Michael,

Agree with Tony on the haul out. That's essential for virtually any boat
and should not be as expensive as you expect.. How can you check the
running gear and hull condition with the boat in the water?

Also, FWIW, I believe a steel hull of that age is far more likely to have
problems than FRP. Steel can thin at an amazingly fast rate once the paint
is compromised. A common practice with thinning hulls is to scab leaking
areas. Above the WL the hull can appear perfect while below, especially at
the turns of the chines and keel, the hull is very well covered with scabs
(exterior patches). Well executed steel hull repairs are not a bad thing
but are expensive compared to scabs. Once again, a haul out is essential.

As to bottom paint and barrier coat. Depending on several factors barrier
coat may or may NOT have been necessary. Seems to me that FRP hull blisters
started becoming a significant problem toward the late seventies. If the
hull has had no blistering nor delam issues in 30 years it's not likely it
will ever have any.

Good luck.

Butch
"tony thomas" wrote in message
news:%0lAe.144032$x96.75809@attbi_s72...
Should not cost that much for a haul out. My guess is a couple hundred at
most for them to lift it out long enough for the surveyer to inspect the
hull. They would just lift it and then set it back down in the water once
done. If you schedule everything right and have it done on a Monday or
Tuesday should not be too expensive and well worth the knowledge.
Ask the owner to show you a reciept for the last time the hull was bottom
painted and barrier coat installed.
If he can't provide then you know it has not been done in a long time
which will indicate probable blistering of the hull.
Have the wet inspection done first to verify everything and then if still
interested have the pull out done. That way you can decide whether to
leave it out for some work (new bottom paint, props, boots, etc..) or have
it set back in immediately.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com

-
wrote in message
ps.com...
Thanks, Butch and Tony, for the valuable comments. We looked at
the boat yesterday and I've been pondering the haul out options my-
self, but I sorta doubt that that is financially feasible. It's a 50
foot
boat and pulling it out is pretty close to a Fourwinds Marina monopoly.
My guess is they'd want close to $2,000 to do it, plus the inspection
on top of that. A floating survey is entirely possible, but I wonder
what
that misses.

Thanks again, Michael