I looked at a E32 I'm interested in and took some photos. I shared photos of the keel with a surveyor. The surveyor said the photos reveal a potentially troubling situation. After looking at the keel I noticed some liquid leaking and thought I'd at least be in for a keel drop and rebedding. After sharing the photos with the surveyor he said there is other evidence suggesting a good forward grounding hit or damage from haul-out. He points out the following,
In this photo, there is evidence of a hit going forward, see the curled back lead,
In this photo, he said the leak is coming from the first keel bolt location and it's not a void, it's bilge water.
Then this photo I took, he said it's not clear and he might be wrong but it appears there is some cracking right at the aft end of the keel. This is common with a forward hit grounding (the whiteout in the photo is from me, protecting current owners identity).
He pointed out that groundings are common but Ericsons are particularly well overbuilt so whatever happened here could indicate a significant hit and potential issue. It might be beyond dropping and rebedding the keel. He said best he could do through images and not seeing it in person. He said if I'm going to primarily do river sailing where I live it could be ok but offshore would not be advised if this is what looks like. I guess that means hull structure issue and maybe a deal breaker. I've been looking for a E32 for a while and thought I found a good one here. I'll probably need to get a real survey done to know.
Any thoughts based on the photos? Is it time to walk? I found a nice E25 seemingly free of major issues, much closer to where I live for less than half the price. Not the 32-3 I've been wanting but maybe something for now until the right 32-3 comes up.
In this photo, there is evidence of a hit going forward, see the curled back lead,
In this photo, he said the leak is coming from the first keel bolt location and it's not a void, it's bilge water.
Then this photo I took, he said it's not clear and he might be wrong but it appears there is some cracking right at the aft end of the keel. This is common with a forward hit grounding (the whiteout in the photo is from me, protecting current owners identity).
He pointed out that groundings are common but Ericsons are particularly well overbuilt so whatever happened here could indicate a significant hit and potential issue. It might be beyond dropping and rebedding the keel. He said best he could do through images and not seeing it in person. He said if I'm going to primarily do river sailing where I live it could be ok but offshore would not be advised if this is what looks like. I guess that means hull structure issue and maybe a deal breaker. I've been looking for a E32 for a while and thought I found a good one here. I'll probably need to get a real survey done to know.
Any thoughts based on the photos? Is it time to walk? I found a nice E25 seemingly free of major issues, much closer to where I live for less than half the price. Not the 32-3 I've been wanting but maybe something for now until the right 32-3 comes up.