FYI in case useful to others:
On March 18, 2024 I paid a respected local surveyor to spend 3 hours with me present doing an informal assessment of Alchemist in her temporary slip in Jacksonville, Florida. His bottom line: If this is the type of vessel you want, and the price is acceptable, he saw no major red flag or reason not to buy it. Of course, this was not a full survey, which he recommends before buying any boat. I'm unlikely to pursue this boat at this time for reasons having nothing to do with the condition of the boat. This is my summary of his verbal report. I share the info below so that potential buyers know there are not obvious problems and it may be worth it to see the boat and do further due diligence. If anything below doesn't make sense, it's my fault for not capturing the surveyor's words perfectly.
I chose this surveyor because he has serious sailing experience and enjoys sail cruising. He left on his sailboat the next day for a three-month Bahamas cruise with family. He specializes in wooden boats and rebuilt one previously. He spent 3 hours scrutinizing Alchemist from forepeak to shaft with me, then reported verbally. He started the engine but did not engage gears or leave slip. We did not raise or uncover the sail. Owner Jono was not present.
One of the surveyor's pet peeves is electrical messes in boats. So it's significant that he said the all-new wiring was well organized with good logic and execution -- "way above average for a boat like this". He found no old mystery wiring. The alternator and inverter showed very good voltage levels. He did find 3-4 wire connections/terminations that were taped and should be heat sealed.
He used two instruments on the deck. With a Tramex water moisture sensor he found 15% with consistent readings indicating no delamination. With a FLIR infrared sensor he found no striation or abrupt temperature differences that would indicate voids. Inspecting the port and starboard transom to hull joints he saw no evidence of damage or stress on aft corners that might indicate collision damage. He said the hull seems very solid.
He liked the color of the engine smoke upon cold start.
He recommended a thorough cleaning of the boat to remove some dust and small debris that could jam the bilge pumps.