Buy a 2001 Beneteau 38?

[RHG]

I've looked at a couple Beneteau 38' (2001 and 2000). A good friend and accomplished sailer had a 44 CC and wrote: "The hull integrity is fine and they sail well, the problem comes with the systems, particularly wiring and plumbing. They do not use marine grade connectors, wire etc. Pay attention to the fuel and water fill points, they are AL on AL and tend to gall if not treated with tefgel. Also the vent line on the fuel tank was way too small resulting in long fuel times."
On the 2001 I found many hairline cracks on the foredeck, smooth and non-skid areas. Boat came from CA to FL; current owner since 2004 said it was that way when he purcahsed the boat (used).
Any comments, perspectives on the above??
Thanks

Roger

 

[Steve Walsh]

The Admiral & I bareboat chartered a 2001 and a 2000 B-38 in the BVI's for 2 weeks each trip. Really enjoyed both boats. Plenty of tankage for 2 people, great sailing and fast. Both boats had the full master stateroom in the stern which was much better than two double cabins in the stern. I think both had a 38hp Westerbeke and seemed to burn about .75/gal/hour motoring. No problem fueling up either boat fast, so maybe the vent problem was isotated. Either way, that would be an easy fix. No gelcoat cracking that I remember, but the boats were only about 4 years old. Liked the seperate freezer and refrigerator and galley was well laid out. One boat had two heads and we preferred the one with one head since is was much larger. The only problem I remember was the windlass on one of the boats died and I had to retrieve the chain by hand. Battery capacity had no trouble keeping up with the refer, which can be an issue when chartering. Good Luck with your search and hope this helps.