries not secured
No GFI’s on boat
Lower VHF is new but not fully installed
Shower hoses not functioning
Air filters/flame arrestors are dirty
Aft hvac drain is not connected for drain and filter is dirty
Holding tank needs commissioning
Large air bubble in compass globe
Foredeck reads 25% moisture and soundings are soft. (caulking was added around the windless to fix water going in)
Spot light illuminates but does not articulate
Latch is off forward sink hatch
Snug bolts holding radar arch in place
Stainless steel radar arch has been cut on port side, needs secure
Waste system not functional
Fuel gauge not working
Upper and lower port tach not working correctly
Upper wheel is lose
Horn does not work

[bud37]

Welcome to the forum...

Now a question ...How is the boat priced, clean ready to go or fixer upper ? I think you should get your own survey by your accredited surveyor. If in the report the detectors are listed as CO2 instead of the correct CO then there is a problem IMO, also there are fume detectors, they need to be correctly identified and tested.

The other purchaser could have backed out because of the cost of land shipping the boat....just a guess here, because the boat may be bargain priced and taking the boat apart and re-assembly is hefty.

We will see what others have to say here.....I think after all the comments come in, you will have a better idea on how to proceed......good luck with your search..

[chpsk8]

Honestly, the only thing on that list I'd be concerned about is the soft foredeck.
Pretty much everything else sounds like B and C items.

After my survey I walked away thinking I knew way more than I wanted to about my boat. I also had a lot of little stuff like this, but once you put some $$'s and time to each item it's really not much.

Looks like there's buckets of work to do. Sorting out the head system will solve a few of "waste system" issues.
The instruments, electronics, etc... not working is probably a bad ground, or something like that where it's impacting many things with one cause.

There's two ways to own a boat. One is to be handy, and work through the problems yourself. The other is to have some deep pockets and pay a tech. With the list of things you have here they all look like some basic DIY weekends would sort them out. They look like hours of work and not huge parts costs. If you were to pay someone it might get unreasonable. Tech time adds up quick.

[km1125]

Curious where you are in Michigan? I just sold an older 3607 that I had for over 27 years. It was a GREAT boat!!

Here are some comments on the survey issues:
Generator-not running due to low fuel (broker said he added fuel and it works fine)
What are the fuel levels in the tanks? If below 1/4, then that could easily be the case. I'm not sure which tank the genset is connected to (mine didn't have one, and I don't know if you can switch tanks for the genset like you can the engines). I wonder how the broker put gas in it to test, how long they ran it and if they did it under full load?
Main salon a/c-not working, bad compressor (we knew this in advance)
Not cheap, but not really a biggie if it's original. A new one will be more efficient and probably quieter. The salon one is probably the easiest one to work on in the boat. The entire top of the dinette seating comes off with just a handful of screws and you have total access to the unit.
Aft head not functioning, not fully installed (broker willing to put a new tank in)
Putting a new tank in, if they are putting in new hoses (which they should) is not going to be an easy job. The tank itself won't be hard because it's right under the aft berth and accessible with a handful of screws, but the hoses take several bends to get to the head and to get to the deck pumpout fitting. The hoses are going to be the hard part.
Garmin 210-did not power up
Raytheon R10 – did not power up
I'd bet these are just power or grounding issues. I don't know if they still used the push-on connections and terminal strips at both the helms, but if you did then plan on changing them out to fuse panels and screw-type terminal blocks. They develop a layer of corrosion and will cause intermittant issues and some voltage drop to all your helm equipment. I posted a couple threads in the "projects" forum on these.
No signaling devices (flares)
Extinguishers empty
CO2 detectors out of date (edit - as someone else noted, you want to make sure this is actually 'CO detectors')
No bell
No big deals there... you probably want new (fresh) safety equipment anyways
Flame arrestors-serviceable but dirty
Annual maintenance item. They might be fine but if they're not spotless then a surveyor should make a note about them. One bolt to get them off, and a 1/8 can of carb cleaner sprayed from inside to out will clean them in minutes. If they're dirtier then you can soak them for a bit in some aggressive degreaser (even TIDE) before the carb cleaner step. Let them dry thoroughly before reinstalling.
Batteries not secured
Do you just have the two batteries? Easy issue if they are in the stock location. You can just get straps to tie them down to the board below. I added battery boxes but you really don't need them because of the board that encloses them. I added a house bank just ahead of the engine batteries... there was space for two 6 volt golf cart batteries there.
No GFI’s on boat
GFI's were not spec when the boat was built. You could add them fairly easily, as there are really only two circuits - one going forward and one going aft from the main panel. If you change the one on the top of the helm everything after it would be protected and if you change the one on the starboard side of the aft stateroom by the closet it would protect the rest. This all assumes they still used the same wiring plan as mine and a P.O. didn't make or add stuff.
Lower VHF is new but not fully installed
Not a biggie
Shower hoses not functioning
I got some powdercoated ones from Home Depot and replaced mine. I modified them to cut them shorter to match the stock ones, but you don't really have to do that.
Air filters/flame arrestors are dirty
covered already
Aft hvac drain is not connected for drain and filter is dirty
Wonder if this is for the condensate drain or for the cooling water flow?
Holding tank needs commissioning
Is this for the potable water? There really is nothing to "commission" a holding tank except fill it up and maybe treat it with some disinfectant (like bleach) unless the P.O. disconnected things to winterize.
Large air bubble in compass globe
Not a biggie
Foredeck reads 25% moisture and soundings are soft. (caulking was added around the windless to fix water going in)
Where is the windlass mounted? If it's up on the bow pulpit, then it's separate from the forward deck. There are (or were on mine) two deck plates for ropes on the foredeck that might need sealing. You can remove those and check the core directly to see if that's been affected before you seal them back down.
Spot light illuminates but does not articulate
What type(model) of spotlight? Could be just the control is dirty, could be a helm wiring issue (referenced earlier) or could be the motors in the actual light. Not a biggie... you can always use a handheld until you can address this.
Latch is off forward sink hatch
If this is the overhead one and it's the same type as mine (Grey Enterprises), then the plastic gets brittle and will crack if cranked down. They do not need to be cranked down!! Just like the portlights. The correct way to tighten the portlight clamps is to push on the bezel with your thumb and VERY LIGHTLY twist the knob with your fingers. Go all the way around them twice to even them out. If you just start cranking them down you will break plenty of them.
Snug bolts holding radar arch in place
Not a biggie.
Stainless steel radar arch has been cut on port side, needs secure
Interesting. Would like to see a pic or two of that. Wonder why it had to be cut?
Waste system not functional
Is this the same as above? There are really two separate waste systems... the fwd and aft.
Fuel gauge not working
Both (upper and lower) or just one? If both, could be a sender issue, if one it could be gauge, switch or wiring issue.
Upper and lower port tach not working correctly
If they're both not working I'd suspect the connections going to the port engine
Upper wheel is lose
Just loose on the shaft? The bolt is right under that cap, which comes off with a small allen wrench.
Horn does not work
Common issue, and a lot of times from lack of use. If it doesn't work using either the upper or lower switch. Lots of advice for testing and/or replacing horns on this forum.

[mjk1040]

Bell no longer required unless your boat is at 60' now I do believe!

[Rocketman]

I would walk away unless the boat is being given to you.
The foredeck is a real issue and there is no way to know how far back the wood is rotton. This could turn into a huge project of re-doing all that fiberglass. I have seen projects like this cost as much as $30,000 to $50,000 depending on what all has to be removed, redone, new fiberglass, new blending of jellcoat. And few people will purchase a boat with soft core material due to knowing these issues. My guess is this is why they walked.

[km1125]

Regarding the deck coring:

Here is a thread where the owner redid much of the starboard and forward deck because of coring issues. He did it IN THE WATER!!

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3909&hilit=coring

If it's a "project" boat, a coring issue is not the worst that can happen. There is at least one other good thread of a member redoing his deck (that was an early 80's 3207)

[Cooler]

That is a pretty long list. Lot of it appears to be minor, but if I had a nickel for every minor issue turning into a PITA, I would be retired. ( I am retired ). My opinion of the wet area is this...if you are really good with this type of work, then have at it. If you are not familiar with the process, then leave it to someone who is. Not gonna be cheap, if you can find somebody to do it. Is this a freshwater boat only? I would walk. er

[bud37]

The critical piece of info missing would be how the boat is priced. That alters the responses greatly IMO.

Op...remember any boat you buy you will at some point sell, so something to consider.