53 ED for sale in New Orleans?

[Streff]

I would appreciate the forums opinion on this 1983 Hatteras 53ED for sale in New Orleans. It is a project boat for sure but the Yanmar engines intrigue me. The Yanmars were installed 15 years ago but have not been run much in the last 5 years. I know that’s not ideal and could be a real issue. According to the broker, the engines start after the seller installed new batteries recently. The vessel is missing a radar arch or mast, also missing are flybridge seating, railing, bimini etc. some minor damage to the port side, swimplatform and SB corner. The boat needs electronics, etc, etc. However, if the engines are decent.. I am not worried about the other stuff. Of course, marine & engine survey would be carried out. The boat is represented by Pop yachts, so that has its angles too. I would appreciate comments or opinions about the above vessel.. As background, It seems that the few Hatteras’ with Detroits that we visited had one engine overhauled (so a concern about when the second engine will need an OH), smoke significantly on startup or just what I would call chugging to get started with lots of smoke even on warm days. I even considered overhauling the detroits after purchase (as suggested). I am getting anywhere between 40-71K per engine for an overhaul. So the Yanmars are attractive at this point. Thank youStreff

 

[Miss Swivel]

I just read the YW listing. That ad description is priceless. Reason for selling, "doesn't know how to drive it." I would definitely apply the "pay no more than 1k per foot" rule for this boat. Even fixed up, resale will be tough. I would think most Hatteras shoppers aren't looking for Yanmar power.

 

[Timeless72]

I would rather have old detroits in a situation like that. Easier to bring back to life, although smoky, and figure out along the way. Looks like a liveaboard. POP has always ticked me off with their listings. Here, you have a dozen pics of the salon and not one of the engines. I see the 110 outlet and port holes are included. You've got that going. Which is nice.

 

[Streff]

Thank you for the comments. I am surprised to hear that old Detroits would be more desirable than newer Yanmar. very interesting. I agree resale would be a real challenge unless I add a radar arch and the various things missing on the flybridge. I am told that it’s not a liveaboard situation as the seller has a home & lives in NO. The seller did upgrade the window treatment & flooring throughout. The listing needs more photos for sure of the engine room, heads, bilge, etc. I was thinking of hiring a surveyor to do a pre-offer type inspection with photos before traveling to see the boat. I used to do that when buying motorhomes, not sure if it’s a common in the marine world.

 

[jim rosenthal]

All other things equal, I would think you'd just want engines in good shape. Which in turn means a survey of them, and a sea trial if possible. Which size Yanmars are they?

Pop Yachts... well, we've had a few comments on them over the years. Generally not all that (+) as I recall, but maybe they've improved.

 

[cww]

Thank you for the comments. I am surprised to hear that old Detroits would be more desirable than newer Yanmar. very interesting. I agree resale would be a real challenge unless I add a radar arch and the various things missing on the flybridge. I am told that it’s not a liveaboard situation as the seller has a home & lives in NO. The seller did upgrade the window treatment & flooring throughout. The listing needs more photos for sure of the engine room, heads, bilge, etc. I was thinking of hiring a surveyor to do a pre-offer type inspection with photos before traveling to see the boat. I used to do that when buying motorhomes, not sure if it’s a common in the marine world.

Detroit 871's are good, cheap, reliable boating. If something does go wrong, the parts are a fraction of the other manufacturers' prices. I would rather have them any day of the week and twice on Sunday. They aren't speed demons though, you will only get a 15-16 knot fast cruise and 9 knot efficient cruise.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Link to listing? What HP Yanmars?

 

[rwaldrop13]

I would rather have old detroits in a situation like that. Easier to bring back to life, although smoky, and figure out along the way. Looks like a liveaboard. POP has always ticked me off with their listings. Here, you have a dozen pics of the salon and not one of the engines. I see the 110 outlet and port holes are included. You've got that going. Which is nice.

Just a comment on POP, we started out with them as buyer's broker but fired them after 2 showings. Neither of the boats they showed us were in the condition described, disclaimer not withstanding, and they could not believe we were not happy.

 

[warrenw]

Link to listing? What HP Yanmars?

Sky, I found it here https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1983-hatteras-53-9671064/

No HP listed and no photos of the engine rooms.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Thanks Warren. It shows total hp as 450. So she's a trawler now. But as far as value, just look at that dinette table. There must be at least $6.50 in pennies there.

 

[drewread]

Sky, I found it here https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1983-hatteras-53-9671064/ No HP listed and no photos of the engine rooms.

Quite the listing - :facepalm:-... But at least the stringers are included! Phew!

 

[whoover]

Thank you for the comments. I am surprised to hear that old Detroits would be more desirable than newer Yanmar. very interesting. I agree resale would be a real challenge unless I add a radar arch and the various things missing on the flybridge. I am told that it’s not a liveaboard situation as the seller has a home & lives in NO. The seller did upgrade the window treatment & flooring throughout. The listing needs more photos for sure of the engine room, heads, bilge, etc. I was thinking of hiring a surveyor to do a pre-offer type inspection with photos before traveling to see the boat. I used to do that when buying motorhomes, not sure if it’s a common in the marine world.

I hired a captain recommended by my broker to look at a boat that I wanted a realistic opinion on, it can be done. He just went through it and looked at things, general maintenance, upkeep and general condition. I got an honest opinion and was happy with his report.

Walt Hoover

 

[rwaldrop13]

We paid for a survey on a boat thru POP that we wound up walking away from. I can't remember the name right now, it was a 53' Hat in Cortez, FL that someone else asked about on here about a year ago. I forwarded them our survey- The surveyor took us aside and said "don't walk, run". Granted that's not POP specifically, but their reaction was "oh well, guess this was a miss'. And on this one, just like that one, no pictures of anything important. We learned a $2000 lesson that day. And found out the selling owner had moved to Australia (no kidding!), the marina was about to put a lien on the boat for non-payment, and the captain that ran the boat for survey was about to do the same thing because of the repairs he had done just to get it running for survey. All of this had been disclosed to POP according to him and the marina. None of it was apparently worth telling us.

 

[SeaEric]

Pop had been banned from YachtWorld many years ago for multiple reasons. Recently they have
reappeared. I guess boatsgroup is driven more by $$ than ethical behavior.

 

[rwaldrop13]

Pop had been banned from YachtWorld many years ago for multiple reasons. Recently they have
reappeared. I guess boatsgroup is driven more by $$ than ethical behavior.

Well, when we fired them as our "buyers broker" we felt we had made a good move. I also will not work with Curtis Stokes, after the way he treated me when I called about a listing he had and got him personally. To say he was unprofessional and over-the-top rude is not even scratching the surface.

 

[Miss Swivel]

Pop had been banned from YachtWorld many years ago for multiple reasons. Recently they have
reappeared. I guess boatsgroup is driven more by $$ than ethical behavior.

I noticed POP Yachts had showed up in the Yachtworld listings recently. They used to only be on Boat Trader.

 

[Miss Swivel]

Well, when we fired them as our "buyers broker" we felt we had made a good move. I also will not work with Curtis Stokes, after the way he treated me when I called about a listing he had and got him personally. To say he was unprofessional and over-the-top rude is not even scratching the surface.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm curious how Curtis Stokes sells many boats because he's not on Yachtworld anymore. A broker told me Curtis didn't want to pay Yachtworld's fees. He is on YachtR but that is not nearly as popular a platform. If I'm going to pay a broker, I want as much exposure as I can get.

 

[rwaldrop13]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm curious how Curtis Stokes sells many boats because he's not on Yachtworld anymore. A broker told me Curtis didn't want to pay Yachtworld's fees. He is on YachtR but that is not nearly as popular a platform. If I'm going to pay a broker, I want as much exposure as I can get.

When I called him about a boat his company had listed, the number on the listing was his personal cell and his initial greeting was unpleasant. When I explained who I was, and what I was calling about, he became profane and yelling that the boat in question was already under contract, it was scheduled for survey and I must be stupid to call on a Saturday. The entire call was heard by my wife as well, since I was on speakerphone - the boat was listed as docked in New Bern, NC and we were in town to look at another boat that we didn't even go aboard. His rant was so extreme that I posted a review on Yelp and Google about my experience, and when I received a cease and desist from his attorney to remove the review, I referenced the Consumer Protection Act which rendered his attorney's letter invalid. I had a conversation with a marina neighbor about a year later, who had had a similar experience with Stokes, and walked away from the boat he intended to purchase.

 

[Streff]

Thank you all for the comments. After hearing the experiences, I am no longer interested in that vessel. The POP broker was pleasant and reasonable on the phone. I was waiting to receive additional info from him but nothing so far. In the meantime, I received several emails from Pop about this and that.. as well as listing of other vessels that they are representing.Two things I learned from the Pop broker, any vessels over 100K, the deposit is 2.5k.. and the deposit goes into an independent escrow account at PNC where only the buyer can release the deposit by entering a special pin/code. I was surprised to see Pop on Yachtworld. When I looked Pop has over 450 listing on YW, most are Center console type vessels.

 

[Retired1]

Well, when we fired them as our "buyers broker" we felt we had made a good move. I also will not work with Curtis Stokes, after the way he treated me when I called about a listing he had and got him personally. To say he was unprofessional and over-the-top rude is not even scratching the surface.

It seems to me that all parties were “bottom fishing” and were both surprised that they caught exactly what they were fishing for. I can’t even tell you how many brokerages I’ve seen go out of business over the decades because they chose to specialize in boats who's peak years of manufacture was 1989. And I’m talking back when they were still young enough to find insurance and dockage.