Wet deck, possible delamination on Hunter 35.5

Dec 5, 2015
20
Hunter Legend 35 Middle River, MD
Hello everyone. I have a dilemma and I am looking for some advice. After considerable time and effort searching, I found a boat that meets almost all my needs/desires...a 1990 Hunter Legend 35.5. Very nicely tricked out. The boat is nicely maintained. Sails are in very nice shape. Negotiated a reasonable price and arranged a survey. We did the survey and sea trial today. A few issues, but everything went pretty well. One major issue. The survey found several areas of delamination and very elevated moisture content on the starboard side going intermittently from an area just behind the anchor locker for another 6 to 7 feet back. Another area next to the sea hood. The surveyor is very experienced and has also built and modified custom fiberglass boats. In our conversation, he stated that the situation has not impaired the structural integrity of the boat, that it is not the end of the world, but that it definitely devalues the boat. He said that at a minimum the deck hardware needs to be pulled and rebed to avoid anymore leakage into the core and that might be sufficient. The max is to have destructive testing of the core and have all the wet areas repaired by removing the top skin and the damaged core, replace with new core. Options are to offer the same price if the owner agrees to do repairs or offer a lower price, do the minimal repair. Would appreciate anyone's thoughts, advice, even perhaps additional questions to ask?
 
Aug 16, 2011
46
Hunter 35.5 Bayfield, WI
This sounds like my boat, also a 1990 Hunter 35.5. It had a wet deck from the anchor well on the starboard side back to inline with the back of the cabin. The marina's tech guy drilled a 2" hole in the deck by back of cabin and when he stepped on the deck by the hole, water squirted out. We removed the top skin, replaced the core and reskined. Cost was about $10000.Before we started the work, I felt around the inside of the holes where the furler lines went through the deck and could feel mushy wood inside. I figure that the water infiltrated the deck through these two holes because they were never sealed off and the wood just kept sucking in water.
 
Dec 5, 2015
20
Hunter Legend 35 Middle River, MD
Ouch!! Thanks for that info Silverbeard. We were wondering about the cost of repair, too. Sounds like maybe this isn't the boat for us.