Buying a NEW BOAT for the FIRST TIME?? You NEED to WATCH THIS FIRST!! | Harbors Unknown Ep. 53

[@robweiss748]

Great real-world experience video, folks. We are about to charter a 1260 and I suspect it will be on our shortlist when it comes to our purchase choice in a few years. Hopefully the Covid/supply chain issues will be smoothed out by then. I fully agree with do as much work yourself as you can and be on top of all your registrations. I'm an engineer and my wife is an MBA/PMP. I fix it, she organizes it. She'll Gantt chart this process when it comes time.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you for watching our videos and for following our channel! You will be in great shape!! Using a project approach and software to manage the process is a great idea. We appreciate your comments and support, looking forward to seeing you in the water!

[@jerone8272]

Really enjoyed this as a potential new cat buyer (and sailing novice moving from motorised versions..) looking also at a Seawind. Keep up the down to earth journey that you guys are living, and don’t forget the other side of life working is never better 😅 (as long as you can afford it..). Enjoy the journey and make the most of it.

[@HarborsUnknown]

We’re so glad you enjoyed the video! You are so right. It’s important to keep perspective! Thanks for watching!

[@FirstLast-xz8ge]

I worked for a Fortune 500 company. I was responsible for purchasing capital equipment (($750,000) for the research laboratories. I had the luxury of not accepting third party warranties for components of the equipment. My contention was, the manufacturer I had contracted with was responsible for the quality of the components and sub systems that were installed. Of course by virtue of my company"s purchasing leverage I could eliminate third party warranties.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you that is fantastic!! Smaller companies, like boat builders, unfortunately don’t have the negotiating leverage to implement such covenants. I would live nothing more that to deal just with the boat manufacturer. Thanks for watching our channel and for your comments, it really helps us a lot to grow our audience and our subscribers basis!

[@patrickgallagher7308]

I just watched your presentation for the second time and I would just like to say Thank You! You do so much for all of us who are following in your footsteps

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you so much for your comment, it’s really important to hear that we are able to share our experiences and create some value for our friends on the other side of the camera. We appreciate your support

[@Mar-vu9nx]

Congratulatios, very good video. Friendly, objetive, sincerely. Not talking arround, or extra extending duration. Thums-Up from me. I'am going to sail from north West coast Mexico to Brasil.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you! We’re so glad you enjoyed the video. Best of luck with your sailing trip!

[@MrTCela]

Thank you Fabio and Kristin- very informative vlog- thank you for sharing! It was great seeing you both in Annapolis- in Bocca Lupo!

[@HarborsUnknown]

Grazie! Hope to see you again soon! We are glad you enjoyed the video

[@rjbowman52]

A timely video. I ordered my 1260 through Multihull Central back in September last year. With the sudden increased public interest in going cruising my catamaran won't be delivered down under until the end of 2024. At least I have time to try and get everything as right as possible. Keep up the good work with the videos. Robert. Impatiently waiting. 🙂

[@HarborsUnknown]

From what we understand you’re in good hands and there’s time to learn about the systems and maybe even charter a 1260. Thanks for watching our videos! Best of luck!

[@victoriawalker8565]

Super helpful, thanks guys. Ordered our SW1260 delivery date Nov 2024. Appreciate the pain you all went through and sharing this with the community to make things easier for us. I’m sure the challenges will continue, nevertheless, great to have this foundational framework to build upon. 😊

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you for watching our video and for your comment! We are happy to be of some help and love being part of the Seawind community. Please reach out with any question. We hope that you will keep enjoying our channel

[@wesleyooms]

I think I'll go for a 2nd hand.

[@HarborsUnknown]

It is definitely the best option if you can find one, the used market for catamarans is very depleted. We would have loved to buy a second hand SW 1600 but there weren’t any on the market. We are seeing some now and they are selling like hotcakes at prices hirer that original sticker price. I trust that in a few years there will be a number of great boats on the market after the recent buying spree and the market will turn toward buyer advantage. Thank you so much for watching our videos, for your comment and, if you have, for subscribing. Your support helps us immensely and makes it possible for us to create more content

[@carbon6597]

Good stuff guys! Sounds painful to your spirit and wallet! LOL

[@HarborsUnknown]

😂😂 You are correct! But in the end it's all worth it. We just hope this makes the process a bit easier for someone else.

[@darrellpugh6689]

Excellent ! Every who does this sort of video has a different point of view , even when they touch upon the same items. Very Glad to have seen this.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thanks Darrell! Yes, I’m sure each experience is different and also everyone has their own perspective. We’re so glad you enjoyed the video!

[@renedoz]

Guys this video was amazing. I bought new a power catamaran in 2019 and your video could not be more on target. In 3 years we’ll be ordering most probably a Seawind and I am going to keep this video on my favorites to remind me of all those important lessons that most probably would have forgotten by then. Thank you and keep posting.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thanks so much Marco! We’re glad you found the video helpful and that it resonated with you. We figured it would be a similar experience with most brands. Best of luck with your plans!

[@dimabrinza]

Very informative!! Thanks!!

[@HarborsUnknown]

We're so glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching!!

[@Peter_Herrman]

Excellent info, thanks so much! Gave us a lot to think about and plan for. A little scary listening to some of the issues your friends have gone thru. Hoping Seawind smooths out the process a bit by the time we take delivery.

[@HarborsUnknown]

We’re glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching. The best piece of advice I think is to be flexible and adapt to whatever issues there are. And that’s not only with boat problems but the cruising lifestyle in general. Know that at the end of the day it’s worth it. 😊

[@DaveHines1]

A lot of interesting points , but aside from engine warranties , you are in a much stronger position if you can fix most things yourselves. I’m excited to follow Nick and Terysa’s journey as they commission Ruby Rose 2 😃🥂

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you for watching! I and sure that Ruby Rose will have lots of support from Seawind. It will be interesting to follow their commissioning experience

[@MichaelKada]

Sounds like seawind support is not that good

[@HarborsUnknown]

They are very supportive, An ocean and a continent in between, COVID in the mix, supply chain shortages from other suppliers have been mostly the problem. Thank you for watching our videos and for subscribing to our channel

[@craigg7862]

Awesome video Guys. Really informative and practical. Thank you. Answered many of the questions we had as soon-to-be new boat owners. Keep up the good work. Cheers.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thanks Craig! We’re so glad you enjoyed the video. Best of luck with your new boat!

[@6800891]

Listening to the seemingly endless list of issues, delay potentials, and explosive expenses of a "real" boat has induced in me a renewed love for my little Catalina 22. (sour grapes...lol) Regardless, already craving Spring. Also, greatly appreciated your clever movie clip inserts and the wardrobe changes, oh and the hair has never looked better.

[@HarborsUnknown]

😂😂😂 BOAT = Broken or About To! Nothing is better than an old boat, paid for, easy to maintain and the Catalina 22 is definitely the top of list of little cruisers than can!! Thank you for the “hair comment” (assuming is for Kristin) 😂😂😂 Fabio’ due is not changing much 👨‍🦲👨‍🦲👨‍🦲👨‍🦲

[@6800891]

@@HarborsUnknown yall have a great combination of elements for a sailing channel, but in a competitive genre, a little eye candy never hurts..🤣🤣

[@HarborsUnknown]

😂😂 it never hurts

[@dougnixon5400]

Really informative, especially for those about to sign a contract! Thank you Fabio and Kristin

[@HarborsUnknown]

We’re so glad you found the video helpful! Sounds like you may have a new boat in your future. Congrats if so!

[@WillN2Go1]

Very useful and thought provoking video. Thank you to everyone who contributed. It would really be helpful if Seawind compiled a list of all the things that have gone wrong in the first year. So they know where to look for potential problems. This sort of problem solving is not bizarre or over-doing-it; new boats are very complicated and have issues - find them and solve them before you're stuck off some obscure island in Indonesia. There's a terrific book that compares commercial aviation with modern medicine. Avoidable medical errors kill something like 100,000 Americans each year (just an estimate, probably inflated), commercial aviation? Zero or close to it. Why? In medicine like many areas either someone's 'at fault' 'to blame' or 'it's just an accident, it happens...' So it doesn't change. In aviation if you suddenly find that you screwed up and are at the wrong altitude in the wrong place - you are required to file a report to the FAA. What do you think happened? "I was text messaging and not paying attention." Penalty? If you report it, none. It's much smarter to fix the problem than blame someone. New boats have problems. What I haven't seen is a comprehensive list of those problems. Of course at first the list will look almost random, but soon boat builders and new owners will know what to inspect first and in depth. (Too many companies that sell mechanical products like it when just after the warranty the product begins breaking down. I once had a Model 54 Maytag washer, from 1954 - I'm sure where ever it is it's still working. But how many washing machines and parts did Maytag not sell because they made such a good product?) Based on cruisers who have two watermakers, I'm thinking it might be fun and useful to put together one of those $3500 DIY off-the-self-parts watermakers as a back-up (and loaner). Also if Seawind knew that a handful of water tank pumps failed, why not rig up a test tank at the factory and run all the new units for several hours before installing them? Check for voltage drops (resistance), flow, vibration to figure which ones might be out of spec and likely to fail. It does bother me that I'll get only a few days of sea trials and then Vietnam wants me gone - never to return. Now I'm thinking I should take along everyone I know who's worked on boats, and during the sea trial, everybody runs everything as hard as they can.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you for this comprehensive comment!! I am with you 100% and having spent my previous career studying risk management and failure I can relate to the example of high reliability organizations like aviation, air carriers and level 5 maturity organizations like Toyota. Unfortunately boat manufacturers are nowhere near that level of organizational maturity and are just assembling parts and working fiberglass. We are fortunate to have worked with a company like Seawind who stays behind their product with a fantastic boat but the reality of cruising is that you need to know how to mcguiver your stuff and fix your problems. Your comments are always appreciated and we are so happy that you are following our channel!! Thank you so much.

[@jackchen5290]

Excellent video sharing very valuable experience you learned. We plan to spend 6 month sailing in Puget sound near our Seawind broker to do a full shake down before cruising, hopefully that will give us enough time to get through the warranty process for the out of box quality or early failure modes. Btw, Do you recommend hiring an independent surveyor?

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thanks Jack! We're glad you enjoyed the video. That sounds like a good plan. We don't think it's necessary to hire an independent surveyor. Any issues will arise with regular use of the boat and its systems.

[@timothymcginnis2867]

We had considered that before the boat arrived and didn't do it. We also considered a mechanic.. I don't think it is worth it. If we had spent more time going over the boat during commissioning, especially after the sea trial, we would have found more problems while everyone was still in attendance. Also, make sure you read how to break in the diesel engines before you take off, it is opposite of how you break in gasoline engines and nobody thought to share this information.

[@HarborsUnknown]

Thank you Tim!

[@rightright6582]

How much is to delegate the paper work to a company? Great video....

[@HarborsUnknown]

About $400 for the importing documentation and about $ 200 for the state. Thank you for watching and for your comments

[@rightright6582]

@@HarborsUnknown what about the cost of the service providers....

[@fabiopotenti2123]

@@rightright6582 that is the cost for the service provider to prepare importing documentation ad stated docs 400 and 200 respectively

[@kptbillburkett8735]

Thank You for this Video. Very informative. Looks like the sad think is No matter New or used you are on your own when it comes to fixing things on your Boat. When we had our 42' aft cabin motor yawt I had to fix it myself. But from pumps to radios to radars when I bought thim new to replace the old or broken part I sent in the warranty in so at least I could get it replaced. But I still had to put it in or pay someone to do it. Thats just the part of owning a Boat. Ok Great Video this week and until next time Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii!

[@HarborsUnknown]

We’re so glad you enjoyed the video! That is the reality of boat ownership. You end up fixing things yourself because it’s 3-4 weeks wait time at least and a chunk of change otherwise. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@kptbillburkett8735]

@@HarborsUnknown Very True!