Ok here goes, we spent 4 weekends surveying a Brewer 42 before buying our Whitby. We loved the Brewer cockpit as the stepdown ladder is lower than the Whitby. The issue was it had a dead motor and was in the Miami area, Would have to pay Sea Tow to get to a travel lift and then a surveyor.
1) standing rigging, check all of it top to bottom
2) Running rigging and sails, note the age and go over the sails... every inch.
3) Engine, the Lehmans in my mind are best.
4) House bank and generator, you have t really run a generator and push t to see if it is ok, ours is and our neighbors a Westerbeake engine ran good and the windings were bad.
5) Sound the hull, top to bottom, this will make you a believer in the boat, construction in the glass is awesome. Dive the boat, that will tell you a bunch about the maintenance schedule.
Rigging, do the cotton ball test for meathooks and if it is rod rigging be extra careful.
Furler, many can be rebuilt, especially ProFurl, yours probably has two as a cutter rig.
As with all sailboats check each fuel tank, it is worth the time to pull the inspection hatches. I had to recycle 75 gallons of bad fuel from on saddle tank and all from the keel tank.
If you can on a sea trail or run trail, I would advise is a fuel consumption test, do a timed run at full throttle and when you come back pull the inspection plate and fill back to a marker you pre-set, I use a wood stick. It should be in the 1.25 GPH'ish range, higher can mean a lot of bad things. Also if you go to the boat and are lucky that it has old oil, you can pull a oil sample and have it tested. Repowers are hard and costly, I made this mistake. But Lehman parts are out there and a rebuilt lehman is a gem in my mind. Also make sure the engine has a loop, I hear about a ton of engines that get sea waterinside, when the head was pulled on the Brewer we looked at the salt water had ruined the engine.
Check every locker for mold, it will tell you a bunch about deck fittings, hatches and ports... leaks. Make a system list as you go, water tanks, water heater, bildge pumps, etc. and then test and see if each works after you make the list. You get so excited that you see the gear and discount if it works and condition. If it has electric winches, windlass, etc. run them and hard.
Note the location of every through hull and with approval try each, or better let the owner show you they work.
Man I hope this helps and this website is full of great people and experts, they will help you and these are great boats.
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