Part 2 of the Filthy Fisher

The 1000 km journey to Finisterre was chopped into two 28 degree unairconditioned halves  - and two nights at campsites.

One without loo paper or loo seats and the second, English owned, offered both.

On the morning of Thursday 4th of July we arrived in Audierne at about 10.30 so I went over to check out the Fisher ahead of meeting with the eponymous JP.

The boat did look a bit of a mess tucked away in the back of a yard of rotten mobos.

 

 

filthyfisher-Still009

 

She had been stored slightly bow down so there were puddles along the decks
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I was pleased to see that she had legs.... good ones.
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The rudder was overgrown but the pintles were good.
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Joy of joys she had a Plastimo sliding outboard bracket - which made me very happy.
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The hull finish was terrible. At some stage some-one had slapped a coat of bad paint on her - but I could see no signs of the pox.
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The woodwork was shot - but I am good with wood and it would do to get me back to Waldringfield. Judicous use of marine play and self tappers would do to hold things together for 500 miles around Finisterre, up the english channel, around North Foreland, across the channel, through the Wallet and into the Deben.
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At some stage some really horrible oversize screws had been slapped in to stop the timbers from springing.
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The prop and shaft turned freely and there was no slop in the cutlass bearing.
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she came with her own tree - which was nice.

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She had a stout roller reefing system, a self stowing anchor roller and an electric windlass - no idea if it would work.
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It has the sort of radar normally carried by cross channel ferries back in the sixties and the worst running rigging I have ever seen.

 

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So far so good - no deal breakers here I could see.

 

 

 

Jill and I went for a coffee and then returned at the appointed hour.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

UP rolled JP in his Audi TT - black. A classic pimp's car and not one I would normally associate with Fisher owners.

 

 

JPs-pimpmobile

 

Jill took a dislike to him straight away.... he was very sweaty and did not dress like a sailor.

 

 

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He went across the road to Stratimer who own the yard and came back with a ladder and an electric drill. The story was that the boat had been broken into and the yard had screwed the door shut. I should say at this stage of the game that Stratimer have a good reputation locally, the English people who ran our campsite use them regularly for boatwork. Fine people apparently.

 

We climbed up to the boat - the toe rail was shot and the stanchions wobbly.

 

 

 

wood

 

but the bow roller and winch were looking pretty good.
winch

 

 

The windows were bad but fixable. They would be fine on the journey around as long as it did not rain too much and we took plenty of gaffer tape.
window-2
windscreen

 

Then  we removed the screws from the door. Clearly the images JP had sent me were some-what "historical" despite his claims on the phone that they were contemporary.

In the top right hand corner of the picture you can see the goggles for the radar - straight out of a UK boat periscope by the looks of it.
radar-and-door

the door was shot but ply and self tappers would hold her in one piece for the journey home.
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He had warned me that the instrumentation was shot - no problems there but the gear was straight out of the eighties and did not seem the sort of gear that the driver of an audi TT would put up with for a minute. The man was a living paradox.
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I have never seen an autopilot of such antiquity.
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JP demonstrates the use of the steering wheel - having said that there was no slop in the system so that was a good thing.
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I think this is the controller for the pilot gear.
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JP points to the excellent short and medium wave radio - which is about the size of a microwave.
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Down below the boat was dirty, falling apart but two days with a jay cloth, a bucket of suds and a stanley knife would have had her looking quite habitable - it would make Jill squirm but it would be fine for two old boarding school lads such as Jon and myself.
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Man JP loved that radio - if only there had been some power so that we could see it working.
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he assured me that the electric anchor winch worked last time the boat was on the water.
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It was at this stage that I asked about the anchor

Stolen was the answer

and the chain

 

gone too apparently but then it turned up in a locker - along with the chain

Weird.

This was news to JP who claimed to have really loved the boat.

 

There in a box on the floor was the other half of the outboard bracket
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The engine looked in good nick - the oil in the gearbox was clear and the oil in the engine block was black but no sign of emulsifying that would indicate a breach in the block. I had offered to bring a battery and spend an afternoon trying to start the engine but JP said he would not allow me to start it.
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not much corrosion and the through hulls looked servicable but would be likely to have pinked a bit.
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the headlining was a nightmare - again I have lived with that and can solve most of it. The bunk cushions were moldy and horrid. Nothing as good as they looked in JPs images.
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Free crockery - woo hoo
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the gas was a liability. For the voyage home I was going to bring the Origo stove from Katie L.
IMG-1436

IMG-1444

 

 

This is. I believe something to do with the compass
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JP speaks - words flow freely... the truth was left behind.
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So, I said, the boat will do. We can give you 1,000 euros now and the remainder by bank transfer.

 

Some of the following may have been lost in translation but JP said that he had already accepted an offer from the Frenchman

But you told me he has not seen it yet

Aha - his friend saw it. He is coming tomorrow.  If you wish me to stop him then you must offer me more money to knock him out of the bidding.

It was at this stage that I realised that I had been brought 1000km on a lie.

 

I said OK - 9,000 then and held out my hand for the shake - at this stage of the game my optimism had gone overboard.

 

JP pouted and then in a trice he was on the phone to the Frenchman to see if he wanted to beat my offer - although I am not sure who he was talking to. The speach was too fast for Jill or I to understand but he was certainly not telling the Frenchman that he had lost the boat he had not seen yet.

To sort this out we contacted Helene to help. I explained that she had promised that I could buy the boat at the price advertised that day. She told me that the other bidder is a frenchman and might never turn up.

At this stage I said that it is time to stop this. Then the phone rang. It was, apparently another eager buyer.

I then climbed down the ladder and told him to sell the boat to the two Frenchmen. JP scuttled down the ladder after me and dragged me to the back of the car to inspect the paperwork.

he said we must go to lunch to discuss it - he implied that I should be paying him back for his time by buying lunch.

I gave it the once over and said you sell the boat to the other buyers. I am going swimming.

The boat is, at the time of writing still being advertised.

I did send an email to Helene

 

H,
I know that my daughter  will never get an email like this. 
We drove for two days 1000 km . We will drive 1000 home. Your father lied to us.  He made you lie to us. He is dishonest, despicable  but worst of all dishonorable.  I would never do such a horrible thing to a fellow sailor.
I will never trust a Frenchman  again 
Dylan

 

So we spent the remaining days cycling around old french towns while waiting for Tuesday when we could get the cheap ferry back to blighty.

 

The bad thing is that we spent too many days driving across France in a hot old car. The good news is that the car did not break down and we loaded her above the plimsoll line with terrible French wine.

 

S3930006

 

 

 

 

I shared this story with JY who sent me the link - he is a wonderful bloke

this is what he said

I am so sorry to read this mail... Seems to me like a nightmare. I can not imagine that kind of people exist...
(never trust a man in a black audi, but i didn't know that)
It's a shame for all the french...
For me it seemed to be a good deal for you, and I never would have imagined that kind of incorrectness.
I could hardly sleep last night, I felt ashamed and guilty. But I'm only naive.
I found two of my boats on "le bon coin", my Mousquetaire and a little gaff rigged open boat, and only met kind people who loved boats.
Such a story is very bitter, I only can understand you and apologize for my good/very bad idea. I will never again give some advice, and I hope you will find your boat and forget this dirty story/dirty people.
All the best, and please accept my excuses

 

so if you do find yourself in a French Marina and there is a Fisher 34 there with JP hanging around give him my regards and tell him that he is often in my thoughts

 

Dylan

 

PS - and the moral of this story is.... over to you chaps

 

 

This is about Sailing around Britain.

76 Responses to “Part 2 of the Filthy Fisher”

  1. 12 July, 2019 at 2:06 pmVeeger says:

    Good job calling his bluff!

  2. 12 July, 2019 at 5:04 pmdylan winter says:

    but was he bluffing – what was his game. I have run the encounter through my head again and again – it does not make sense

    Dylan

  3. 12 July, 2019 at 5:21 pmDavid Ellis says:

    Perhaps he has relations who were at Trafalgar or the Nile! What a bummer. Very odd, but he does look as though he made his money flogging onions…

  4. 12 July, 2019 at 5:32 pmdylan winter says:

    refund sent

  5. 12 July, 2019 at 6:45 pmApplescruffs says:

    Close call, and quite bizarre… I guess the ‘equipment’ on board and the overall condition were commiserate with a boat that hadn’t been used for , at least, eight years… but then that’s his story? And would you really have trusted that untried engine across the shipping lanes in ‘la Manche’…. looked like you had to buy before you try and were only tempted because of the time and energy that you had put into the trip… I think you would have been kissing goodby to €9k.plus

    As you know I do imperious things… but you were too quick to shake his hand, even after his moody’ phone call to his… mum, brother, aunt or even ‘ l’horlage parlent’ who knows.

    Still it’s a Lesson learnt… deep breath….. and move on.

    All the best, and you can keep my $ if you promise never to do anything as daft ever again ! 🤪

    Cheers,

    Richard.

  6. 12 July, 2019 at 7:12 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    my plan was to put my outboard on the back and bring her home under tide, wind and tohatsu

    easy enough to do

    all nav lights and chart plotter on katie are AA powered.

    so easy transfer

    I was ready to buy – had the deposit in cash

    he had the documents

    just dunno

    D

  7. 12 July, 2019 at 8:17 pmNiall says:

    I think you had a lucky escape actually, not sure you could have got that pos back safely. Keep the $. Chin up, something will turn up.

  8. 12 July, 2019 at 8:45 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    thanks N

    The plan was a good one – the tohatsu will push it along at 5 knots in flat water

    forecasts are perfect and I had time.

    excellent anchor

    I have a life raft and was going to tow the dinghy

    lovely coast both sides with lots hidey holes

    getting her back would have been a pleasure

    D

  9. 13 July, 2019 at 5:46 pmNick Brittain says:

    Sounds like you could have talked him down a bit with some of your own bluffing but in the end, if you don’t trust the person you are buying from, then you must walk away. There is a big difference between buyer beware and buyer bend over. I think you chalk this one down as a less expensive exercise than if you had bought it and found bigger problems.

  10. 13 July, 2019 at 6:00 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    I am pretty good at looking at old boats – the hull and steering were sound. Electrics useless – engine was an unknown …. but I planned to use my Tohatsu to get her home if I cold not get it started. Standing rigging was fine, sails were great, running rigging was shot. AA nav lights and tablet – who needs an echo-sounder?

    Dylan

  11. 13 July, 2019 at 10:54 pmDavid says:

    So, the boat sits and rots in the back of a yard for how long? Then, you show up with cash and all of a sudden there are another TWO buyers? Sounds like every car or house I’ve ever bought. Typical sales scam, inelegantly enacted.

    I wonder what he would have done if, at the first attempt, you simply said “OK. You’re an arse. This is me and my money walking way.” I bet he would have changed his tune.

    Wait a few months and offer him $1000 less. It will still be there.

    Thanks for the story, Dylan.
    Keep the dollar.

  12. 13 July, 2019 at 10:59 pmdylan winter says:

    I might do that – although I assume the email to his “daughter” might have spiked my guns on further negotiations. On the other hand he might suddenly realise that he was being a bit of a prune, be overcome with remorse and offer it to me for $1

    then I can give your dollar to JP

    D

  13. 14 July, 2019 at 8:50 amRon Gosling says:

    Completely with David on this. He would have chased after you like an alternative closing sequence of Benny Hill; you shouldn’t have run so fast!
    Keep the dollar

  14. 14 July, 2019 at 9:00 amdylan winter says:

    Refunded Ron…. I am a man of my word and a deal is a deal.

    thanks for letting me hold your dollar

    I was there for an hour or more

    I was there for half an hour after he started being a plonker

    I did walk away and he did not follow me nor has he been in touch since I left

    he has my email, his “daughter” has my phone number and email

    he has my mobile number, and Jill’s

    I still do not understand why anyone would be so heartless as to make another sailor drive 1000km just for …. just for…what. I have no idea.

    I think that he will have a word with his preist at confession – the preist will be the son of a sailor and he will tall JP to do the decent thing and refund me my petrol costs, ferry and campsite.

    France was nice…. but I would rather go sailing on the Deben than drive across France in a hot car.

  15. 14 July, 2019 at 10:15 amStephen Mundane says:

    “C’est vraiment un trou de cul, celui-là,” as the French say but you don’t need me to tell you that!

    I’d say the moral of the story is to buy closer to home once you have the money for a tidier boat, whenever that may be.

    I admire your drive (no pun intended) to make Fisher ownership a reality sooner rather than later. Hopefully the new business model for the films will work out. If you gain some traction that way, it might be an idea to approach Amazon Prime directly with the propsition, which is what Country House Gent did:

    https://youtu.be/MUciGi-gWTg?t=192

  16. 14 July, 2019 at 10:53 amdylan winter says:

    refunded

    Few would accuse me of being either risk averse or lacking drive. This has been an interesting experiment and has unveiled a few new names.

    My plan with the films is to offer a no quibble money back offer.

    If this works I am happy – at the moment around 2,000 films are being viewed each week. Free via youtube and vimeo – I will see what happens when people have to let me hold their dollar while they watch – and how many will want their dollar back.

    I have sailed in scotland in the wintter enough to know that I need a short, tough, inside/outside streered yacht with a transom and legs.

    However, mammon dictates how far I can sail.
    D

  17. 14 July, 2019 at 11:56 amJacob K says:

    Don’t trust black audi drivers – is the lesson.
    I generally stay away from them – also having read that people in big black executive/leaders cars generally are less emphatic and behave relatively worse in traffic. Like I have noticed my self.
    Some people find it a sport in it self to trick other people – and it drives them – rather than making a good deal for every party – I think that’s the case – he can’t help it. Good thing You got away from that one. Never mind the refund.
    J

  18. 14 July, 2019 at 12:41 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded – I am a man of my word

    if it is a hobby or a past-time for him then that is extremely weird.

    I still want the boat – even though whatever he said about it was hard to beleive

    I have spent a lot of time looking at old boats

    the boat was the boat

    good hull, good steering, dry cabin, no obvious osmosis

    outbard bracket for tohatsu

    good weather forecasts – it would have been great fun to bring her home

    D

  19. 14 July, 2019 at 3:48 pm[email protected] says:

    The terms XXXXXXX and XXXX exist in many if not all languages, presumably for good reasons.

    Having lived at length in several countries and spoken their tongues, I can attest that there are a certain number of people to whom they admirably apply.

    I do regret your experience with this particular example, in particular because I call France my home. As you said you have a couple of followers in France. Next time you’re in need of some help with things French, send up a flare.

    I know you’ll reimburse the dollar, so I won’t bother saying keep it, but do keep the change which I hope is enough to get you something to drink at your favorite local; if not for yourself, then for your wife. It’s none of my business but I can’t help but imagine such a long drive home with my wife after having dragged her into such an adventure!

  20. 14 July, 2019 at 5:10 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded –

    I started out expecting honesty. It never occurred to me for an insatant that I would meet with anything else. The boat was advertised. I drove 1000km with 2,000 euros hidden under the cooking stove buried in the back of the jalopy.

    I have been accused as coming across as a racist and prejudiced against the French.

    The fact that I drove 1000Km on the sayso of JP and his “daughter” is the tell to the fact that I started out in this without prejudice. His “daughter” , who I only spoke to on the phone, seemed honest as well. She came across as a lovely person. Perfect English.

    Thanks for the offer of help., I do not know that having a linguist on my side would have helped at all.

    As for Jill, she is a sweet person. We spent the rest of week having short swims in a cold atlantic from stunning alll but empty beaches while staying in 14 euro a night campsites and walking and biking around endless Brittany towns. I got to observe my fellow europeans at their leisure. They seem like nice people.

    Lovely place to sail – judging by the view from the land and armed only with folding bikes and swimming trunks.. I hope to get back there when I visit the channel isles – assuming I close the gap on the fisher.

    I fear I came across as too eager, too honest, too stupid, too naive. I was a fool ripe for the taking. A 63 year old fool proving that wisdom does not come with age.

    The boat appears to be still for sale – and I have had no response to my messages via boncoin. Perhaps one of you native speakers might like to contact him and see if the boat is still for sale and if he still wants to sell it to me. I do not look to him for honesty on the boat – the boat is what it was – a mess but with a sound hull, steering, rigging and sails. The engine was an unknown.

    I still do not understand what he wanted from me. I offered him what he asked, I was ready to buy. He decided to plonk me around. Why? I do not know.

    I confess that I would be highly unlikely to risk buying a boat from a Frenchman – which I know is a prejudiced thought. I apologise for that.

    Dylan

  21. 15 July, 2019 at 3:41 pmChristoph Boelke says:

    Was he really the owner or did he just used an abandon boat to make some fast cash?
    Sounds strange. Be happy you not take it and it would be a stolen boat.

  22. 15 July, 2019 at 6:13 pmdylan winter says:

    Refunded one of the dollars

    I saw the docs in the back of the black audi TT – he owned it right enough. I just did not know what he was trying to achieve by dragging me on a 2000km round trip to be plonked around. I was there, ready to buy at the advertised price… he wanted more money

    The boat would have done the job for scotland

    Maybe a nice local Frenchman will buy it and make some nice films. Maybe he sold it to a fellow frenchman at the price advertised.

    Dylan

  23. 15 July, 2019 at 10:31 pmAndrew Wilkinson says:

    Audierne is a lovely place we spent a few days in the marina last year on our sail around Brittany. I wonder if for the price of a lunch you could have found someone with a bit of English at a local boatyard to accompany you. Or a local French speaking Brit. If it had been St Malo I could have asked a French friend to help you. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and from your comments you couldn’t have anticipated this. Good luck with the search and the film income. P.S. we have a black Audi A1.

  24. 15 July, 2019 at 10:47 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded –

    we were camping at a 15 euro site on the north shore of the peninsula – wonderful place to sail – I should imagine. It might stay as an imagine… I imagine.

    I thought that both he and his daughter were telling me truth until the point where I realised that he was not telling me the truth. I do not think it was a language barrier. He got me to drive 1000km as a way of squeezing more cash out if his advertised price.

    it is very uncaring of him

    as for the car – yours is not a TT – a classic pimpmobile imho

    and you do not own a shit fisher.

    my interest in audis stopped at red estates

  25. 16 July, 2019 at 2:05 pmSTEPHEN JOHN TATE says:

    Wow, you couldn’t make that one up! What a git. Please don’t refund I’d rather you put it to your expenses. You never know he may come to the party yet, not many would have the motivation needed to take that boat on. And as we all know that Fisher 25 is out there somewhere for you. As ever, fair winds and happy sailing.

    Cheers,
    Steve

  26. 16 July, 2019 at 6:01 pmDavid Jeffery says:

    No refund accepted. Thanks. I wonder if JP truly owned the boat and if so, had he been paying his yard bills? He seems to be a crook or demented or both. Over here we are familiar with the type daily.

  27. 16 July, 2019 at 6:04 pmNigel Berry says:

    Not just French people Dylan – there are shysters everywhere (even Suffolk). You took a gamble and it didn’t pay off – at least you had a break somewhere you hadn’t been to before.

  28. 16 July, 2019 at 6:16 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    I saw the papers in the back of the boat and he seemed on splendid terms with the people in the yard. I have run it around and around in my head and I am not sure that I handled it well. I expected honesty…. and that was foolish of me. I am a silly old man.

  29. 16 July, 2019 at 6:19 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    I think the snag is that if I was buying a boat from suffolk I would not have to drive 2000K and I could have questioned a suffolk sailor more carefully and might have got an idea of what I was dealing with. He knew the cost of me walking away and squeezed me for my naivete.

    I was a fool. I assume that he used me to raise the price to the other buyers.

  30. 17 July, 2019 at 7:30 pmDrew Hdson says:

    It smells of a scam but I can’t for the life of me see how
    Like others I think you had a lucky escape.
    The right boat will appear and to be honest a few films from your cycling around that area would have been nice to see.
    Your films have always included non sailing sections that are interesting.
    Keep the faith the sailing gods will come through

  31. 17 July, 2019 at 7:52 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    I think the sale was genuine – he just wanted more money than it was advertised for

    he is a bit of a greedy person lacking in the morals I have come to expect from my fellow sailors

    The fact that he drove an audi TT is germaine

  32. 17 July, 2019 at 9:26 pmJan Hijkoop says:

    Looking at the condition of the boat he should have been very happy that you wanted to buy it!! He will never sell it for this price, never.

  33. 17 July, 2019 at 9:32 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded
    I have it on good authority that the boat is now off the market – I wonder if he allowed the other buyer to hear our english voices and was able to run him up a few hundred extra euros. I feel used and abused. Although maybe it will re-appear on the market and two sailors will feel used and abused.

  34. 17 July, 2019 at 11:58 pmtim wood says:

    don’t refund me.Your experience was painful, but entertaining to read.Don’t try to understand these people,they’re aliens( outer space, not foreign).If you keep refunding your not going to have the money you need. regards.

  35. 18 July, 2019 at 6:20 amdylan winter says:

    refunded – a promise made is a promise kept

  36. 18 July, 2019 at 8:11 pmOldersalt says:

    First, keep the buck. You earned it!
    If there is a next time with him, maybe bring 1 or 2 K Euros in cash and the rest in the European version of a cashier’s check. Lay it all on the table in front of him. If he really wants to get rid of the boat, he’ll take it. Good luck and fair winds!
    Oldersalt
    former sailor, now caretaker of a 1990 Grand Banks 32

  37. 18 July, 2019 at 10:48 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded – as promised

    the door is almost certainly closed on this one

    I am not keen on driving another 1000 km just to be tiddled with again

    lie to me once – shame on you

    lie to me twice – shame on me

    he told me quite a few porkies

    D

  38. 21 July, 2019 at 2:55 pmTed Timberlake says:

    Blimey! Sad story but a warning to others. BTW none of the photos showed up other than green and purple stripes. Ted

  39. 21 July, 2019 at 9:32 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    ted you are the first to report a problem with the images – if you want to retry the page on a different computer then the url you dollared will be in your browser history.

    Dylan

    dunno what the moral of this little tale is…. buy a boat closer to home and from a sailor who shares this fine language we use every day.

  40. 22 July, 2019 at 8:55 amPhilipp says:

    Maybe the moral of the tale is not to think in black and white categories and to accept the fact that things in life are often contradictory and complex.
    We all have pictures in our minds about „the“ Fisher 25 Owner, so are we doing with „the“ Audi TT Driver. Both might be completely wrong.

    Concerning JP: I never met him so I have to be careful with my judgement, but it seems to me that he lacks a proper handling of money plus a lack of empathy ( Otherwise he wouldn‘t had let you drive 2000km (was he aware of that?) only to play games with you). Why would anyone pay fees for +/- 10 years (it must be thousands of euros) for a boat on the hard without wanting to use it anymore? It also seems to me that the guy – concerning the pricing of the boat – shot from the hip and then got aware it might have been to low. Drawing the dishonorable conclusion you were confronted with.

    Maybe with a little more cold-bloodedness you would own the Fisher now. But aren’t things always so easy in retrospective?

    Your Fisher will come…

    Please keep that Dollar!

  41. 22 July, 2019 at 10:39 amdylan winter says:

    you have the dollar – as promised

    He was well aware of how far I had driven – that was why he felt he could demand more money and lunch. We had agreed the price before I ever booked the ferry – for him that was a signal that I was ripe for the taking. For me it was a sign of an agreement between honourable men who shared a love of sailing.

    I admire your assertions of open-mindedness and freedom from prejudice. However, in thiss case a drop of cautious prejudice might have helped me – had I been suitably suspicious the fisher fund would be £600 better off.

    I agree though that nothing apart from our kitchen floor is black and white – it is all about nuance.

    I used to work on a late night radio show. It required walking the two miles back to my mother’s house from Oxford Circus to Holloway at 2 in the morning. Fairly soon I realised that staying out of trouble required making afew generalisations about the people I encountered on those late night commutes. It also required getting the rogiues to make a few assumptions about me too.

    Most of the encounters involved varying requests for money – some pleas, some involved more pressure.

    I abandonned my jacket, tie and briefcase. I changed into workmans’s boots and carried a small rucksac. I also donned a black thinsulate hat. I deliberately worked on other peoples perceptions. If I saw two or three blokes coming towards me I woukld cross the road to the other side.

    I think a bit of experience is useful. I am afraid that this incident will be added to my accumulation of “experience”. Of course I accept that not all TT drivers are crooks, or that all Frenchmen are perfidious. That would be nonsense.

    However, would I invest a week of mny time and £600 quid on the basis of a few phone calls with a non english speaker…. what do you think?

    Would you?

    Thanks for letting me hold your dollar while you read this story – you trusted me based on your experience and assumptions about me.

  42. 28 July, 2019 at 3:34 pmRuss Fisher says:

    Lucky escape Dylan I reckon. I bought a boat abroad (Wales) last year and the deal went well. Apart from the batteries swelling up and failing after years of standing the return went well. Thanks to Fishguard RNLI for the tow in!! Boat is now on berth in gib point and well fettled. I reckon the fisher was restorable but I too would have walked away on principle. Let’s hope it sits and festers in the yard for more years costing him several euros and that he finally has to agree a sale at half what you were paying. Oh yes that karma – she’s slow but always comes around !!

  43. 31 July, 2019 at 10:01 amdylan winter says:

    Refunded – as promised. I do not agree that it was a lucky escape – I am now a pretty good judge of 30 to 50 year old boats. I know what Osmosis looks and smells like – this hull was pretty good. The steering was in good nick. The engine an unknown – but that was alright as all engines are onknown and can crap out on you the day after purchase. It would be a shame if it sat and festered – it would have been great fun. I am 63…. not sure I have time for Karma to come around. I am fit enough to sail now – but after 68 or so I will be punching the stats on fitness.

    Dylan

  44. 4 August, 2019 at 2:41 pmJeremy says:

    As with others please keep the dollar, well dollars as it is meant as a donation to your funds. Hope you find something soon. Hope you are still using your duck punt. I take mine to Norfolk on a regulat basis and may build a second light weight one.

  45. 4 August, 2019 at 4:27 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded the dollar – the rest goes into the burgeoning fisher pot

    Duck punt needs a lick of paint

    goodonya for making a second one – light is good I think

    D

  46. 4 August, 2019 at 7:10 pmGraham says:

    Keep looking Dylan – better luck next time !

  47. 4 August, 2019 at 7:49 pmdylan winter says:

    refunded

    I am a long way from giving up

    they are not as numerous as Centaurs – but they are around

  48. 8 August, 2019 at 4:58 amRobert C Lord says:

    I insist you keep the dollar….You have enhanced the reputation of us all. We are adventurous and can live with considered risk. And as successful and competent as you are your wife is comfortable to adventure with you.
    We raised three daughters who were good students. Lots of after school activities and part time jobs. We lived 25 minutes from school and town.
    I bought a lot of $2,000 cars. Knowing when to walk away was almost as important a skill as knowing what an engine should sound like. I think the $1 thing will work. My guess — $450 a week.

  49. 8 August, 2019 at 7:39 amdylan winter says:

    Refunded – I am also a cheap car buyer. We also lived in a rural area with teenagers so cars ebbed and flowed. We were always the last people to own cars. They went from us to the dump. Still do. Agree about walking away – but this adventure was at the end of a 700 mile drive which meant the Frenchman knew the price of walking away.

    I am not sure if the dollar thing will work….last chance saloon on this project I think. Might even change the name of KTL to LCS.

  50. 12 August, 2019 at 10:21 amClive says:

    Hi Dylan, if the deal on the boat suits you and you’ve shot your bolt with the Frenchman what about asking one of your web site friends to engage with JP as a new buyer? – I’m always game for a trip if you’re interested – All the best – Clive

  51. 12 August, 2019 at 10:41 amdylan winter says:

    refunded – the boat would have done the job Clive – bringing her back would have been fun. A french friend did call JP – he was told that the boat is no longer on the market….. so it may… or may not have been sold. Maybe the other buyer (if there wass one) realised he was dealing with a man who has a strange relationship with honesty – saw the audi TT and walked away perhaps. That aside – the winter is coming. Fishers come on the market all the time.

    D

  52. 22 August, 2019 at 1:09 amWarren mangan says:

    Dylan , Well that was quite the sad tale.
    The saying ‘ don’t cut off your nose despite your face’ comes to mind.
    He was a very unscrupulous man. I think you were right to walk away or actually perhaps to have said “ this is my offer I’ll be here for another day or so if you want my offer let me know before I leave’. Having travelled so far and needing to wait for the Tuesday ferry you had time …… it served nothing by just walking away. However pissed of you were ! It was your boat he had long since given up his moral rights by the way he had treated it.
    But if it’s an and were pots and pans …….
    Re Tuesday, I just had to re schedule transatlantic return flight 3 times and consistently Tuesday flights were the cheapest by far. ( of very expensive flts) It must be the day nobody travels.
    Cheers Warren

  53. 27 October, 2019 at 9:33 pmAndy says:

    $1 per film would work for me. I tell anyone who will listen how good your films are and who would begrudge $1 a go? You may lose some casual browsers, but hopefully there are enough already hooked and spreading the word. I do hope you manage to get the boat and progress the project.
    Regarding the French Fisher – can’t help feeling there was something dodgy in the deal. Imagine that sickening feeling of having parted with a large sum of money only to find there was another claim on it in a foreign country. At least you had little adventure to experience and share.
    Andy

  54. 29 October, 2019 at 9:12 amdylan winter says:

    you make an excellent point

    the boat did dissappear from the market shortly after I posted my blog

    the world is weird place

    it was a long long drive to not buy a boat

    D

  55. 10 November, 2019 at 6:36 pmChris Coulson says:

    Please transfer my £1 to your cheap french wine fund. Thoroughly enjoyed the story. Have a great day!

  56. 11 November, 2019 at 8:04 amdylan winter says:

    thanks Chris,

    it was a very weird experience

    I still do not know why he did that

    D

  57. 28 November, 2019 at 2:14 pmEd Hiestand says:

    Sorry to read such a tale, suppose it is the nightmare we all fear, those of us willing to chase for boats around the wold or even our Country. Fortunately it doesn’t happen all that much but thanks for sharing the experience with us.

  58. 28 November, 2019 at 2:15 pmEd Hiestand says:

    I was thinking the same thing, probably better off a deal was not consummated.

  59. 30 November, 2019 at 1:10 pmdylan winter says:

    I think that the boat would have been fine for the job I wanted her for….

    By now she would have been hauled ashore in suffolk and being sloppily fettled for scotland

    D

  60. 4 December, 2019 at 8:56 amAnne says:

    Crap! Although you wrote that it did not end well I was still hoping for a better ending. Nice story though, keep the dollar!

    Fisher 25 for sale in the netherlands, 14000 euro’s, no windows. No clue what the owner is driving.
    https://www.botentekoop.nl/motorsailers/fisher-25/cdbc780a-1f28-4fdf-bba0-6167b919859c

  61. 4 December, 2019 at 9:00 amAnne says:

    Sorry, just read the advert better. Too much work for a few days. Needs too much gaffa to fix that for a safe crossing.

  62. 4 December, 2019 at 9:09 amdylan winter says:

    it has been around for a long time – the price is high for a project

  63. 4 December, 2019 at 9:19 amAnne says:

    I think so too. Have you told them that?
    I am still feeling sorry for the French boat, the deceit and and all the efford it took. Hope a nice Fisher and owner come along soon.

  64. 4 December, 2019 at 9:27 amdylan winter says:

    the boat has been around for ages – the bloke did a classic…… spent ages stripping the boat and then gave up on putting it back together

  65. 4 December, 2019 at 8:53 pmPaul Hunt says:

    Wel I never ! Perhaps that’s how French people sell boats ? Hope in this case he never sells the boat as fair penance for trying to mislead you. What a waste of time, it was probably best you didn’t buy it, maybe a lucky escape ? PS: I’m not sure why we had to pay a dollar to see the second half of the story but seeing as I haven’t sent you any dosh in a while you can keep it.

  66. 5 December, 2019 at 8:36 amdylan winter says:

    it was a good lesson for me ….. at the end of a 1000km drive. Sorry about the dollar, it was a bit of a game to get people used to the idea of paying for stuff. It seemes to work and the website is now earning aroundf $5 a day.

  67. 16 December, 2019 at 8:01 pmjames says:

    Was over Audierne way a couple of weeks ago and diverted to have a look at your headache. I think something is a-happening. Your boat has been moved a short distance away from where you took the photos and was no longer behind semi secure fencing. The whole area is a public car park and I don’t think has a lot to do with the shipyard – although I stand to be corrected.
    I suspect you might not be the only one to be exasperated…!
    Indeed, Dylan, there is a lot of work to be done to only pretty her up. I admire your courage in being willing to float an unknown entity home to blighty – through the Raz de Sein and the Fromveur!!

  68. 19 December, 2019 at 9:02 amdylan winter says:

    thanks James, very interesting. I had time to bring her home – and plenty of places to hide when the weather turns terrible. The weather forecasts are perfect and the tides are strong. Plus d my trusty 6hp outboard on the bracket on the back. Maybe I am over confident in my abilities when it comes to sailing slow boats.

    Maybe I should contact the yard and see what is happening.

  69. 22 December, 2019 at 3:34 pmStephen says:

    Hi Dylan,
    I’m sorry you had a wasted trip.
    I have an odd arrangement to borrow a 19′ yacht up West Scotland in the spring/early summer. Fellow was conspicuously failing to sell on ebay. But is keen to lend to me. I will pay him twice what he wanted for the boat but it won’t be my problem, unless it sinks with me in it. I hope I have more luck than you did in this arrangement, but I will have a good time walking on the West Coast of the boat is no good!
    Schnark.home.blog

  70. 22 December, 2019 at 4:57 pmStephen says:

    If the boat is no good!
    It may be worth the gamble as it would be my only hope of sailing the West Coast of Scotland. It helps to speak the same language, but he’s about as communicative.
    Look out for me!
    Stephen.

  71. 24 December, 2019 at 3:56 amTed Ceelen says:

    Hi Dylan
    I feel your pain in how you were treated by the sell of this Fisher. Last spring a friend of mine asked me to look at a sail boat she was thinking of buying. She was willing to pay for air fare and over night hotel accommodations if I would accompany her to look at the boat. The broker send us a survey and pictures of the boat. Each time we asked more question via email we got different answers, My friend was very interested in the boat and started calculating the total cost of getting the sail boat back to her home port. While talking to a boat transporter near the harbour where the boat was, he mentioned that a winter storm had knocked several boats over and the boat she was interested in may have been one of the boats knocked over. She contacted the broker who then send some more photos of some cracks along the side of the boat. She was getting suspicious of the deal. Mean while she found a similar boat only an hour drive away. We are now very leery of boat sellers and brokers. She is still looking and we will find the boat that meets her expectations and dreams, as I am sure that you will too Dylan.
    Merry Christmas Dylan.

  72. 24 December, 2019 at 2:32 pmdylan winter says:

    as it turned out we had a lovely week camping and cycling in the far west of france. Fantastic beaches…cold, cold water and very hot ashore in the middle of the day. It looks like a fantastic place to sail

    Dylan

  73. 29 December, 2019 at 12:03 amMike M says:

    Hi Dylan, I was completely absorbed by your story, I just had to find out how it ended. I have never travelled as far as you did to look at a boat, but I recognise the stages where you feel you have found something promising and the enthusiasm as you set out and then the reality is not quite what you had hoped for. Then to be treated as to were was unforgivable. I’m glad you have been able to be philosophical and put it down to experience and that you managed to salvage some more pleasant time from the trip.
    I’m sure you will find the right boat eventually.
    All the best for 2020.
    Mike

  74. 29 December, 2019 at 9:07 amdylan winter says:

    the boat was okay, the hull was sound, the sterngland was tight, the rudder was firmly attached. It already had an outboard bracket – bringing her homw would have been easy enough, a hand held gps, good weather forecasts, sailing downwind most of the way. I was up for the adventure and the price was good, the sails were almost unused. I underdtand the boat has now been moved outside the compound andis in the public car prk – still untouched.

    I am still a bit short of the cash for a decent fisher – I retire in two years time so I will be able to close the gap then

    D

  75. 29 January, 2020 at 5:46 pmSteven faid says:

    Scratch a lie catch a thife.
    He’s what you call a dealing man.
    He dose not really have money but he thinks he dose. I’d bet all his investments fail though neglect and penny pinching. I know lots like that and they grow old and lonely.
    The tale is sad for you as you had your hopes and excitement crushed and I hate him for that, I dont know you but meet you briefly and have been a follow since you showed the refit of the “slug” (moments)
    But the tale is not sad. It had a shitty part but your wife
    Was with you while you drove a 1000km one way in a clapped out 19yr old passat, to look at a clapped out (apart from good steering and soild Hull) boat because ur other old boat (lovey as she is) is too small.
    So the two hrs u spent with twat man were not wasted.
    You spent the rest of the time having an adventure.
    Sounds like you are lucky
    Keep the $1 I’ve spent 10 already catching up as I’m armchair sail during the winter… Yep untill I get a wood stove on my yet to be bought boat I’ll wait till spring.
    And the 80p a pop is totally worth it

  76. 29 January, 2020 at 6:23 pmdylan winter says:

    it was a long hot drive – never been to western France before and I would like to go back – by Fisher if possible.

    I am never going to do that again though – not on the sayso of a frenchman – I am usually pretty good at spotting rogues when they speak english – in a foreign language using google translate was the beginning of it I think. I understand the boat has spent the winter on the public carpark outside the compound…. so I assume the bills are not being made

    D

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