Damage history on boat I may buy

Just to add to the discussion, if the boat in question was damaged and repaired, personally, I would still have this nagging in the back of my mind of a structural issue popping up. Boats are expensive enough with routine mtc./age, let alone gambling with a known issue at purchase. It should be peace of mind.
Run away, run away.
 
I can't add much to what has been said other than perhaps a new name for the boat...Hump-T-Dumpty
 
Thanks again, everybody. I will do as much checking as I can without spending any money before walking away. But if the damage is real, I will walk away.
 
Thanks again, everybody. I will do as much checking as I can without spending any money before walking away. But if the damage is real, I will walk away.

Good luck in whatever direction you end up going. You did the right thing by getting advice and now you have enough to make an informed decision.
 
Good for you for doing your due dilligence - for better or worse, it's always better to go in with eyes wide open.

in college I spent summers working at an old, established Cape Cod boatyard that built a lot of wooden boats (and later fiberglass) for close to 100 years. One of the old time boat carpenters once described a poorly repaired boat as "putty & paint will make her what she ain't"

it it was the first time I'd heard that expression and I often think back to it - you've got to wonder what is lurking below the surface....

In any case, the only way I would proceed with this boat is if you can get detailed repair records, verify they were done by a top tier yard, and get the boat at a significant savings... As someone else pointed out, when you go to sell, any informed potential buyer is going to have the exact same question that you do.
 
One thing I learned from when my 330 Sundancer was hit by a BUI was that the structural integrity of the entire hull is based on the hull being in one piece. Being bounced like you described suggests to me that, while the gelcoat may look perfect, that there are likely a bazillion small cracks that run through the fiberglass and resin.

The fiberglass/resin is supposed to be solid. Once it is broken there will likely be tiny (microscopic???) cracks that run throughout the hull. When they hull is run in waves, the hull twists and torques and those cracks just lengthen. Then the layers of glass begin to separate, voids open between the layers and the strength of the hull continues to deteriorate.

When my boat was hit, a very competent surveyor walked me through the boat, inside and out, and showed me the damage to the hull that likely would not have been seen by the average joe boater. It was quite an education and, based on his estimate of the damage to the boat, it was totaled.

IMHO if you verify that the HIN in that report is the same HIN as is on the boat, I would step away from this deal. There are too many boats out there that have not been subjected to that level of damage.

REMEMBER RULE #1 OF BOAT BUYING: The wrong boat, at the best price in the world, is still the wrong boat.
 
We used to fiberglass the floors of oil tanks. it was the best coating many years ago. The problem was it was very difficult to detect failures. Unlilke steel if it broke you could detect it with instruments.I was told if the glass strands in fiberglass broke you could some times see them as a white line and some time you could not. A good glass repair on a boat can be sound from what I have seen on mine. I hit an unmarked pile and the repair seems solid but it was expensive. With a droped boat I would be concerned about areas in the boat that were impacted such as engine mounts that you can not see under.
 
TexasPilot, we haven't heard from you in a bit. Have you decided how you're going to proceed with this boat?
 
Yesterday, 03:33 PM: I'm going to put eyes on it Monday and we're going to get a surveyor to look for signs of the repair. My broker was shocked at my revelation and I trust him.

TexasPilot, we haven't heard from you in a bit. Have you decided how you're going to proceed with this boat?

Impatient??? It is not an hour TV show. LOL

MM
 
TexasPilot, we haven't heard from you in a bit. Have you decided how you're going to proceed with this boat?

Sorry guys! Busy weekend out of town. I won't know anything until Monday. I do appreciate all of your comments. This thread has given me even more desire to stick with the Sea Ray brand. You all are great! I will for sure let you know what happens Monday. There's a little more to this that I don't want to publish publicly...at least not just yet. I feel some lawsuits may result (not by me).
 
I do appreciate all of your comments. This thread has given me even more desire to stick with the Sea Ray brand. You all are great!
That's certainly one thing you have correct:) You will NOT find any better advice than on this site, the wealth of knowledge and willingness to help others here is absolutley invaluable. Especially from folk like Frank Webster and Capt. Rusty Higgins etc. FWIW my husband and I would not buy a boat with such a record, it's a bit like an iceberg, what's below is the danger! It's also when you want to sell it that it may cause you issues. When we bought our cruiser we also ran the HIN through this company to help check it's past: www.boathistoryreport.com. Whatever you decide good luck, but I would run like hell away from this and some days with my rheumatoid I have a job walking, but I would make a special effort to run in this case:)
 
First off 64,900 is too much for an 02 model anyway. I sold mine a year and a half ago so I have a good idea of what is a real price. There is no way in hell I would buy that boat because of the damage. Once you understand how a boat is built and works you would see how big of a deal this is.

I will start by saying I do not know this owner or the broker in any way or have talked to either one. I do know the tech that does the maintenance on this boat and talked to him about this one because it was just like mine and have been at this marina for the last 11 years. I have walked by it many times and it is very well maintained. This is one of the best in the marina on the outside. I have not been on or inside but know the tech that has and he says nothing negitave about this boat. May be worth taking a look and calling the tech ask a few questions about history. An offer would be in order as asking price is just ask price.
I have nothing to do with this boat just giving you something to look at. Good luck. http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2006-Sea-Ray-300-Sundancer-102105830
 
Just returned from visiting the boat. Forgive my lack of nautical vocabulary, but I'll do my best to explain our findings:

1) I first verified the HIN...unfortunately it matched.

2) The surveyor was brought in by the broker.

3) He first looked inside the anchor locker and immediately noticed obvious (repaired) damage to the bulkhead.

4) He then looked inside the cabin, and observed 3" cracks on the tabs connecting the vee berth to the hull as well as various other issues and cracking.

5) He looked in the engine compartment and could find no evidence of damage (or evidence of repair) to anything in the engine compartment. He said that meant the stringers were good? He also wasn't concerned about the engine mounts.

6) Back outside the boat he showed me the extremely obvious gel coat repair that had been done right down at the waterline (and presumably below) up to the bow eye hook. The repaired area was almost bleach-white which really stood out.

7) He suggested there may be additional damage to the hull and that we would have to pull the boat out and sand down the bottom paint to see if there was damage and how well it was repaired.

8) The repair job was certainly not the work of Sea Ray and was sloppy at best.

9) Any surveyor would have easily detected all these issues. I basically just saved money on the survey as I have little doubt the damage would have revealed itself during the survey (even by the broker's surveyor)


Those are the facts. Here are some other thoughts and points of interest:

A) Kevin27, you're right $65k is too much for this boat. I had negotiated a much better price, but I don't feel it's appropriate to share in a public forum.

B) The surveyor said that none of the damage he can see today would get worse if I used the boat exclusively on lakes and inland waterways (except maybe the vee berth cracks and those could be easily repaired by any fiberglass shop). He did say that if I put it in the ocean, then wave action could potentially make the damage worse. Again, there is also the chance that other issues would be found if we took it out of the water and sanded it down.

C) I am at a loss as to how a major Sea Ray dealer (won't name names) could have sold this boat 5 or 6 years ago. It obviously wasn't surveyed and the buyer took this MAJOR Sea Ray dealer at their word (or at best didn't ask questions). This is where I feel a lawsuit may be in order. I feel so sorry for the current owners.

D) What did I do? I didn't even have to ask my broker for my deposit back...he said he would send it to me. I feel bad for him too. I don't think he intended to sell a damaged boat.

Once again, thank you all for your input. It has been an interesting few days. I'm almost afraid to buy ANY used boat at this point and may just wait until next season to find something.
 
Wow. You've had quite a journey. I wouldn't take this a discouragement. I would take it as a sign you are doing this correctly. Look at how much you just saved?
 
That's true, Newman. Thank you. She looked like a great boat at the right price. Just makes me sad.
 
Guess I need to change my profile information :smt089
 
Wow. You've had quite a journey. I wouldn't take this a discouragement. I would take it as a sign you are doing this correctly. Look at how much you just saved?

That's exactly right, don't get discouraged better luck next time:) You did all the right things!
 

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