Brand new member in Cleveland Ohio

[denjb@yahoo.com]

Just joined and looking forward to sharing a lot of information.

My wife and I have enjoyed being on or near the water all our lives and have been busy boating with OP boats. ( other people's!)


Well as of today, we took our initial plunge into the boating world. We have tentively purchased a 1988 39' express cruiser.

This boat has been in the marina with the OP boats and we have been watching it for years. The owner just came down on the price again and it was one of those deal you could not pass up :wow:

So now its survey and sea trial time and we hope to have it in our possession before the labor day weekend.

I am sure there is a lot of guidance and experience out there so I am more than willing to listen to any suggestions and ideas. If anyone has any specifics the 39 express, good or bad, would love to hear from you..thanks! :smt100

 

[RollerCoastr]

Good luck!

The 390EC is a great boat, but it's also of a vintage that requires a thorough surveyor. Do you already have one lined up?

Make sure he checks the stringers in the salon/galley area as well as the ER. The foredeck also warrants extra attention during the survey.

Where do you plan to keep her?

 

[denjb@yahoo.com]

your advice was well taken and a good surveyor was used. Thats the good news. The bad news is there are a lot more issues than even I expected. we did find the moisture in the stringers..he went right to that and to the bulkhead areas where the windows are known to leak, found the moisture there too.

Although we anticipated some of that, there were some other issues that have us reconsidering.

I cannot say enough about being sure you have someone survey a boat!

 

[RollerCoastr]

I'm sorry to hear that. Did you use Greg?

Please let me know if I can assist you in your search.

 

[Mike Gazdik]

I'm sorry to hear that. Did you use Greg?.

Disregard this post, late summer confusion.

 

[RollerCoastr]

Mike, to clarify, Denjb mentioned using a "good surveyor". I was asking him if he used Greg Group, who you might agree is considered one of, if not the best surveyors in the area.

 

[denjb@yahoo.com]

used a very good surveyor and after some negoiation with the owner we were able to reconcile some things and I now own a 1988 390EC!

we spent our first weekend on it and really enjoyed the ride, the space and the comfort. I have a lot of work to do this winter but so far...nothing major.....needs some work..shafts are dripping pretty bad...had to do some clean up on water system..air conditioning unit in main cabin being replaced but with all that..its still worth it..just need to make sure I take good care of her and she will be a great ride

 

[denjb@yahoo.com]

we are going to keep her up on the western basin of lake erie on Catawba Island. We have some friends that all boat up there and this boat is in their marina so we get the good fortune of docking with them.

 

[Mike Gazdik]

Hey congrats!! As far as surveyors, I heard Greg is very good. I used a guy in the same area named David Monak. :thumbsup: I would recommend him to anyone.

I also bought the one we were looking at. It is a 30' Weekender. Very happy with the boat so far!