Bought A Salvage

Mr Fox

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Aug 31, 2017
204
Marshall 22 Portland, ME
Awesome, glad to hear it started again, wood doesn't even look bad.

How'd it fill with water? Was it just a lot of rain with no bilge for a long time?
 

Mr Fox

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Aug 31, 2017
204
Marshall 22 Portland, ME
all I see the need for here is a careful mold inspection, wood bleach, varnish and a good amount of elbow grease. Obviously I am armchairing this one but even if you drop 10k on woodwork making her perfect you will still easily be 30k ahead on what you’d pay for her if she wasn’t a salvage. Just my opinion.

well played.
 
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Jim26m

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Apr 3, 2019
579
Macgregor 26M Mobile AL
A buddy and I have done several flood salvages of automobiles. I would encourage you to look for, and remake all wiring connections that were submerged. I would do it before you start energizing a lot of stuff. Also, any electrical components that were submerged should be replaced unless they were manufactured for submerged duty. Just because it works now that it's dry, doesn't mean it's safe. My buddy tried to fire one up without taking time to work the connections and had a small meltdown under the carpet. He was lucky it wasn't worse; and that it happened while he was near the vehicle. Since he was keeping the car, he cut out the connectors that were submerged and soldered/heat shrunk the wiring.

Looks like you have a great boat for an amazing price. Flood damage can be a time bomb. Take your time and be thorough and you will have a fine boat.

If I'm telling you stuff you already know, I apologize.

Was it only fresh water, or was there salt/brackish water involved? My oldest daughter's high school car was a brackish flood salvage. After stripping the interior, it got a fresh water rinse before I started repairing it, to minimize future corrosion issues.
 
Aug 22, 2019
59
n/a n/a Galveston
How did you find her? Is there a place that lists “salvage“ boats?
Greg
Yes, Cooper salvage. No sailboats right now. They normally have 3-4. Keep checking daily.
I hope your bank account is full of Benji's. A 40 foot boat, just by pictures, water sitting in it, etc.. etc.. Good luck, hope you can sail within 12 months.
ready now, just need a jib
 
Aug 22, 2019
59
n/a n/a Galveston
A buddy and I have done several flood salvages of automobiles. I would encourage you to look for, and remake all wiring connections that were submerged. I would do it before you start energizing a lot of stuff. Also, any electrical components that were submerged should be replaced unless they were manufactured for submerged duty. Just because it works now that it's dry, doesn't mean it's safe. My buddy tried to fire one up without taking time to work the connections and had a small meltdown under the carpet. He was lucky it wasn't worse; and that it happened while he was near the vehicle. Since he was keeping the car, he cut out the connectors that were submerged and soldered/heat shrunk the wiring.

Looks like you have a great boat for an amazing price. Flood damage can be a time bomb. Take your time and be thorough and you will have a fine boat.

If I'm telling you stuff you already know, I apologize.

Was it only fresh water, or was there salt/brackish water involved? My oldest daughter's high school car was a brackish flood salvage. After stripping the interior, it got a fresh water rinse before I started repairing it, to minimize future corrosion issues.
Fresh only
 
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Oct 10, 2011
619
Tartan 34C Toms River, New Jersey
A buddy and I have done several flood salvages of automobiles. I would encourage you to look for, and remake all wiring connections that were submerged. I would do it before you start energizing a lot of stuff. Also, any electrical components that were submerged should be replaced unless they were manufactured for submerged duty. Just because it works now that it's dry, doesn't mean it's safe. My buddy tried to fire one up without taking time to work the connections and had a small meltdown under the carpet. He was lucky it wasn't worse; and that it happened while he was near the vehicle. Since he was keeping the car, he cut out the connectors that were submerged and soldered/heat shrunk the wiring.

Looks like you have a great boat for an amazing price. Flood damage can be a time bomb. Take your time and be thorough and you will have a fine boat.

If I'm telling you stuff you already know, I apologize.

Was it only fresh water, or was there salt/brackish water involved? My oldest daughter's high school car was a brackish flood salvage. After stripping the interior, it got a fresh water rinse before I started repairing it, to minimize future corrosion issues.
:plus:
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
In the marine insurance world the term is constructive total loss. When the cost of the repairs, surveys before and after the work and the cost of yard storage while it is worked on (this is a big one because the yards will often quote more to the insurance companies then they would to you or I) is more than 85% of the estimated value then they declare it a loss. The good thing is this type of salvage title is easiest to get removed back to a standard title. Typically a survey with the report sent to the insurance company wil do it. Sometimes they don't even bother putting a salvage title on when they know the boat can be repaired and is likely to get purchased. I did some work with salvage companies following Irma and Maria. I learned a lot about how these companies operate after those storms.

I saw a number of older boats that still worked, mast, engine, sails, etc. that were deemed losses that were being given away for free. They would bundle a 56 Lagoon with 2-3 older boats (Morgan OI, Whitby, anything more than 15 years old that wasn't a catamaran). The salvage companies would buy the bundle to get the Lagoon and then start giving away the monohulls. The boats they kept would get loaded onto a transport ship and go to Florida, Antiqua or Europe. I turned down at least 10 free boats, several Morgans, 2 Bavaria, a Beneteau and a Jenneau 56 I could have had for $5k with no mast but no other damage (engine, genset, AC all ran). But it was insane prices for the 3 yards that were open, like around $10K a month for new boats. Add the price gouging on epoxy, fiberglass, rigging, etc. and you couldn't make a real profit on a free boat. A lot of those boats are now abandoned with the yards suing people for owed fees. There have been rumors that the yards are working on a plan to crush the abandoned boats to get their space back. Lots of people bought salvage boats with dreams of sailing them and have only ended up with less money to show for it.

But that's the Caribbean. I would buy a constructive total loss in the States if the deal was right. I used to watch the different sites and almost bought a Catalina 400 that had a fire in the aft berth for $45k. All cosmetic.

Good luck with the boat!
 
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dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
3,423
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
Scuba201, have you owned sailboats before? Have you worked on them? How much sailing experience do you have? Sounds like you got the deal of the century, I certainly hope that's the case.

The Bristol 40 is an older style sailboat that likes to heal. Do you havea significant other and are they a sailor? If your answer is no to these questions, I'd recommend you find some new sailing friends, see if you can sail with them on their boats and invite them the sail on your new boat... ;)

dj
 
Oct 9, 2008
1,739
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
The plotter s worth as much as you paid for the whole boat.
Bristol used a very hard teak and mahogany marine laminate for the interiors, as the cabinetry is part of the reinforcing structure of the boat.
The sole is solid teak and maple, not cheeseball veneer.
Also, there is good access to the hull. No liner. So you can get at it if mold pops up.
I'm not worried for this boat. Watch the wiring maybe. Great find.
 
Oct 16, 2019
8
Chrysler Lone Star 16 Calais , Maine
I have one salvage that I re furnished, it was satisfying to do. A lot of work, I think I will be fortunate to get the money out of it. The other I feel is beyond help, will be too costly to replace or Fabricate parts.
I think be prepared to lay out more $ than anticipated.
 
Aug 22, 2019
59
n/a n/a Galveston
Scuba201, have you owned sailboats before? Have you worked on them? How much sailing experience do you have? Sounds like you got the deal of the century, I certainly hope that's the case.

The Bristol 40 is an older style sailboat that likes to heal. Do you havea significant other and are they a sailor? If your answer is no to these questions, I'd recommend you find some new sailing friends, see if you can sail with them on their boats and invite them the sail on your new boat... ;)

dj
Wife and I are new to sailing, just finished ASA 101 a couple of months ago. About to take 103 and 104. Never owned a sailboat, just powerboats. Thanks for the support. Can’t wait to fly to Florida and see it in person.
 
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Mr Fox

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Aug 31, 2017
204
Marshall 22 Portland, ME
Boats vs cars are apples vs orangutans.

Cars have no waterproof connections in their wiring, have relays and circuit boards in places like under the seats, are not built to ABYC standards and were never intended for a marine environment.
 

Jim26m

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Apr 3, 2019
579
Macgregor 26M Mobile AL
Boats vs cars are apples vs orangutans.

Cars have no waterproof connections in their wiring, have relays and circuit boards in places like under the seats, are not built to ABYC standards and were never intended for a marine environment.
And I've never seen a used boat with any non-factory/non-ABYC standard wiring... Nor have I ever seen non-marine components installed on a used boat. Really?

He needs to check everything carefully. Nothing worse than getting a bunch of work done and losing it over something that could be easily prevented. Not to mention that they are new to sailing and could wind up having a bad experience if a dramatic failure occurs. Boat doesn't have to catch fire to ruin your weekend.

I'm encouraged that the water was fresh, but that doesn't necessarily mean there was no residual salt in the bilge to get washed into everything during the flooding. It's just better to err on the side of caution.

My boat was relatively new and already had a bunch of PO wiring that wasn't correct, waterproof, or even done in a workmanlike manner. Checking wiring and electrical carefully after acquiring a used boat is a good idea - even if it hadn't been flooded.

I don't want to make any enemies, and I'm not trying to be a wise guy (although I will confess to a modicum of sarcasm), but I would not want him to think he can ignore looking at his electrical systems because you told him they're all inherently fine - because they're on a boat.
 
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