Survey day suggests probably “don’t buy this 32-3”

[JPS27]

So I just finished an all day survey. Full inside and topside inspection. Haul out. And lastly, sea trial. I did the sea trial since the surveyor said it wouldnt take long. The haul out caused a massive pit in my stomach. There were extensive blisters on a magnitude of “the pox” according to the surveyor. AND there was damage at the front end of the hull keel joint and the bottom tip of the keel. Clear grounding evidence.

Owner afterwards said that the keel damage has always been there since he owned the bait. 25 years. And the hull just needs to be sanded down amd dried out over the winter. Surveyor says hull needs to be taken down and then reglassed. More than the value of the boat.

any thoughts on the nature and costs of these fixes?

picture shows some of the blisters (white spots) and a decent shot of keel damage.

My gut says walk away. Thanks,


Jay

 

[Bolo]

When I had the survey done on my 32-3 there were a maybe a dozen small blisters that the PO had repaired for me before I purchased the boat. No big deal with a boat of a certain age. The boat you had surveyed however does seem to have a lot more. Best to talk to someone who does that kind of work to get an idea of how much it would cost. The big thing IMO is that keel damage. That looks bad and may require that you have the keel dropped and an inspection made on the keel bolts themselves. Not cheap. Without a substantial drop in price, if you really want this boat, I’d walk away. There will be others.

 

[Christian Williams]

The price to fair and seal and barrier-coat my E381 boat was $15,000. It's a big labor job with many EPA requirements.

The keel damage may be nothing important. Depends on whether the connection to the hull was damaged. Nicks in the lead are harmless.

 

[Alan Gomes]

I can't say whether you should or should not buy the vessel, but I do have a question. Can anyone point to an actual situation where "the pox" (as you have here) has ever compromised the structural integrity of a vessel in any meaningful way?

 

[patrscoe]

In reference to the blisters
10 yrs ago, I had a S2 11.0A that had several blisters (pox) - a lot. I had two yards give me a quote ranging from $5k to $6k, plus soda blasting the bottom paint to the glass. I end up doing this job myself for $3,000 (repairing the blisters and barrier coat), took 4 weekends and $900 for soda blasting contractor. I am sure there are different regulations for each state but we followed our yard rules.
If I had to do it over again, I would have hired the yard for $5k, as it was hard work and very time consuming.
I kept the sailboat for another 2 years and did not see one blister come back.

Big project to tackle on a new purchase. I guess you need to look at everything else and add them up. I did a lot of research on blisters whiile working on my S2 11.0A, peeling and reglassing the hull it is only under extreme conditions, if it has delaminated the hull from the blisters.

 

[peaman]

There were extensive blisters on a magnitude of “the pox” according to the surveyor. AND there was damage at the front end of the hull keel joint and the bottom tip of the keel. Clear grounding evidence.

Owner afterwards said that the keel damage has always been there since he owned the bait. 25 years.

This strikes me as a negligent owner. Without compelling reasons otherwise, I'd look elsewhere.

 

[Rocinante33]

The blister don't look so out of the ordinary to me for any boat from the 1980s. They were using resins on all the boats during that age, apparently for years and years, which allowed osmosis. They look like only gel coat blisters, not big enough to go down to the laminates.

I would use that as a negotiation point and have the price lowered accordingly. Then, after the deal, hire the boatyard for a basic bottom job and after the boat is hauled for the bottom job, have the individual blisters ground and filled. When you have the bottom re-done in 2-3 years, some blisters will have returned or arisen and will again need filling, but not such a big deal, IMHO. I would not strip and barrier coat the whole bottom. No way.

Similarly for the keel stub issue, if the boat is not seeping water into the keel, not such a huge deal. Sailing on your Chesapeake Bay can lead to a lot of groundings, right? Again, have the seller reduce price to take care of that issue. Have the yard fare the edges. Not a big deal.

 

[Parrothead]

I'd say pass on this one but not necessarily because of the pox or grounding. The missing factor in the description is the quality of the surveyor. There are competent surveyors, incompetent surveyors and everything in between. We can't possibly know where your guy falls on that spectrum but as a result of his survey one thing is certain: you'll never be comfortable with this boat in terms of either condition (if unrepaired) or cost (if repaired). This is supposed to be a pleasant, relaxing pastime and I don't think you'll ever get there after this survey. Sorry.

 

[Alan Gomes]

I'd say pass on this one but not necessarily because of the pox or grounding. The missing factor in the description is the quality of the surveyor. There are competent surveyors, incompetent surveyors and everything in between. We can't possibly know where your guy falls on that spectrum....

"Surveyor says hull needs to be taken down and then reglassed." Really? I have my own suspicions (based solely, mind you, on the provided photo) about where on the spectrum I'd place that surveyor....

 

[JPS27]

Thanks everyone. The bottom line for me is the survey pointed out considerable issues that I just don't want to deal with right off the bat. I plan on telling the owner I'm walking away. I don't see any scenario where I'd find this boat acceptable now that I've seen these issues. Maybe the owner will offer something I can't resist, but I can't imagine what that would be. Fix the problems himself? Drop the price dramatically? The pictures don't really show the extent of the issues.

 

[Frank Langer]

There are always boats for sale, many in much better shape than this one. You are wise to walk away from this one though that's always hard to do. There will be better boats at an affordable price.
Good luck!
Frank

 

[Sailingfun]

Blisters seem to me almost normal for that boat and age.
I would not so worry about the keel. As far you do not find any kind of smile, they survived.
I replaced the keel bolt before... a nasty, time-expensive job... I would not do it again.
If you feel worried regarding the bolts, don't buy the boat. There is plenty of boats for sale out there.

 

[Kenneth K]

The best justification for walking away might just be that there are other boats out there, but neither of these problems may be as bad as you predict.

I think the real danger with hull blisters is on boats with wood cored hulls (think C&C 34s and larger). If you ever replace a through hull on this boat and see how thick the hull is (nearly 1" thick) you'll see how deep of a blister would need to be before it impacted hull Integrity. You would still have to decide how much the issue of cosmetic blisters bothers you.

Also, unless you have other pictures showing more, that doesn't look like a keel strike to me (and, it would be an unusual place for a strike). It just looks like the barrier coat and paint pulling away from the lead where the keel/stub gap has been slightly enlarged. Most of these boats have similar variations of this issue at the keel stub (mine did). A big clue to larger problems, as someone else said, would be whether or not water was coming into the bilge through the forward keel bolts.

In any case, walking away first may set a firm tone to the seller. Then maybe drop a hint to the broker that the price would have to drop significantly to change your mind.

 

[gabriel]

What did the surveyor say about the keel bolts?