Moisture in the core

Joint Custody

Joint Custody

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2017
1,276
Lake Powell Utah
Boat Info
2001 460 Sundancer
Engines
Twin Cummins 6CTA8
Mainly just venting here.

I have a friend looking at boats and as we all know there isn't much to chose from. He is looking in the 34foot range.
In the west not many 34ft up for sale.
The 02 340 cruiser yacht for 80k he has found has two soft spots in the hull midship . They are about 12inchs round.

I have explained and explained that I wouldn't buy a boat with soft spots and water in the core and the surveyor even said the same as well as the glass shop owner said the same thing.

How do you get it across to someone to wait for a cleaner boat and what are the thoughts here from you all on buying a boat with soft spots and water in the core?
 
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You don’t. I would stay away from any cored hull boats. You just don’t know their history and can end up with a surprise. He may want to contact the folks at http://dryboat.com/ for estimates of repair. Good luck.
 
I would agree !
This is a one owner boat and it has been at lake powell since new. The boat has been in the water for 16 years and has not been removed at anytime until now.

Just trying to give solid advice to someone that just doesn't really understand what this type of issue can turn into.

Surprisingly the boat has no blisters and the transom is good.
 
Cruisers used cored hulls in the 2000's? For the perceived quality of a Cruiser brand yacht that surprises me a bit...
 
I have two good friends who were sold on the Cruisers 3870. Both of them surveyed multiple boats to find a dry one...
 
I know I'll get some flak for this one but, if the soft spots are not in the hull itself, meaning rub rail down, then the super structure can be fixed at some point. Depending on how bad the soft spot(s) are. Fixing the hull itself is never a good thing and I would stay away form that. Sometimes fixing makes it worse, depending on who attempted the fix.
 
SKybolt said:
I know I'll get some flak for this one but, if the soft spots are not in the hull itself, meaning rub rail down, then the super structure can be fixed at some point. Depending on how bad the soft spot(s) are. Fixing the hull itself is never a good thing and I would stay away form that. Sometimes fixing makes it worse, depending on who attempted the fix.
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I would agree with that however in this case it is on the bottom and on the chine lines of both sides of the hull.
 
Pirate Lady said:
What is a “cored hull”?
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Coring is the addition of a different material between two thin layers of fiberglass and the resulting panel is better in almost every way. ... Many production fiberglass boats were made with balsa core without properly sealing the penetrations, including through hulls, port lights, deck hardware, etc…
 
Joint Custody said:
I would agree with that however in this case it is on the bottom and on the chine lines of both sides of the hull.
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He needs to walk away from this one for sure. Good luck convincing him of that.
 
techmitch said:
Short answer is yes. Very few hulls are cored but most decks are. Your deck probably is cored.
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I think Sea Ray must hold some kind of record for producing the highest volume of now rotten cored decks. Or maybe it was just a 90's phase for them but man ohh man there are a lot of wet ones out there.
 
Nearly every production boat builder from the 70's to the 90's built at least cored decks with balsa, many also cored the hulls. This is not a Sea Ray issue only.

Balsa is great as long as it doesn't get wet. That takes dillegence and care to ensure that openings in hull/deck are sealed and remain water tight.

Balsa is still commonly used, but more often in areas that should not get hardware mounted in them. In hardware areas they tend to use "foam".
 
You know what you know,
You know what you don’t know,
You don’t know what you don’t know.

Suggest to the potential buyer there are a lot of unknowns including the not so obvious extent of the moisture damage and the cost of repairing both known and unknown damage.
 

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Thanks all for the input.

I have given him all the cons to buying this boat and that he should just wait for the right one to come along. He doesn't get it and is moving forward with the purchase.

On top of fixing the hull ... after he has a cut and buff done and other fiberglass repaired , new bottom paint, both engines serviced , drives gone through new bellows, gimbals ...etc... , new injectors for port motor and all the other stuff that comes with a boat that has been neglected for 6+ years. He will be spending around 25k or more for all repairs, service and upgrades ... buying the boat for 70k.
He will be in a 2002 34ft boat for around 95k to 100k.

I have explained that when the market turns in a year or two that boat will only be worth 60k at best.

This is a great scenario of someone that falls in love with the boat and wont and cant hear any of the advice the service shop and fiberglass shop is giving him as well with friends.

Now if he was getting the boat for 30k or 40k I could maybe see doing it.
 
Dam, tell him i got a 250 really nice condition, all new stuff, only overheats when it leaves the slip, deal at 30k.
For an extra $3k i will throw in the zodiac and outboard.
 
I don’t know why this is relevant, but yesterday sitting at the bar with the other old boat owners discussing things broke on ours, young guy comes in all happy says he just bought a boat. We laughed.
 
On our 28 footer I had indication of high moisture in 2 small areas on the forward deck. Turned out moisture had small worm holed in may areas. Landed up replacing entire deck. Estimate and final job was 4 times as much.
 
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