Jim, If you proceed, here's what will probably be the drill. 1) You make an offer based on what you know about the boat and what the broker has disclosed. They counter-offer. You dicker and agree on a price. 2) If it's seaworthy, you seatrial the boat. If it's wet, and it's on the hard drying out, you might wind up having to skip this step. Do so only if you're comfortable with that. 3) You get the boat hauled (if it's not already on the hard) and have the meanest, toughest sumbitch of a surveyor you can find to dig deep and find out what's really wrong with the boat. Note: You probably shouldn't give the survey report to the broker/dealer. They don't deserve it. They didn't show you theirs, so you shouldn't show them yours. It's not a question of nice or not nice. The survey report is your property. You paid a couple hundred bucks for this information. The broker didn't. Now you're going to give it away? They'll probably make you feel ridiculous for not showing it, but that's just a broker's tactic. When you give the broker the survey, you're helping them to market the boat to a buyer who is not you. 5) You itemize the problems that the surveyor turned up and put a price tag on them. Take the price tag to the broker and tell them how much of that you want. Remember that a surveyor will only tell you what he or she can see, so when it's for something hidden (like hull insulation) don't be shy about throwing in some fudge factor for the unkown. When they say "Aw, c'mon, let us see the survey," snip out the negotiating point(s) and present them separately, and then only if you feel like it. Note: If you itemize for the moisture in your survey concession and they respond with "We disclosed that. You knew about that. It's not a concession candidate," you respond with "Now I know the extent, and that wasn't disclosed." 6) The broker will minimize whatever you've found and look to lower your concession demand. Give in or stand your ground depending on how desperately you want the boat, how bad you think the repairs are, how desperately you think the owner wants the boat off his hands, and how many people are (or are not) standing in line to take your place. You're almost certainly going to have to have a survey done anyway to get financing and/or insurance. Use the survey process to your advantage. You should not accept their survey results in any form, and most definitely not as presented (verbal re-reporting). You should definitely NOT let them proceed with the repair. It's in their interest to do the absolute minimum to get it out the door. It's in your interest to do it right. These two impulses are generally in conflict. BTW, if the boat's on the hard, find out for how long, and make sure the surveyor knows, as it will potentially affect the moisture content. The yard should be able to tell you how long its been there. Doug Hoople M/V Bomar 1963 Stephens Bros. 50 FDMY Sausalito, CA

tobyboat@worldnet.att.net writes: > >. A friend who sells marine instruments for a living. >> walked around with his latest gadget. > > And his latest gadget was ??? That was over 5 yers ago and I've consumed way too much beer-diluted aluminum before and since. However he showed me the thing and just hokding it to the outside of the hull (on the hard) would show up correcly water left in the freshwater-bladdder, the few inches in th bilge (it's a wet-hollow bilge construction and of course the "moisture" in the holding tank. The hokding tank is about 3 inches thick and has a substantial airgap to the hull. Hi Oh, why not ask my friend what the instrument was? He sold his boat, moved away and is now in th Wine and Beer making business - Good Move!.