front deck repair...

[CliffA]

we are looking at possibly buying a 2000 Sea Ray 310 Sundancer....during the survey yesterday we discovered a sizeable (approx 3' by 3') soft spot on the front deck between the main hatch and the anchor locker....a moisture meter confirmed water was under the gelcoat in that area....it looks like the hatch has been leaking for a while and rotted out the balsa wood coring....the only visible signs in the cabin of water intrusion was a small amount of mold in the point of the V berth against the anchor locker bulkhead....likely the water was dripping down the bulkhead causing the mold....the V berth trim cushion in that area was a little moist on the bottom....but it was a very small amount of mold, maybe about the size of a dollar bill....

is this a 'death sentence' for this boat?....can this feasibly be repaired?....if so can the repair be done from inside the cabin?.....i would be concerned if the repair has to be done from the outside that the repair would be obvious and the non-skid may not match.....if the repair can be done does anyone have a rough estimate of the cost and time involved?


thanks...
cliff

 

[JimT]

Cliff,
Personally, I would move on unless you are otherwise getting a GREAT deal and the seller will reduce the price to cover the repair cost and possible unknowns that may be discovered when you peel back the onion. There are plenty of good used boats on the market especially at this time of year.

 

[CliffA]

you're probably right Jim....this boat also needs new engines and new exhaust due to water ingestion....the owner has agreed to replace both engines and exhaust with new units....that is the only reason i am still holding out a little hope for this boat...it sure would be nice to have two new power plants....i don't know if the owner would agree to another major expense to repair the deck...at some point he has to call it quits.....i have contacted a fiberglass repair shop in the area who is supposed to look at the problem sometime today....

i am starting to loose hope though...when i spoke to the repair shop owner he said it is hard to say what the repair and cost would be without seeing the boat but he said it could run into several thousands of dollars especially when you factor in the transport cost to get the boat to their shop which is about an hour away on the other side of the lake.....they are not located on the lake so the boat cannot be taken there by water, at least not all the way....

we have also spent almost $700 on surveys and a $200 deposit on a wet slip so that is a little hard to swallow but better than discovering these issues later....

cliff

 

[fwebster]

Anything can be repaired.......if you throw enough money at the problem, and if you use competent craftsmen.

A repair that large on the deck will be a major undertaking, not well suited for a do-it-yourselfer. The top skin has to be removed, the rotted coring removed and replaced, then the top skin glassed bak in place and the gelcoat refinished. The size of the piece to be removed has little to do with the actual rotted core. You have to cut the skin back to an area with no non-skid because you aren't going to get a match in texture. The other approach is to repair the boat from the inside, but that will destroy the cabin area and is usually more expensive because you have to buid temporary interior supports for holding the coring in place while you apply resin and fiberglass.

There are so many great 30-34 ft. Sundancers out there to choose from a boat with a large wet deck core would be a "Run, Forest, Run" for me.

 

[CliffA]

thanks Frank......i think my instinct is telling me the same thing.....

cliff

 

[Quint4]

Walk away. I paid for a survey ($600) on a boat I walked away from.

Consider it money well spent in the long run.

 

[Saverio]

He had to know it was a problem.... he had to see the leak... if he let that go who know what else he le go????
it sounds more of a project boat....

Good luck Clif

 

[speakrdude]

What would he take for it if I put the engines in it?
Nice Model boat

 

[CliffA]

What would he take for it if I put the engines in it?
Nice Model boat

he has agreed to replace both engines (new long blocks) and modify both exhaust for a selling price of $46,000.....NADA low retail value is $50,000 and that is what the loan value is also....the boat is fairly close to me so transport cost would be at a minimum.....it has always been in fresh water....the genny only has 51 hrs....the cabin is like new....the gelcoat is in good shape, just needs a little buffing and waxing....the cockpit vinyl is in good shape.....it has two new props.....the canvas is in decent condition....the boat has a lot of positives, but this hull repair has me very leary....still waiting for a fiberglass shop to look at it...they have an excellent reputation for quality work.....

cliff

 

[JimT]

Cliff,

Which fiberglass do you have looking at the it t deck repair?

 

[CliffA]

a company called 'Marine Pro'.....

 

[src]

One thing I was told is that when working on the deck you need to feather the repair out a good distance (I was told about 10+ inches) from the cut you make in order to get a good result that won't crack or show later. They recommended against going through the top for that reason, since you run into so much non-skid, hardware and profile transition. It could have been a load, but it sounded reasonable to me.

When I was getting an estimate for my soft deck from the cabin side, about half of the cost was in re-doing the headliner, not to mention the labor involved in dis-assembly/reassembly of all the interior structures that had to be done. The more of that you can do yourself the better. And if the headliner can be reused, that's a large chunk of the cost. Personally, I felt it would be wise to go in from beneath anyway so you can take the opportunity re-bed EVERYTHING on the deck while you are in there.

 

[CliffA]

thanks for all the replies....i don't think i want to move forward on this boat....too many big ticket items wrong with it that over shadow the positive things....

this WE i found a loaded 2001 SR 310 with V drives here in Charlotte...275 hrs on the engines, correct modified exhaust, and 58 hrs on the genny....has a factory installed bow thruster and an aluminum 3 axle trailer.....the owner just had it detailed last week....going to look at it on Wednesday....

the cost is significantly more but it looks to be in 'turn key' condition.....i will save on transport cost since it is local and on a trailer....i have a 2500HD truck that should pull it....the trailer would be nice since i would not have to pay haul out fees in the future if/when maintenance to the hull and props are needed....and we could drag it down to the ICW once in a while to cruise up and down 'the ditch'....

cliff

 

[Hifirush]

Cliff, I have watched this thread to see how it would go. I’m sorry you had to shell out the money for the survey and all that, but passing on it is probably the best thing. It sounds like it is at best a project boat, and that would have to be had for an extremely good price, since you just never know. But it sounds as if you are already on to another, hopefully much better boat! Keep us informed how that goes, I wish you the best!

Matt

 

[northern]

We had a 28 footer that the front deck had water in the Balsa. It only indicated one area but when they opened it up it all required replacing. The boat had a 10.5 foot beam and the deck was 11 feet long. They replaced it from the inside. In all it cost 12,000 in 2004. That works out to $240 per sq. ft.

 

[Do Over]

The first 340 I checked out before I bought my current boat had a 36x36 area that had the same issue...estimate from MarineMax to repair approximately $7000....I would choose another boat.

 

[twomad]

If your a handy guy I would fix it myself. Either drill some holes in the top deck, let it dry out and use something like Git-Rot fill holes or make a shallow cut in deck,save the piece you cut remove and replace rot. reuse deck piece. Going from below is real messy but doable. replacing headliner isn't that expensive or difficult, cleanup can be. The boat is 14 yrs old and unless you want a pristine boat go for it. PS if you are worried about the looks of your deck you can cover your repair with SEA-DECK and be done with it.

 

[CliffA]

If your a handy guy I would fix it myself. Either drill some holes in the top deck, let it dry out and use something like Git-Rot fill holes or make a shallow cut in deck,save the piece you cut remove and replace rot. reuse deck piece. Going from below is real messy but doable. replacing headliner isn't that expensive or difficult, cleanup can be. The boat is 14 yrs old and unless you want a pristine boat go for it. PS if you are worried about the looks of your deck you can cover your repair with SEA-DECK and be done with it.

thanks....while i am pretty handy with tools i am getting to a point in my life that big 'projects' like this don't appeal to me like they used to.....i have worked on many older cars and trucks and boats that were 'projects'....while i did enjoy the time spent and the resulting finished product i have less appetite now for spending the needed time and expense these 'projects' require...i don't have the energy (mental and physical) i used to and i value my time doing other interest now more than working on a 'project'....the Admiral and i have discussed this and we think we want to get a boat that will require very little attention so we can start enjoying it from the beginning....this luxury will cost more than fixing up a 'project boat' but at this point i am OK with that....

cliff