Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

Howdy,

I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some
damage to keel and needs repair. It is almost 30yo so I am afraid that
any damage
to fiberglass might have fractured a bit more than "a hairline crack"
as owner describes.
I have a lot of experience in sailing but none in boat ownership or
repair - how expansive
is is repairing fiberglass keel? What are the costs of dry-dock/
workspace? Is it something
that can be done by a beginner (assuming I can have help from a very
experienced
carpenter/builder)?
Thanks for any pointers/info,

JT

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:32:27 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

Thanks for any pointers/info

It depends on what the damage is and what is behind the crack.

If it is just a hairline crack in the surface gel coat, then it's not
hard to fix if you have some patience and can work with epoxy fillers.
Basically, it's a question of widening the crack a little, then
filling with epoxy (like Marine Tex), smoothing and repainting if you
are keeping it in the water.

The real question is if that is the only problem. You might want to
consider having the boat surveyed to determine if there are other
problems caused by this "crack".

Have you seen the boat?

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Oct 29, 5:11 am, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Have you seen the boat?
Thanks for reply.
No - I have not seen it yet - that offer just came up last
night. I may drive to marina today see how the rest of the
boat looks like. We had bad drought here in Central Texas
and lakes were very very low for most of last year. That is
when boat was damaged. Taking into account that there are are
few places where there are submerged reinforced concrete blocks
on the bottom of the lake it is easy to cause a lot more damage
to a boat then running it into some sandy shallows.

JT

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:32:27 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some
damage to keel and needs repair. It is almost 30yo so I am afraid that
any damage
to fiberglass might have fractured a bit more than "a hairline crack"
as owner describes.

The price on a 30 year old, 24 ft sailboat with keel damage should be
close to *free*. There are lots of undamaged boats of that size and
vintage for very reasonable prices.

The advice to have a surveyor look at it is good. You might also be
able to get a repair estimate from a boat yard which would give you
some idea how extensive the damage is.

All that said, most sailboats, especially older ones, were built to
withstand a hard grounding once in a while. It may be usable the way
it is, or with only minor cosmetic repair. If it is a boat with a
cored hull (as opposed to solid fiberglass) there is a high
probability of major damage. That's a walkaway in my opinion.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.

What brand is it?
I agree with the two posters so far, find a surveyor and/or get a yard
estimate. Keel damage is usually repairable but .....
You might also want to post this on rec.boats.building. There is some
good advice over there by some folks that won't see your message here.

Rick

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Oct 29, 10:38 am, wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.

What brand is it?
I agree with the two posters so far, find a surveyor and/or get a yard
estimate. Keel damage is usually repairable but .....
You might also want to post this on rec.boats.building. There is some
good advice over there by some folks that won't see your message here.

Rick

Bayliner Buccaneer. To be quite honest with you guys - I was not
actively looking for a boat - right now I have a friend with boat
that occasionally needs a helping hand to sail it - and that seems
like a better solution. But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.
Thanks for the info!

JT

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

Woland99 wrote:
On Oct 29, 10:38 am, wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.
What brand is it?
I agree with the two posters so far, find a surveyor and/or get a yard
estimate. Keel damage is usually repairable but .....
You might also want to post this on rec.boats.building. There is some
good advice over there by some folks that won't see your message here.

Rick

Bayliner Buccaneer. To be quite honest with you guys - I was not
actively looking for a boat - right now I have a friend with boat
that occasionally needs a helping hand to sail it - and that seems
like a better solution. But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.
Thanks for the info!

JT


I had no idea Bayliner made a sailboat. Another one of those you learn
something new every day.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.

Phantman wrote:
What brand is it?

Woland99 wrote:
Bayliner Buccaneer. To be quite honest with you guys - I was not
actively looking for a boat - right now I have a friend with boat
that occasionally needs a helping hand to sail it - and that seems
like a better solution.

Knowing only what I know so far, I would agree with your assesment.
Unless you're looking for a project boat to play with, even after
you've spent a lot of time, effort, and money, you'll end up with not
much to show for it except maybe experience.
-shrug- Just my 2 cents.

Rick

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:00:47 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.

Not free enough. It's probably a negative value boat, meaning that it
will cost more to fix than it is worth. There are a lot of negative
value boats out there, but that one is particularly suspect.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:00:47 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.

Not free enough. It's probably a negative value boat, meaning that it
will cost more to fix than it is worth. There are a lot of negative
value boats out there, but that one is particularly suspect.

You forgot to mention how much it will cost him to dispose of the boat
if he buys it and then realizes it is not worth fixing it.

It is common to see people trying to giving away boats just so they
won't have pay the trash man.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

"Woland99" wrote
Bayliner Buccaneer.

Have you checked this out? (At a glance, I'm kinda glad my boat isn't a BB.)
http://groups.msn.com/BaylinerBuccaneerSloops

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote
At a glance, I'm kinda glad my boat isn't a BB.

No offense intended.
I went to the "core repair" forum first, and all those descriptions of wood
rot gave me the willies.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

Ernest Scribbler wrote:
"Ernest Scribbler" wrote
At a glance, I'm kinda glad my boat isn't a BB.

No offense intended.
I went to the "core repair" forum first, and all those descriptions of wood
rot gave me the willies.




I wouldn't touch a boat with a cored hull with a 50' pole. Some smaller
boats have cored transoms (cored with a closed bubble foam or special
treated ply) and those are okay because it's easy to control and seal
any holes properly, and even replace if it ever is necessary, but a
cored hull...no way. Plus, the few cored hulls I have seen with holes in
them seem to have very thin fiberglass on each side of the coring material.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:47:50 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

You forgot to mention how much it will cost him to dispose of the boat
if he buys it and then realizes it is not worth fixing it.

It is common to see people trying to giving away boats just so they
won't have pay the trash man.

That too. I was once able to get rid of an old Hobie Cat for the
price of a cheap chain saw. We cut it up into small chunks and threw
it out with the trash over a couple of weeks. Before we moved to
Florida I tipped both of our trash pick up guys $20 each for
cheerfully carting away all of the krapp we threw out. They were
astounded. I don't think anyone had ever thanked them before, let
alone tipped them.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:43:06 -0400, HK wrote:

the few cored hulls I have seen with holes in
them seem to have very thin fiberglass on each side of the coring material.

That's the whole idea of course, cut down on the amount of heavy
fiberglass by substituting a lightweight core, a good concept as long
as the skins stay glued on and the core is undamaged. It is sort of
like a cardboard box however, surprisingly strong right up until the
core gives way, then it's junk.

Buying fiberglass boat that ran aground and needs keel repair?
 

On Oct 29, 4:31 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:43:06 -0400, HK wrote:
the few cored hulls I have seen with holes in
them seem to have very thin fiberglass on each side of the coring material.

That's the whole idea of course, cut down on the amount of heavy
fiberglass by substituting a lightweight core, a good concept as long
as the skins stay glued on and the core is undamaged. It is sort of
like a cardboard box however, surprisingly strong right up until the
core gives way, then it's junk.

A BB with potential major damage, PASS. Even without the damage it is
probably worthless.
I do see a similar age 27' Morgan (good boat) for sale here (NW FL)
for $3800.