It all started when one day I wanted to fulfil my dream of owning a sailing boat," explains Peter Müller (name changed by the editors). "I've sailed on all kinds of boats, but I've never had my own!" The successful completion of a professional project at the beginning of the year actually made it possible for the man in his mid-forties to realise his long-cherished dream.
To avoid a belly landing, Müller turns to two consultants who advertise that they can help people like him on the way to their dream boat. Their offer includes a detailed discussion to find out together which type of boat is right for Müller, a search for suitable offers on the market and finally an appraisal of the chosen ship. Müller, who is very busy at work, is delighted and books the complete package, which the two boat-buying experts promise will make him a carefree owner.
Great valuer concept: support right through to purchase
"It's actually a great concept," says Müller. But what he then experiences in no way lives up to this claim. On the contrary: everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, and his budget is soon blown.
Müller's starting capital for the search for a used boat is 100,000 euros. The consultants want eight per cent of this as a fee, regardless of how expensive the boat ends up being. Müller agrees because he expects the guaranteed fee to provide objective advice.
With hindsight, it is difficult to say when the first domino fell that set the sequence of fatal events in motion. Initially, at least, everything was still going according to plan. In April, the experts arrive for an initial consultation. They meet at the Müller couple's home, and together the four of them analyse the characteristics that the dream boat should have.
The dream ship is defined with the surveyor
Müller's wife enjoys sailing, but has little experience with different ships. The issue of seasickness plays just as much a role as the Baltic Sea area and the dog sailing with her. And Müller wants the experts to limit their search to the North Sea and Baltic coast. He is not keen on the Mediterranean, having heard too often about the poor condition of older used boats from there. In addition, travelling in coronavirus times is not exactly uncomplicated. Incidentally, he is not in a hurry. If the boat purchase doesn't materialise until the 2022 season, that won't be a problem either.
The consultants derive recommendations for the hull dimensions, the draught and the design features that influence the sea behaviour from the interview. In the end, they recommend an older ship with good substance.
Müller feels well understood and finds his ideas reflected in the formulated profile. And it gets even better: the consultants present the first offer in this very first meeting. They had been presented with a ship a few days earlier. It really did fit the jointly identified search parameters like the proverbial lid on the pot.
The dream ship is quickly found by the surveyors
The ship, a Baltic 38, is a real bargain. An Italian broker, with whom they have worked successfully on many occasions and whom they can trust, will soon be offering the yacht for just 66,000 euros. Müller is amazed at how quickly the two can offer the right boat despite the tight market situation - and then at such a bargain price.
"I then found out about the Baltic 38, looked at the photos and immediately fell in love with the shape," says Müller. When he was assured that he could sell the boat for a higher price in Germany, he agreed to the suggestion of travelling to the Mediterranean to view it.
Up to this point, the accelerated process of finding a boat can still be interpreted as a lucky coincidence with a lot of goodwill. But now pressure is coming into play. According to the sales consultants, Müller should carry out an online viewing and then conclude a preliminary contract as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the good offer would be off the market faster than it could be taken to Italy.
Caution is advised when the expert is in a hurry
In the preliminary contract, the seller guarantees that the yacht is in good condition, and the prospective buyer promises to buy once he has convinced himself on site that this condition actually exists. His advisors wanted to take over this part. Müller agreed and travelled to Italy by car with one of their employees on a Monday in April.
In retrospect, Müller calls the trip quite a rush job. "It quickly became clear that the ship would have to be transported to northern Germany by articulated lorry. As the toll in Italy is so expensive that the transport would have cost around 6,000 euros more than in France, the haulage company advised me to transfer the boat to Antibes, 150 nautical miles away, after the purchase." He could then hand the boat over to the carrier there.
In the marina of Piombino on the Tuscan coast, Müller climbs a ladder for the first time onto the dream boat, which is standing rigged on land. "My euphoria was immediately dampened a little," he says; he had expected the interior in particular to be in better condition. The water standing in the bilge, the musty odour and the black stained veneers make him suspicious.
The boat proposed by the expert has defects
The boat-building layman has no idea what else is in store for him in terms of condition, and the yacht expert present reassures him. Müller should not be put off. In view of the price, the expected investments are trifles and the visual flaws are quickly rectified.
Müller, who has sailed on various yachts, recognises the Baltic 38 as a hard-working regatta boat. The technology seems to be in order, the sails are almost new, the running rigging is neatly rigged and ready for use, but you don't want to spend any time below deck.
Müller himself has other plans. The family should feel at home on the ship and he would like to stay on board for longer and work from there. He has doubts as to whether it will be the right decision to stick with the plan. "I was torn, but I had already committed myself with the preliminary contract. So I would have had to find something that would have released me from my obligation to buy."
Does the expert help?
But he has an expert with him. He gets straight to work and fills out a form, which Müller receives later, when he is back in Germany, as the promised expert opinion.
In fact, the ten-page list contains everything that is usually mentioned in a buyer's report. However, there are hardly any detailed comments. In most cases, the boat expert ticks a mark between 1 (very good) and 5 (unsatisfactory). "He went through the boat and looked at everything. In the end, he said there wasn't even anything to lower the price," says Müller.
Meanwhile, Müller himself is in demand elsewhere. Because the test drive arranged for the next day is in danger of failing. The entrance to the marina is silted up and only passable up to a draught of 1.80 metres.
Various scenarios are discussed with the seller's Italian broker. He wants to commission divers to inflate airbags under the hull so that the ship floats higher. The divers refuse.
Continue to trust the expert?
Müller desperately considers whether he should leave and wait until the dredging work announced for the end of May has been carried out and the entrance is passable again. But a German who runs a local yacht service advises against it: "We're here in Italy. When they say 'end of May', it quickly becomes the beginning of July!"
The solution is finally provided by the previous owner, a dentist from Piombino with contacts in the coastguard. Behind closed doors, he learns that the official depth specification takes into account a safety margin of half a metre.
And indeed: with ten centimetres of water under the keel, the boat leaves the harbour at a crawl after the engine starts under a cloud of black smoke. After arriving in San Vincenco, the nearest harbour, the yacht expert gives his final okay, disembarks and gets into the car heading home. Müller signs the purchase contract in the afternoon.
Left alone by the expert
"I was surprised at how quickly my consultant left. I had assumed that a few things would have to be done before the planned transfer to France and that we would discuss it together," says Müller, who has a different idea of a carefree service. But he didn't realise the biggest problem before the transfer anyway.
It is now Thursday and an important piece of paper is missing. This is because yachts of this size are always entered in the boat register in Italy and must be formally cancelled there after a sale. Müller therefore pays the purchase price immediately, as he is assured that the confirmation will be there on Friday and he can leave the country with the boat. But as soon as the purchase price has been received and the Italian broker has received his fee, he ceases all activity, much to the chagrin of the previous owner. The papers are not there on Friday, and on Monday it's still "Tuesday!"
Worried, Müller calls his advisors. They had encouraged him to make the journey to France without papers. The purchase contract, a German flag, name and home port on the stern were formalities enough, as the obligation to deregister only applied to the seller.
False statements by the expert?
The German yacht service from the marina in Piombino, on the other hand, reports a completely different experience. Deregistration, he says, often takes several weeks. He has never seen a yacht being transferred abroad immediately after sale in the 20 years he has been working in the area. On the contrary, he warns Müller: "If the coastguard checks you, and they often do because of coronavirus, it's as if you're travelling on a stolen ship. They might take you into custody until it's cleared up!"
Müller is frustrated. "I was insecure and didn't know who I could trust," he says looking back. He is also under more time pressure than ever. The unplanned mooring costs are adding up, the haulage company has been commissioned and he still has to unrig the ship in Antibes, which was previously completely unknown to him, and make it ready for transport. Carelessness looks different.
The engine no longer starts either. The previous owner sends a technician to look into the matter. But the deregistration is still a long time coming. Exasperated, Müller and his team mate prepare to take off in the middle of the Italian lockdown.
The difficult takeover
The German yacht service from Piombino is Müller's biggest support in the further planning. He promises to take care of the transfer as soon as it is possible.
After almost two weeks, Müller is back home, the proud owner of a yacht that he is not yet allowed to take out. After lockdown and the weather had caused further delays, he was delighted when he finally received the news from Antibes in mid-May that the ship had arrived safely and had been delivered to the shipyard so that it could be made ready for transport and handed over to the German shipping company. Due to the coronavirus regulations, Müller is no longer able to travel to France and has no influence on the shipyard's activities.
But his ship actually arrives at the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre on the Tuesday after Whitsun. The initial euphoria briefly returns, but the magic of the beginning does not last long. The engine fails to start again, and a service technician is called to advise more intensive treatment.
The rig also causes problems when it needs to be re-rigged. It quickly becomes clear that a metal specialist needs to be consulted, and this is found in the rigging master of the nearby Kiel Yacht Club. He repairs various threads and actively supports Müller from then on.
Further defects become apparent
The next difficulties arise when setting the mast. The tensioners on the rod rig are completely seized up and won't move an inch. As they are pressed onto the solid shrouds and stays, they cannot be replaced individually. The standing rigging has to be new.
Again, advice is given. For example, to temporarily secure the mast and move it to the Danish home harbour on the Flensburg Fjord when the weather is calm. But that would require a reliable engine.
The service has "overhauled" it, but after a ten-minute test run, the unit fails again. Among other things, Müller orders a tank cleaning and prepares for another long stay in a foreign harbour.
It is towed to Strande, where there is a shipyard and the standing rigging is exchanged. And a surveyor comes on board. Müller finally wants to know where he stands. "The budget has already exploded," he realises matter-of-factly and calculates the unforeseen costs that the "Dream Ship Campaign" has already brought him since he signed the preliminary contract.
The costs:
- Purchase price boat 60,000 euros
- Estate agent in Italy 3,660 euros
- Consultant in Germany 8,000 euros
- Trip to Italy 1,500 euros
- Guest mooring fees in Italy 850 euros
- Transfer 1,200 Euro
- Guest mooring fees in France 350 Euro
- Shipyard Antibes 2.100 Euro
- Transport to Kiel 9,000 euros
- Repairs incl. appraisal costs (to date) 14,500 euros
- Guest mooring fees in Germany 1,600 euros
- A total of 108,760 euros
The worst thing was the nervous strain
The new owner, who wants to restore the boat to its former noble condition, is happy that he still has a financial reserve. "The main thing is that I don't have to sell the boat again at a huge loss."
But worse, according to Müller, is the nervous strain. "You're just doing things and hearing different things from everyone. And I actually bought the boat to relieve stress."
The result of the survey in Strande confirms his fears. Although his budget has already been exceeded, extensive investment is still required before the ship is finally in the condition owed under the contract.
In addition to the teak deck and the engine, the mast mount, several winches, all sea valves and the entire gas system also need to be replaced. He plans to tackle the work on the interior, i.e. what caught his eye as necessary during his first inspection even without an expert, "as soon as it stops raining in".
But for Müller, there is also something good about the situation. He was overwhelmed by the willingness to help after his ship arrived. "When I think about how the rigging master from the Kiel Yacht Club came on board with me after work and helped me to powder silicone from the deck, I simply feel a deep sense of gratitude despite all my worries."
Müller still wants to discuss what happened with his advisors. After all, he has now paid almost as much as the yacht originally cost him.
What you should look out for when choosing an appraiser
1. "Self-appointed"
By definition, an expert is someone who demonstrates special expertise in a specialised field. Whether this is the case with a self-proclaimed expert can only be assessed on the basis of what they say about themselves and what others say about them. If you are looking for an appraiser or expert - both mean the same thing - you should ask for references
2. association membership
For example, in the German Boat and Shipbuilders' Association or the Association of Recreational Craft and Shipbuilding Experts. The associations guarantee:
- Entrance examination/check of professional qualification
- Compulsory further training
- Regular spot checks of members' expert opinions
- Professional exchange between members
3. appointment and swearing-in by the chamber
- Occupation-specific training required (e.g. boat builder, shipbuilding engineer)
- Professional experience as an expert valuer
- Examination before the chamber
