Out of all the likelies the Atlantic 44 "TOKEN� came out best. Going by the spec sheet the broker had sent us, that is. She more or less had everything to set off round the world. Her previous owners had done so. She came with an autopilot, generator, watermaker and plenty of sails. The asking price was not unreasonable, and I was sure we could still revise that downwards.

A viewing was duly arranged. Off to Lymington.
Once there it was immediately obvious why the asking price was so reasonable. We were looking at a junk yard. Still, all the bits were there, but were the all operational or just so much junk taking up so much space? She looked neglected.
We had a family get together: we were going to put an offer in! If she was basically sound, there was nothing a good deal of elbow grease and lots of TLC would not put right.

So to-ing and fro-ing and a price was agreed - subject to survey and sea-trail.
The surveyor came much recommended - hopefully he would be able to put our minds at peace.

He wasn't: all sorts came to light. The main thing was the structural integrity of the hull had been tampered with. She had been treated for osmosis and the hull below the waterline had not been rebuilt to the full thickness. Other items such as the autopilot, generator were beyond economic repair. The steering gear and propeller would need a complete overhaul, the list went on.

I had liked the boat from the start; it felt like we "belonged together". But after a complete rebuild on the previous boat we were not ready for another one.
With pain in my heart I informed the broker that we would not be going through with the sale.

Back to the drawing board.