How to purchase a boat long distance?

[jkswor]

So, I live in Alaska and most of the c dorys for sale are in Wash, Ore.
When I find a boat with a good price, what procedures should I follow in order to get to it before some one else? It takes about 4-5 days to drive down, which I want to do, but not if it is gone when I get there.
Assuming no one takes checks and wants cash.
Absolutely do not know what to do, especially if it is not a dealer.
thanks
Jim

 

[Andrew]

Good day Jim,
Its funny as we were in the same predicament as you, living in Canada. We saw and bought a 22 cruiser from Alaska.
We contacted the seller right away. He had an old survey for it and we asked that he email it to us. We then had to make a decision and bought it sight unseen. We used a local (Alaska) lawyer to hold the money for us until the boat arrived at this point as advertised.
We faxed a copy of the documents to the customs people ahead of time. The seller put the boat on a ferry headed our way and we picked it up off the ferry.
We had to buy insurance ahead of time for the US plated trailer and the C-Dory. We paid our duties/taxs extra at the border and brought her home.
We then had to have the trailer inspected locally to confirm it was legal by Canadian standards.
I would think that if you bought a previous C-Brat boat, there would be lots of info about it on this site.
I am sure there will be lots of info from the other Brats after this reply to help you out.
Our purchase took some time and three years of looking but it was well worth it....Good luck.
Andrew

 

[starcrafttom]

If you know some one here have them go look at it first just to see if its worth it. It you have one in my local area i would be happy to go check out the general condition. If that works out then hire a marine surveyor that has dealt with c-Dory's before. If you want I will dig up the number of the guy that did one on my 27. I also had one done on my 22 but did not find him as well informed. After you have the survey done and wish to continue shop around for transport or shipping. You could come get it your self and drive back. There are several option including the alaskan ferry, barge, over the road shippers etc.. it has been done before and you can get it done if you want too.

 

[Bess-C]

I'm not offering Tom's services, but he helped me buy our 14. I saw the ad at a dealer and almost bought it sight unseen because of the price and limited availability of the 14. Because it was close to Tom, I asked him to take a look at it. Tom knows C-Dorys and I trust his judgement. He was very conservative, the boat was even better than he described.

Many people on here could give you a good "non surveyor" opinion of an available boat. If they gave it a thumbs up, it probably would be worth the price of a plane ticket to come see it, if the seller would hold it for a few days. I know that sounds costly, but for a good deal it could pay for itself.
Lyle