*sigh* Blisters. No, that's not really the right term to describe these things. Imagine huge swaths of hull that are riddled with open, oozing, acidic sores. You grind them, looking for solid fiberglass, going deeper... deeper... finally hitting air before you're done. You grit your teeth and plane the gelcoat off the entire bottom, figuring that it can't be THAT bad all over the bottom. Can it? Uh... yes -- it can. The entire hull is involved -- not a clear patch anywhere. This is not a gelcoat problem -- it's one, two, three layers deep into the fiberglass all over the place. The only way to salvage this boat is to, basically, put a new hull on it. The boat yard says it needs three full layers of glass to make it structurally sound. They want $7,500. They guarantee it for 10 years, but why would anyone put that kind of money into a boat that they bought for $4,300? It's not as if the rest of the boat is in great shape. The deck has numerous large, rotton, soft spots, it leaks like a seive in the rain, the electrical system is crap, and it's slow as a dog (an old dog) when sailing. Adding three layers of fiberglass vinylester is NOT going to make this beast any lighter or faster. Sorry -- maybe we just got the biggest lemon of the bunch, but it's just not worth keeping. So... It's going to the scrap heap. Any and all parts are available for sale. Need a toerail? A mast? Parts for your Yanmar SB8? (The starter/solenoid is brand new.) Winches? Boom? Tanks? Swim ladder? Tiller? Prop? Keel? Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. We're going to clean out all the stuff we want next weekend. We're going to call the boat disposal folks a couple of weeks after that. First come, first serve. We're buying an '81 Sabre 28. It's in great condition and the quality is 400% better than the same era Hunters. Yes, they're more expensive, but it looks like it will be worth every penny. (How many 27' Hunters come with Lewmar 40C ST jib sheet winches?) (Another redeeming factor is that the brand new North sails that we bought for the Hunter -- main
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Don Bodemann
Worst case
Doug, There unfortunetly has to be a "worst case" and it sounds like you got it. I hope the lesson learned is not "stay away from Hunters", rather get a good survey next time. Hopefully you will be able to recover some of your investment in sales from parts. I would think the engine/trans alone is worth aprox $1000.
Doug, There unfortunetly has to be a "worst case" and it sounds like you got it. I hope the lesson learned is not "stay away from Hunters", rather get a good survey next time. Hopefully you will be able to recover some of your investment in sales from parts. I would think the engine/trans alone is worth aprox $1000.
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Doug T.
Hunters
Oh, I'm not denigrating Hunters in general. They're generally a pretty good value for the money. We happened to get unlucky. Yes, we had a survey done and yes, we knew there were blisters. We had fully intended on spending a significant amount of time grinding them out, fairing, and putting on a barrier coat. That stuff's not rocket science, just laborious. The error we made was in not having a hull profile done as part of the survey. It's impossible to tell how deeply the blisters go into the layers of fiberglass by looking at them from the outside. We rolled the dice, took our chances and lost. Oh well. (I took pictures. I'll post them if I ever get around to having them developed.) There's no one single reason why we're going with the Sabre this time around. It's simply that item-by-item, feature-by-feature, the quality of the Sabre is just better than a comparable Hunter or Catalina or O'Day or Pearson of the same era. We looked at them all. (The fact that our new sails will fit is a big bonus, though!)
Oh, I'm not denigrating Hunters in general. They're generally a pretty good value for the money. We happened to get unlucky. Yes, we had a survey done and yes, we knew there were blisters. We had fully intended on spending a significant amount of time grinding them out, fairing, and putting on a barrier coat. That stuff's not rocket science, just laborious. The error we made was in not having a hull profile done as part of the survey. It's impossible to tell how deeply the blisters go into the layers of fiberglass by looking at them from the outside. We rolled the dice, took our chances and lost. Oh well. (I took pictures. I'll post them if I ever get around to having them developed.) There's no one single reason why we're going with the Sabre this time around. It's simply that item-by-item, feature-by-feature, the quality of the Sabre is just better than a comparable Hunter or Catalina or O'Day or Pearson of the same era. We looked at them all. (The fact that our new sails will fit is a big bonus, though!)
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David Undewood
Get a good tax deduction....
In many states, there are charity organizations that will allow you to donate the boat or car you no longer want and they will write you a receipt for the book value. It might be the one time I would consider such a move, but it might save you enough in taxes to be worth checking into. Good luck for a change, sorry you got "the one". David
In many states, there are charity organizations that will allow you to donate the boat or car you no longer want and they will write you a receipt for the book value. It might be the one time I would consider such a move, but it might save you enough in taxes to be worth checking into. Good luck for a change, sorry you got "the one". David
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Ray Bowles
David, It sounds like you want pass the garbage
or disposal costs onto a charity. Doug already got hammered, and it appears he is offering what can be used to others, if anything can be used. He also stated that she's mainly scrap! To suggest he pass the problem off to the less fortunate (the highly promoted "trickle down theory")I find to be in very poor taste. But how in the heck do I think I am qualified to understand the tax benefits of such an opertunity. Hell, I can't even spell the word. Ray S/V Speedy
or disposal costs onto a charity. Doug already got hammered, and it appears he is offering what can be used to others, if anything can be used. He also stated that she's mainly scrap! To suggest he pass the problem off to the less fortunate (the highly promoted "trickle down theory")I find to be in very poor taste. But how in the heck do I think I am qualified to understand the tax benefits of such an opertunity. Hell, I can't even spell the word. Ray S/V Speedy
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Doug T.
Charities
There are a number of charities in our area that take boats, refurbish them, and use them for good purposes. Boy scouts... groups that take handicapped people out sailing... etc. We'd definitely consider doing that if the boat was seaworthy. However, the hull has been planed. To get it ready to sail, we (or they) would at least have to get the bottom partially redone. It's not worth anyone's time or money to do that.
There are a number of charities in our area that take boats, refurbish them, and use them for good purposes. Boy scouts... groups that take handicapped people out sailing... etc. We'd definitely consider doing that if the boat was seaworthy. However, the hull has been planed. To get it ready to sail, we (or they) would at least have to get the bottom partially redone. It's not worth anyone's time or money to do that.
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John Lynch
Dude! $4,300.00?
Surely the $4,300. price must have aroused some measure of suspicion. So, add 7,500. and you have a fair value of 12,000 for the boat. By the way I have Lewmar self tailing winches on my '81 and she sails great. Just did the bottom and it was blister free as the pre-purchase survey told. I gather your Hunter was not surveyed or you never would have had to deal with sanding into thin air. I have heard that boats kept in fresh water are more prone to blister formation and actually galvinize different metals faster than salt water ever will and quicker than you can hold your breath and replace zincs. Enjoy your new boat and as you found out ,"you get what you pay for".
Surely the $4,300. price must have aroused some measure of suspicion. So, add 7,500. and you have a fair value of 12,000 for the boat. By the way I have Lewmar self tailing winches on my '81 and she sails great. Just did the bottom and it was blister free as the pre-purchase survey told. I gather your Hunter was not surveyed or you never would have had to deal with sanding into thin air. I have heard that boats kept in fresh water are more prone to blister formation and actually galvinize different metals faster than salt water ever will and quicker than you can hold your breath and replace zincs. Enjoy your new boat and as you found out ,"you get what you pay for".
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David Undewood
Sorry, did not mean to suggest passing trash
From a piont of view that one mans garbage is another mans treasure.... I just thought that maybe the boat could be saved.. and from the piont of view that if they have free labor (boy scouts, etc. ) to work on a project... well, just that surely the boat has some value to someone else and could be saved.. by the way... donate for value as is.. you get the deduction.. the charity gets it for "free" what they have invested is only what the repairs run.. they end up with a boat worth more than repairs and everyone wins.. but what do I know.. just did not mean to make anyone upset with my suggestion. Happy sailing.
From a piont of view that one mans garbage is another mans treasure.... I just thought that maybe the boat could be saved.. and from the piont of view that if they have free labor (boy scouts, etc. ) to work on a project... well, just that surely the boat has some value to someone else and could be saved.. by the way... donate for value as is.. you get the deduction.. the charity gets it for "free" what they have invested is only what the repairs run.. they end up with a boat worth more than repairs and everyone wins.. but what do I know.. just did not mean to make anyone upset with my suggestion. Happy sailing.
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David
Donate a boat
All the charitable organizations that I know of do not actualy use the donated boat. They sell them and use the cash. They can be good sources of project boats. David
All the charitable organizations that I know of do not actualy use the donated boat. They sell them and use the cash. They can be good sources of project boats. David
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Don
Donees take most anything
I've seen absolute junk for sale/sail at some of the local auctions around Annapolis. The chairties turn the boats over to third party auction houses and get a little cash on the deal. (I have donated old cars in the same manner.) Check the blue book values on the boat. You may find that your tax credit will more than make up for the cash you paid for the boat and associated repairs. (Repais would be a capital improvement added to your purchase price.) Worth a shot. The Lions Club, Optomist Club, or somthing similar down that way has a regular auction of junk/donated boats. Usually listed in the Mariner or similar papers. Good luck.
I've seen absolute junk for sale/sail at some of the local auctions around Annapolis. The chairties turn the boats over to third party auction houses and get a little cash on the deal. (I have donated old cars in the same manner.) Check the blue book values on the boat. You may find that your tax credit will more than make up for the cash you paid for the boat and associated repairs. (Repais would be a capital improvement added to your purchase price.) Worth a shot. The Lions Club, Optomist Club, or somthing similar down that way has a regular auction of junk/donated boats. Usually listed in the Mariner or similar papers. Good luck.
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