Hi,

I am new to boating and learning fast...just not fast or soon enough.

Ok..so I bought a 1942 80' Wheeler that started as wood and was C-flex? and
or West System fiberglassed in the mid 80's. I am told that
the process was to add 1/2" marine grade plywood, then 2-3 layers of cloth
and then 10-14 layers of epoxy. It appears currently to be aging
very well on the outside with no signs of stress cracking. I was further
told that George Saroukos Shipyard in Fl. did the work.

My problem- The seller failed to alert me that he had run aground back in
June and that one of the shaft struts pushed through the bottom
of the boat causing the boat to take on water above one engine. The repair
was a temporary patch. The seller, I guess could not afford to
complete the work and sold to me at what I thought was a great
price...sigh...I know..I know...

I am new to this age and size of boating. My goal was to create a nice
adventure....not a nightmare for my family.

What should I do? The boat is located in South Alabama.

thanks for your help,

marshall

Plese email to my address and post.

Fix the damage, or dump the boat -- dont' run with a 1/2 assed repair.

Fiberglass "wicks" water -- so if the fiberglass there was cracked & left in the
water -- you may have wood rot that needs to be repaired.

Can't go w/o saying "When buying a boat, ALWAYS have it surveyed"

you'll need to have the strut properly repaired & shaft re-aligned. This will
require a haul out. (at 80' -- ouch!)

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 22:25:49 GMT, "timeoff" wrote:

Hi,

I am new to boating and learning fast...just not fast or soon enough.

Ok..so I bought a 1942 80' Wheeler that started as wood and was C-flex? and
or West System fiberglassed in the mid 80's. I am told that
the process was to add 1/2" marine grade plywood, then 2-3 layers of cloth
and then 10-14 layers of epoxy. It appears currently to be aging
very well on the outside with no signs of stress cracking. I was further
told that George Saroukos Shipyard in Fl. did the work.

My problem- The seller failed to alert me that he had run aground back in
June and that one of the shaft struts pushed through the bottom
of the boat causing the boat to take on water above one engine. The repair
was a temporary patch. The seller, I guess could not afford to
complete the work and sold to me at what I thought was a great
price...sigh...I know..I know...

I am new to this age and size of boating. My goal was to create a nice
adventure....not a nightmare for my family.

What should I do? The boat is located in South Alabama.

thanks for your help,

marshall

Plese email to my address and post.

timeoff wrote:

Ok..so I bought a 1942 80' Wheeler that started as wood

That's a lot of old boat for a newbie.....

My problem- The seller failed to alert me that he had run aground back in
June and that one of the shaft struts pushed through the bottom
of the boat causing the boat to take on water above one engine. The repair
was a temporary patch.

I am new to this age and size of boating. My goal was to create a nice
adventure....not a nightmare for my family.

Get a survey! By someone that knows that type of construction in that
size; it's unusual as I think you have guessed.

Combine this with your insurance survey: I have found all the surveyors
I and my dockmates trust on the BOAT/US preference list, most of the
ones we had heard weren't as good were NOT on their list. You have to
get the insurance survey anyway.

Hey! What happened to the pre-purchase survey?

You should at least have had an insurance survey that could catch a
problem like that. (Oh, maybe that's how you found out!) A proper one
should also give a good indication of the cost to repair to the
insurance company's standards.

6 months qualifies as temporary, particularly as it probably didn't get
stressed much while it was for sale.

Who knows? Maybe the temporary patch is actually sufficient. (We live on
our dreams here....)

'Course the prop and strut could need work, and the engine and trans
might have been stressed in that hard a grounding, but that sounds like
a big old tough boat that was made even tougher less than 20 years ago,
making it a youngster in the fiberglass age.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Jere Lull wrote in message ...
timeoff wrote:

Ok..so I bought a 1942 80' Wheeler that started as wood

That's a lot of old boat for a newbie.....

My problem- The seller failed to alert me that he had run aground back in
June and that one of the shaft struts pushed through the bottom
of the boat causing the boat to take on water above one engine. The repair
was a temporary patch.

I am new to this age and size of boating. My goal was to create a nice
adventure....not a nightmare for my family.

Get a survey! By someone that knows that type of construction in that
size; it's unusual as I think you have guessed.

Combine this with your insurance survey: I have found all the surveyors
I and my dockmates trust on the BOAT/US preference list, most of the
ones we had heard weren't as good were NOT on their list. You have to
get the insurance survey anyway.

Hey! What happened to the pre-purchase survey?

You should at least have had an insurance survey that could catch a
problem like that. (Oh, maybe that's how you found out!) A proper one
should also give a good indication of the cost to repair to the
insurance company's standards.

6 months qualifies as temporary, particularly as it probably didn't get
stressed much while it was for sale.

Who knows? Maybe the temporary patch is actually sufficient. (We live on
our dreams here....)

'Course the prop and strut could need work, and the engine and trans
might have been stressed in that hard a grounding, but that sounds like
a big old tough boat that was made even tougher less than 20 years ago,
making it a youngster in the fiberglass age.




Wood Boats? What a bizarre concept. Why wood, isnt fibreglas enough work?