The video is in French. The write-up below is the whole story in English.
There are subjects you would rather never have to write about. This one has been getting on my nerves for two or three weeks. It comes down to one simple word, which takes on a very different weight when you buy a boat: trust.
A call from the marina you never want to get
It started with an ordinary request: get ahead of the November launch, at the end of the work, and check whether a berth would be free. Nothing alarming on paper. Except the marina came back and told me the boat could not be launched. It was being held.
I did not understand. Until it was explained to me: the boat carries a debt of more than €14,000, and that is why they are holding it.
What had actually happened
The previous owner had never paid for his berth, nor the crane fees, nor anything at all. At the point of sale he had assured the marina, with the broker present, that it would all be settled out of the proceeds. He did nothing of the kind.
The most absurd part: the contract we signed gave a false address — a restaurant in liquidation. And yet on paper everything was clear: boat sold free of debt, all harbour dues prior to October–November 2025 settled by the previous owner, boat sound and free of hidden defects. A contract already void the moment he signed it, since the debt did exist. I could have used it to cancel the sale or claim the money back. But if the man does not have €14,000 to pay his berth, he probably does not have the proceeds of the sale either. I am keeping that option as a last resort.
Radio silence, and a broker out of his depth
I contacted the previous owner directly. He had always answered until then. This time the message sat on “read” in WhatsApp, with no reply. As for the broker — who takes between 5 and 10 % commission on the sale — he turned out to be incapable of checking anything beforehand. Checking that there is no debt is precisely his job.
We were looking for a way out without much hope, knowing that a legal dispute of this kind can drag on for ever once it goes to proceedings.
The turning point
And then, on the phone with the marina, things tipped: they admitted themselves that they were not sure they had the right to impound the boat, since the debt follows the previous owner and not the boat. They went to check with their lawyers.
The second decisive point: the previous owner had never signed the marina’s terms and conditions. How he managed to store his boat there for four or five years without signing anything and without paying remains a mystery. But that legal gap is probably what saved the situation.
Two weeks later: confirmed
The boat cannot be held at the marina. The work can carry on. The marina, for its part, has started proceedings to seize the previous owner’s account, but has no way of pulling me into that debt.
What I take away from it
In the sailing world, trusting professionals is not a given. Not the broker, who is only there for his commission. Not the seller, who is there to sell — and even in black and white, a contract stating there is no debt guarantees nothing until you have checked for yourself.
If I had it to do again, I would ask the marina directly: is there a debt on this boat? A very simple question that I did not even know needed asking. We had the technical survey done with a surveyor. The financial survey, we did not. And that is where the whole thing turned.
To anyone planning to buy a boat: go through every invoice, every document, contact every body involved, keep everything to hand — for the paperwork, for bringing the boat back to France, for sailing her. Administratively a boat is handled like a vehicle, with no notary to make the transaction safe. The checking is entirely down to the buyer.
There were moments when the heart had gone out of it, when the idea of selling the boat on for €14,000 less just to wipe the debt crossed my mind. But it all came good in the end, and the work has started again.
Another episode of the adventure that teaches you something — legal, financial, technical. The next video lands next week, with good news: the lower shrouds are finally back up.
Until then, enjoy the summer, and sail well.