Bottom crazing O'Day 27

[SECCAS]

I am looking at a 27 which i may purchase, the bottom is virtualy void of bottom paint and has a great number of discolored spiderweb-like lines below waterline. These lines do not appear to be open to the elements but are discolored. The boat has been on the hard for two years now and i expect a moisture meter would not indicate any abnormal moisture content.I have checked with a local fiberglass shop and they indicated the bottom may have been crazed like this as new....I'm looking for advice on wheteher to run like H in the opposite direction or consider purchasing the boat, which is in great condition. I do realize that maybe a bottom job is required or that i may just get away with epoxying the bottom and painting for next season. PLEASE HELP....Sal

 

[Don Evans]

Be Cautious

Sal, your wise to seek an experts opinion on this, (I recommend Krinon Marine in Kingston) as cracking in the gel coat, no matter how deep, is a further entry point for water to reach the laminate and bring on blisters. The hull is likely dry at this point, and if there are no deeper blisters evident I should think it is repairable. The usual fix is to scrape the spider cracks open a little so that the epoxy fairing compond can fill them, sand, then paint, or in your case I would recommend to epoxy the entire bottom using a good quality product such as Interlux or 3M. Bottom paint after, as per usual. If the rest of the survey checks out, you can use the repair job as leverege to renegotiate the asking price.Don

 

[Trevor - SailboatOwners.com]

Bottom crazing

Hi Sal -I must say I haven't seen many bottoms that are crazing, but I'd scrape at a sample of the affected area to see if things start coming apart. If the boat is not very new, it's unlikely things will worsten much in the near future. However, I agree with Don in the last post that you should check it out carefully. Best of luck!Trevor