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Jérémy and his wife Nadège are sailing novices, but their project seems well thought-out. After selling the family business, they decided to live a life on the water. A long journey to live aboard a boat and visit different countries and shores.
So they looked for a catamaran to serve as their home. In 2023, he found a Bohème 43 built over 7 years by an amateur in epoxy plywood. This Gérard Danson design has been lengthened and now measures 46 feet. This catamaran is offered for sale at ?200,000.
The couple make a first visit with the brooker and the owner. The yacht is less than 10 years old, the sails and rigging are in good condition, and the engines have less than 800 hours. They foresee a few future expenses, but they consider these to be purely cosmetic.
Choosing a sailboat with no knowledge of wood construction
In April 2023, they returned to Martinique to finalize the sale, this time accompanied by an expert. The brooker, whom they had asked for advice on the choice of expert, had presented them with 3, in order to remain impartial. They chose SafetyFirst, headed by Pierre Corriveaud, who has an office on the Marin careening area, and is available on their date.
Faulty expertise: an inadequate inspection
However, this expert, whose CV looked tempting, didn't come in person and sent a colleague to carry out the survey. The latter is unfamiliar with the specifics of wooden construction, and visits the catamaran as if he were visiting a polyester boat. He passes certain areas that are soft without even stopping. Even Jérémy, who has no knowledge of the subject, wonders about soft spots around the mooring cleats or on deck. But he keeps quiet in the face of the enthusiasm of the so-called expert, who never ceases to praise the boat's qualities, even going so far as to say that he'd buy it himself... All the lights are green for our novices. The purchase is finalized in August 2023, even if it won't be possible to carry out an extensive sea trial, just long enough to hoist and lower the sails due to lack of wind.
However, on the first outing, the chainplate on the mainsheet hoist moves. An inspection of the deck below revealed rotten plywood. The chainplate was ready to tear off. An accident was narrowly averted!
Post-purchase reappraisal: a boat to be taken back in its entirety!
Little by little, Jérémy is piecing together the story of the Mistertong catamaran through meetings with other yachtsmen and professionals. The owner, an amateur builder, had health problems towards the end of the project. Although the initial work was of good quality, the finish was botched to save time. Then the boat was left at the buoy for a long period in Le Marin. Following this, the owner redid some work, but more to hide the problems in preparation for the sale. And in the Caribbean, wood rot develops very quickly.
Jérémy quickly drew up an inventory of the work that needed to be done to ensure safe sailing:
- Rot under the self-tacking genoa track, just below the mast
- 1 m2 of wood to be replaced on deck
- Worm-eaten compression beam chainplates, mooring cleats leaking water into the wood
- Removal of all loose deck fittings (cleats, stanchions, pulpits, etc.)
- Litter on rear of nacelle and in rear trunks
- And many more...
It ranks problems in order of seriousness: first, defects that pose a risk to safe navigation, then aesthetic or comfort defects.
Denial of responsibility: the expert clears his name
Faced with this desolation, the expert refused to listen. He retreats behind the fine print of his contract, which explains that since he doesn't dismantle, he couldn't see the defects. And yet, on the day of the survey, all his colleague had on him was a mallet with which he tapped on the hull, not looking for soft spots with the tip of a knife, as one should do on a wooden hull.
Repairing rather than proceeding: a deferred cruise
Fortunately, Jérémy and his wife were on a long-term cruise project. This kind of mishap could have jeopardized a year-long sabbatical, for example. Since January 2024, the couple have been living aboard, still anchored in Sainte-Anne Bay off Le Marin. It's a bit of a double whammy for them. Departure for dream anchorages is getting further away, and the budget allocated to the boat is exploding.
The couple tried to reach an amicable settlement, but neither the owner nor the surveyor would agree. Yet Jérémy would settle for very little, just the value of the materials for the repairs (around ?15,000). The surveyor himself refuses to reimburse the ?1,500 for the fraudulent survey, hiding behind his reserved mandate, becoming even less than friendly and rude, refusing to come on board to see the defects, and announcing that this catamaran "... is not for sale" was built with wood from Carrefour ". A boat that his company appraised itself!
For the time being, the couple have decided not to take legal action against the scammers. Preferring to invest in repairing the boat rather than in legal proceedings, which would be lengthy, immobilize the boat and not even guarantee a result. Mistertong is currently under construction, so that when she's operational, she'll finally be able to offer the voyage we've been waiting for. In fact, Jérémy even had to find a job for a few months in the summer of 2025 to be able to carry out the work in the dry at the end of the year.
Advice for future buyers of houseboats
When we ask Jérémy how to avoid getting into a similar situation when buying a sailboat, he explains: " If I had to buy a sailboat, I wouldn't rely on an expert. I'd rather be supported by a professional who maintains or repairs boats. I'd also do a thorough test of all the equipment on board. I'd also seek out other experts in the port, pontoon neighbors, mechanics, chandlers, sailmakers or others, so that they can tell me the story of the boat. It's important to seek out feedback and multiply sources of information.
In any case, it's important not to rush. Our big mistake in this adventure was being pressed for time for our purchase. We chose our expert not on the advice of the brooker, who didn't force the sale and left the choice to us, but solely on his availability and his CV, which seemed quite promising. Unfortunately, he didn't come in person and sent a colleague.
The discovery of the deplorable state of our boat really demoralized us. We had sold our businesses and our house to set off on this trip, to make our dream come true. What could we do once we'd discovered this fiasco? So we decided to take our destiny into our own hands and carry out the work on board, albeit with some resentment towards the surveyor and the seller, who didn't show much of a seafaring spirit. We like this life in the sun, on board, far from home. So we're going to continue it. "
A YouTube channel for moral support
Jérémy and Nadège have also launched a YouTube channel named after their boat "Catamaran Mistertong", in which they tell the story of their epic journey. For the time being, it's not really navigable, but you can follow the stages of the renovation: " This sharing of adventure and experience gives us great moral support. It feels good to tell our followers about our setbacks ".
