Noeta Survey Day

 Noeta Survey Day

If you need to get caught up on the fact that we SOLD OUR BOAT....read the last blog entry here.

Usually, with the buying and selling of boats like these, the buyer chooses to have a survey of the boat done. This often includes a sea trial where all of the systems are checked under way, and a haul out, where everything below the water line is assessed.

So the buyers flew back into Mexico in mid June, along with James Knight, our broker with Yacht Tech, for a sea trial across Banderas Bay over to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle to haul out of the water.

Pat, Alexa & James Knight

To prep, we cleaned the boat inside and out, had the bottom of the boat scrubbed, and 'staged' the boat a bit, so it wasn't so cluttered and 'busy'.  In another 'stars aligned' moment, a month or so ago, our friends Adam and Jessica on SV Volare called to ask if we wanted to take over their storage unit. They were taking their things out, but it was paid for 9 more months and they hated for it to go to waste. Well....yes, yes we do! So we have a space near the marina to put our personal items and things we were transferring to the next boat.

Thanks Adam and Jess - Just what we needed!

Multiple trips to the car.

And more trips

And more trips


Fortunately, our friend Bella was staying with us - so she helped me clean, shine things and move stuff off the boat!

There were a few things that would need to be taken care of before the survey. Things like:

• The fire system and fire extinguishers were due to be re certified.
• Zincs needed to be replaced on the hull.
• Distilled water needed to added to some batteries to top them off.
• Engine room & thru hull valves needed to be cleaned.

A company takes and re-certifies and recharges the engine room fire system and fire extinguishers

Ironically, our start batteries had died just 2 weeks prior, so we installed brand new batteries. Their fluid level was low, so we added some before the survey.

The day of the survey, everyone got to the boat early in the morning so we could arrive on time for our 9 am haul out. On board we had the buyers, ourselves (Gilligan the boat cat of course), Elizabeth Shanahan- Marine Surveyor and 1600 ton USCG Master, Gray Capo (training to be a surveyor, but also very knowledgeable resource here in Banderas Bay). James would be meeting us later in the survey as his flight was delayed by a day due to weather.

On the way to the haul out, Elizabeth had us run all of the systems to check for any problem areas. We special ordered a convoy of dolphins to escort us across the bay, so the buyers (and us of course) were thrilled with that extra surprise.

We hauled out of the water and stayed in the slings while everyone examined the general condition of the hull, the paint, the prop, the keel coolers, zincs, shaft, and of course the happy face on the bulbous bow.

The buyers, Dmitry & Nadya.

I had time to take Nadya, the buyer, around a little bit of La Cruz and to our favorite coffee/breakfast spot, Shule'l. They made us some sandwiches to take back to the crew and off we headed, back to the marina.

After we returned to the Paradise Village Marina, Elizabeth, James, and the buyers continued to assess and analyze every corner of the boat. Every hatch was opened, every light bulb was checked and every valve was moved. We were asked hundreds of questions and likely overwhelmed the buyers with a ton of new information.

Having a survey of your vessel is very much as if you are personally getting assessed. What is this? Why did you set it up this way? Does this work? Where is x? So it is stressful as a seller to have your years of work taken into question.

In the end, everyone was happy and Noeta performed beautifully. Take aways from the survey were that the life raft needed re-certified (that was on our plan of things to do this summer....because we weren't planning on selling our boat!), some courtesy lights needed new bulbs, we needed to replace a couple of hose clamps, and the dinghy bottom needed cleaning (we left it in the water too long - it had some growth on it). So overall, it was a success. That means, we're moving forward! Next, on the ever-growing to-do list....survey the Nordhavn 57 that we hope to buy!

Why is there a picture of ducks?....well this story this goes back to last November. 

Duckie Prank

My entire family was in town visiting and thought it would be a funny prank to a hide ONE HUNDRED little plastic ducks all over Noeta one day while we were out cruising. Some were easy to find....others popped up over the following months in pockets, rum bottles, and ice cubes. However, there were about 17 that we never found. Fortunately for us....the surveyor found two ducks when opening hatches that we hadn't opened in awhile. Turns out the new owner will only get about 15 ducks to find. Good luck!!

Check out how the haul out went (and playful dolphins) in this week's YouTube episode.

Watch our last YouTube video about selling Noeta here!

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com