Looking at a Newport 30, need advice

[Craig Cook]

We have been looking at a 1977 Newport 30, very nicely equipped, reasonably well taken care of......BUT, there is something odd looking about the cabin sole. There is a hairline crack (hairline = almost too small to fill with anything but maybe paint) that goes around the perimeter of the sole, almost a perfect rectangle. I have owned many boats, never a Newport though. Is this a common issue? Is it cosmetic? Is there something under the sole I can't see like a large bilge that could have frozen and lfited the surface? Or could this have been caused by poor blocking/lifting or a hard grounding? There is no keel damage.

The broker can shed no light on it.

 

[Craig Cook]

Well, I answered my own question this afternoon. I allowed more time to investigate the issue and found that yes, there is a very large area under the cabin sole that happens to be the same size as that hairline crack. Yes, it is filled with water. My guess is that that water froze, lifted the sole and broke it loose from the stringers it was attached to. This is a major project that is not reflected in the asking price of the boat. Frankly, not a project I choose to do at this particular time.