Old boat survey advice...

R

Rolexon

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The wife, likes older, classic, wooden boats. She has been looking at older Chris Crafts and Egg Harbors.

Having never purchased a wooden boat before, should I try to find a surveyor the deals specificaly with older or wooden boats? Or, is it easier for any surveyor to spot problems easily because it's wooden?
 
the surveyor must, must be very experienced with wood boats. please reconsider your decision, for your own sanity. For a serious wood boat lover capable of doing extensive serious wood work they are a wonderful hobby but only for the really experienced. You just cant imagine the difficulty and expense of keeping an old wood boat afloat.
 
You might consider looking for an older fiberglass boat. It will need a very good survey, but the maintenance problems will be much fewer if it has lovingly taken care of all of its life then an older wooden boat.
 
Does your wife want to spend all of HER time maintaining it?
 
My in laws had a 50' wooden boat and always kidded with me, that He like me too much to give me the boat. The Mother in law spent all summer, every summer while they owned the boat, and she was in good shape re-varnishing, stripping and painting. They are a maintenance headache across the board.

Make sure you get a surveyor who has real experience with wooden boats....a fellow here a year or so ago boat a recently re-screwed boat, after survey he found that the insurance company required monel fasteners on a wooden boat. He spent nearly $30K to refasten just to get insurance. then the regular maintenance.

They are beautiful, perform well, but the downside is systems and wood maintenance can eat up the boat's value each and every year.

Please rethink your decision or start small with a runabout....even they are heavy to trailer so you need a stout vehicle to load and unload, but you will get an idea of the maintenance. A 22-26' chris or similar might be a good place...

all the best what ever you decide, and keep us posted what you do.

dave
 
You don't need a marine surveyor or a wood boat specialist. You need a psychiatrist and a divorce attorney.

Think this one through very very carefully.
 
walshie coudln't have said it better!

seriously, I love woodies and I am glad a few people are willing to care for them and maintain them but unless you have either a LOT of free time or a BIG budget, or preferably both, it simply will not work out. Just too much maintenance and unlike a fiberglass boat if you get behind it's much harder to catch up.

There are many older fiberglass boats (Chris, Hatt, etc...) with that vintage feel, inexpensive and much easier to keep up with.

If you still go for a woodie, yes, find a surveyor who specialize in wooden boats.
 
Thanks for the input guys...

I think we both enjoy the look,feel,and classic lines of the older wooden boats. But, I was a little leary so I posted here. I showed the wife the replys to this thread last night and she got a chuckle.

I think she is a little off the idea for now and was searching the internet last night for older fiberglass hull boats. She found a nice Trojan with a great wooden interior and teak top deck.

Thanks for the replys, I knew this was going to be a great forum to join[^]
 
I'm not a fan of teak decks either. The early Trojans had a glass hull with wooden a superstructure that was prone to rot (70/72??). Have you looked at the older Chris Commanders? I'm not sure what size you're looking for but there are some deals out there. Mine is a '69 and has absolutly no coring anywhere except right by the sampson post. The side decks have a half round cardboard tube running the length and glass cloth covering it instead of using coring. Really surprised when I saw that. Drawback is they are heavy and many of the gassers had Ford 427's which can be hard to find parts for. Also on some of the older Trojans they used solid core wiring (at least the woodies did) whereas the Chris' have tinned strand.
Remember it is a buyers market. Somewhere there is a boat for you.
 
Haha, yeah it was a '75 36ft Tri-cabin...

Question, if it's an older fiberglass hull with wood on the inside, should I be concerned with finding a certain surveyor?
 
The advice to avoid teak decks is sound. The less wood outside the better and decks can be a big problem.

I suggest looking for a boat that was maintained by a knowledgeable and very caring owner. They do exist and sometimes you can find a really well cared for gem that somebody has reluctantly finally decided to sell after years of loving care. That's the boat for you. IMO you can almost ignore the brand when it comes to older boats and concentrate on the owner for best results unless you have very particular requirements and want a fixer.
 
Wood on the inside is not a big deal provided the boat has been maintained. When looking at older boats a careful examination of ALL the systems is very important. For example, the plumbing fittings are likely to start letting go. Electrical systems should all be exposed and examined for corrosion.
Unless there have been upgrades consider that you will be forking over the dough for them. Big ticket items like AC, Heat, hotwater, Radar, nav aids, and pumps are all suspect. Look for blisters in the hull and ensure there is no delamination. Walking slowly on the decks will let you know if this is occuring on the decks. A solid plastic hammer to sound the hull and listen for rattles will let you know what is going on below the water line.
And if it is gas, look out for fiberglass tank! Ethanol has been playing havoc with them.
 
If you like the tri cabin layout, check out newer ones without the wood cabin top. You still may find a deal. A drawback were the motors on them also. Many had 383/440 Chryslers that again are hard to find parts for. However I've seen some repowered with 454 Chevys which would be my preference. How bout a 36 Uniflite? A RO here is a 2 boat owner and I know would LOVE to move it. It's in Baltimore right up the street from you. (no connection whatsoever).
http://www.boatered.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=114136
I don't know if it still is available.
 
A good surveyor will be able to pick up on any blistering problems and, if found, what it would take to fix it.
 
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