1989 Tayana Vancouver 42 "NOCTILUCA", Ventura, CA 93001

What is the deck surface - laid teak, or molded non-skid? Please send four photographs taken standing up in daylight: foredeck, both side decks, and the coachroof.

No listing mirror says, and it is the largest single number in the file. Sailboat Guide says 'Most have teak decks with all the benifits and pitfalls' and the closest comparable hull is teak 'in fair to average condition'; KI, twelve years newer, turned out to be molded non-skid and saved thirty thousand dollars. Four free photographs decide whether this boat is worth a surveyor.

Who did the 2026 standing rigging, and did they inspect, remove or replace the chainplates and their belowdecks attachment bolts at the same time? Is there an invoice or any photography?

Cruising World names chainplate and attachment-bolt corrosion as this model's known weakness on 'older boats', and this hull is thirty-seven. The rigger who had the wire off last year is the cheapest source of information in the transaction - a phone call that either collapses a $32,000 question or tells you to write chainplate access into the survey scope.

What is the full engine model and block serial number, and what service history exists for the Yanmar - injectors, heat exchanger, exhaust system, mounts, alignment, transmission - with invoices?

The listing dates four items precisely and says nothing about the engine at all. At 2,544 hours over thirty-seven years the risk is calendar rather than wear, and the difference between a serviced 4JHE and a neglected one is the difference between a $6,500 recommissioning and a $32,000 repower - which is exactly what the 1988 sister ship's owner ended up doing in 2025.

Are both diesel tanks the original black-iron units, has either ever been replaced or repaired, and when were they last opened, cleaned or pressure-tested? Is any fuel filtration or polishing fitted?

The stated 120 gallons matches the factory figure exactly, which suggests both originals are still aboard at thirty-seven years - and Cruising World names them as a model weakness that rusts once the paint chips. The 1988 sister ship lost one at about year thirty-three. No filtration of any kind is mentioned anywhere, which on a tank that old is its own problem.

How old are the mainsail, the furling genoa and the trisail, which loft made them, how many reefs does the main have, and is there a staysail - is the inner forestay rigged and used?

Three words of sail inventory with no dates is the second-largest swing in the file. 'Sails are 2021 from a good loft' collapses a $16,000 line to near zero; 'sails are original' confirms it. The staysail question is separate and structural - a cutter sailed as a sloop loses the reefing logic that makes this rig manageable for two people.

How long has NOCTILUCA been on the market, has the price moved, has any prior offer fallen through after survey, and does any previous survey report exist that could be shared?

A boat with 2026 rigging and 2026 bottom paint asking $119,900 has either been prepared for sale properly or has already been looked at and walked away from. If a prior survey exists it is the single most valuable document in the transaction, and it costs nothing to ask for.

Which yard did the 2026 bottom paint, what did they find, is there a barrier coat, has the hull ever blistered, and are there photographs from when she was hauled?

Someone saw this hull bare this year and nobody has asked them what it looked like. A 1989 hull has isophthalic gelcoat but polyester rather than vinylester resin - one protection, not both - after thirty-seven years in warm Southern California water. This is free information that partly retires an $11,000 expected cost.

Please provide the 2026 rigging invoice. Specifically: was every stay replaced including the backstay, the inner forestay and the diamond stays at the upper spreaders, what wire specification and terminal type were used, and was the mast unstepped?

'Standing Rigging - new 2026' is the most valuable claim in the listing and the least substantiated. What matters is what is NOT on the invoice - a partial re-rig that skipped the diamonds or the inner forestay reads identically in a broker's bullet point and is not the same boat.

What capacity is the 2024 lithium bank in amp-hours, what cells and BMS, and how many watts of solar with what controllers? Please photograph the bank, the BMS and the panels.

These are two of the three capacity items in the catalogue and neither can be netted off a checkbox. A 400Ah bank and 600W of solar zeroes most of two lines; a 100Ah bank and a 100W trickle panel zeroes nothing. Until a number exists both lines are carried at full value, which is the conservative and possibly unfair reading.

Who installed the 2024 lithium and solar system, is there a Class-T fuse at the bank, is the alternator protected against a BMS disconnect, and is the battery charger on a lithium profile?

A lithium bank retrofitted onto a 1989 DC system is the highest-consequence unseen work on this boat. An unprotected alternator behind a BMS disconnect destroys itself and can take the regulator with it, three thousand miles from a dealer, and a lead-acid charging profile on a LiFePO4 bank is a fire question rather than a compatibility one.

Is the mast deck-stepped or keel-stepped, and if it was unstepped for the 2026 rigging work are there photographs of the heel, the step and the compression post or partners?

The sources conflict: Sailboat Guide says this model is deck-stepped, the 1988 sister listing says keel-stepped. The failure mode, the inspection and the cost are different in each case - a plate on a thirty-seven-year-old cored deck versus an aluminium heel that has sat in bilge water since 1989 - and nobody can inspect the right thing until this is settled.

What autopilot is fitted - make, model, and what drive unit? Please photograph the drive and the control head. Is there any windvane self-steering?

'Autopilot: yes' on a 1989 boat is not an autopilot for this voyage. On 29,147lb with a skeg-hung rudder the drive is the whole question, and a period wheel pilot will hold a course in flat water and give up in the following swell that defines three weeks of trade-wind sailing. Until it is named, the full autopilot catalogue line stands.

How old are the hatches and ports, what is the glazing material, and can you photograph each one from inside looking up so any crazing is visible?

Not one word about them anywhere, so they read as 1989 originals with thirty-seven years of UV ahead of a tropical year. Crazing shows worst from inside looking up, cannot be polished out, and the difference between re-bedding and replacing four hatches is around $12,000.

Has the boat ever been aground? Can the rudder be swung through full travel with play measured at the heel and the bearing, and a moisture reading taken on the blade?

Encapsulated ballast removes the keel-bolt failure mode entirely, which is one of this design's real advantages - but what it can hide is water reaching iron ballast through a moulding cracked in a grounding. Both checks are free once the boat is hauled for the survey.

Have either of the stainless water tanks ever leaked or been pressure-tested, how are they accessed, and how old is the potable and sanitation hose?

The tanks are the model's good news and the access is not - getting at one under a Tayana sole means cutting teak joinery somebody will want restored. Thirty-seven-year-old potable hose also makes the water taste of the hose, which on a four-week passage is a morale question as much as a plumbing one.

What make, model and capacity is the watermaker, is it DC or AC, when was it last run, and when were the membranes last replaced or pickled?

It is a bare checkbox on a thirty-seven-year-old boat, and the closest comparable listing recorded its own watermaker's condition as 'unknown'. If it is serviceable the catalogue line stays zeroed and a recommissioning cost stands; if it is an abandoned 1990s unit, the full catalogue line comes back.

How many through-hulls are there, what material are the seacocks, and have any been replaced since the boat was built?

The listing does not mention the system at all, which on a thirty-seven-year-old boat means original bronze. This is the failure mode that sinks boats at their own dock, and it is certain work rather than probable - the only question is how many fittings and how hard they are to get out.

How old is the refrigeration, what make and refrigerant, and can you photograph the compressor data plate? What does the box actually hold at anchor in a Ventura August?

One word of evidence on a system that is anywhere between one and thirty-seven years old and may run a refrigerant that no longer exists. The data plate settles the model; the second question tells you what someone who has lived aboard actually experiences rather than what a checkbox claims.

What anchors and rode are aboard and included in the sale, what size and grade is the chain, and what make, model and age is the windlass - what chain size is the gypsy cut for?

The entire ground-tackle record is the words 'electric windlass'. Without a chain size there is no evidence the gypsy matches the 5/16in G4 the catalogue buys, which is precisely the near-miss to avoid. Chain also has to be right before departure - in French Polynesia it 'will take a few months to arrive'.

Is any dinghy, outboard, davit or foredeck chock arrangement included in the sale, and where would a 3.1m RIB stow on this deck?

Nothing at all is listed - not even the outboard crane KI had - on a boat advertised as expedition ready. In the Tuamotus the tender is the car. The stowage half of the question matters independently: a Vancouver 42 foredeck is busy, and where the RIB goes affects the staysail, the awning and the anchoring arrangement.

What make, model and manufacture date is the liferaft, is it an offshore or coastal specification, and when was it last serviced and certified?

It is 4-person against the catalogue's 6, of unknown type, and the listing itself flags that 'certification may be needed'. An out-of-date raft of unknown pedigree is worse than none, because somebody will be tempted to trust it - so this line is being carried at full catalogue value until proven otherwise.

Confirm the boat's ZIP code and berth, and whether the refit would be done in Southern California or after delivery to the Bay Area.

It decides a $2,500-$7,000 delivery line and whether Bay Area or Southern California labour rates apply to the whole refit. On tax it is unusually neutral - Ventura 93001 falls in a 9.25% district per SalesTaxHandbook and so does Sausalito - but the ZIP is worth confirming, since the headline Ventura rate is 7.75% and the difference on this ask is about $1,800.

What steering system is fitted, when was the cable and quadrant last serviced, and is there an emergency tiller aboard? If so, has anyone fitted it and swung it with the wheel in place?

The listing is entirely silent on steering, so assume a 1989 pedestal with thirty-seven-year-old cable, sheaves and rudder bearing. Unlike KI there is no evidence an emergency tiller even exists, so it may need making as well as testing - and a tiller that has never been fitted is an ornament.

What make and age is the headsail furler, when was it last serviced, and how old are the halyards, sheets and winches?

The 2026 work was explicitly standing rigging only. A thirty-seven-year-old furler doing continuous work for three weeks at a time is the failure you cannot fix at sea, and unlike KI's listing there is no winch inventory to suggest anything has been touched recently.

What make and age is the radar, what exactly does 'requires service' mean, and is the failure the scanner, the display or the interface to the 2024 B&G plotter?

It is the only condition qualifier the listing offers about any system, and on a 1989 boat a radar needing service is usually a radar needing replacing - the sister ship's original Si-Tex had simply stopped receiving GPS. The catalogue's solid-state radome line is being carried in full on that reading, so a cheap repair would be worth knowing about.

Is this an aft-cockpit, centre-cockpit or pilothouse hull, and can you send the accommodation layout? Where would two people keep watch and sleep on passage?

Good Old Boat records 130 aft-cockpit, 70 centre-cockpit and 5 pilothouse hulls and notes these were built semi-custom, so the model literature cannot answer it. 'Sleeps eight' in four double berths tells you nothing about sea berths, and where the lee cloths can go decides how two people actually run this boat for three weeks.

What fuel does the galley range use, is it gimballed, where do any gas bottles live, is the locker vented overboard, and is there a solenoid and a gas alarm?

The entire galley description is the word 'Oven'. Propane, CNG, alcohol and kerosene are all live possibilities on a 1989 Taiwanese boat and they are not equivalent for a four-week passage, and a non-gimballed range is a genuine problem rather than an inconvenience. The bits between the bottle and the burner are what cause the explosions.

What Vesper AIS model is fitted - is it a Cortex, or an XB-series unit - and is it Class B (2W CSTDMA) or Class B+ (5W SOTDMA)?

The catalogue names the Vesper Cortex by name, so this is potentially an exact hit. If it is an XB-series Class B unit instead, the line comes back at full value - the difference is the range at which a ship's watchkeeper's alarm goes off, which is the entire reason the line specifies B+.