Reality Check, Good deal?

I told the surveyor today that my biggest concern is water damage. I'm really hoping she doesn't find too much.

I did some more digging around the boat today because it was raining and I wanted to look for leaks. I definitely found some problem areas.

Someone installed rod holders in the port and starboard gunnels. I reached up under the gunnel and could feel the core around the hole drilled for the holders and it's definitely wet.

I also found some leaking where the water tank fill and vent is. Stuck my finger up in there and its also wet.

At the price I'm getting her I can definitely put money into repairs so unless she finds major damage I think these problems are probably manageable. I could probably even do the rod holder area by myself, assuming the rot hasn't spread too far and I read all of Dr. Bob's tutorials.

Not sure how I'd get to the area around the water tank fill though.

You have me concerned about the lazarette hatches now too.

How big a problem is a moist core around things like the rod holders and the water tank fill? How would anyone even detect this on a boat that didn't have easy access to these areas? I obviously want to fix it now that I know about it but how urgent is this?
 
There's a really good knowledge base going on here, lots of folks with info that lines up instead of a bunch of contradictory info like I find on other forums.

I wasn't super worried about water intrusion into anything except the sole. That's just my opinion.

I dug out a ton of wet balsa from around the laz hatches and filled it with west system epoxy. I think other stuff would also work in those less-critical areas, but I wanted to get some experience with that material. Plus I think epoxy is cool

Other folks that had similar problems only had to remove less than an inch. I defo had some tunneling going on and had to get out more.

Having a dry place to work, like a garage, makes a big difference in the level of complexity you can take on also.

A lot of people use those pinless moisture meters and/or tapping with a hammer effectively when looking for core rot. I'm not familiar with the 22 and can't comment on the water tank and specifics.
 
As of tonight I have put the Blue Moon, my 19' C-Dory Angler, up for sale on eBay with a Buy-it-Now price of $24,500. The 90 hp 4-stroke efi Suzki 2009 outboard has been completely documented, serviced and compression tested by the Suzuki Dealer and is good to go.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/153856180573?_trksid=p2471758.m4704

All that remains is for the new Owner to experience many happy boating memories.

I will be happy to assist the new Owner with the shipment of this boat to another state if required.
 
When do you get the survey information? Based on your thread it sounds like you're comfortable with a $35k boat and that you have found the motor to be in great shape. If that's the case then a $20k purchase price leaves you with $15k for repairs and upgrades. I hope the survey comes back favorably for you because if so it sounds great.

If not it's always OK to walk and keep watching.
I stumbled across my last CD22 very very luckily. I had been posting here on the forums and the previous owner reached out to me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

They do pop up and when one door closes another opens!

Good luck, looking forward to seeing your results!
 
That's exactly what I'm hoping. Unless we identify some major issues, she should still be well under he market value, even with repairs.

I'll be attending the survey with the surveyor so although I won't have the official report tomorrow, I should still know what problems we find.
 
curioustraveler":1wmhkju0 said:
That's exactly what I'm hoping. Unless we identify some major issues, she should still be well under he market value, even with repairs.

I'll be attending the survey with the surveyor so although I won't have the official report tomorrow, I should still know what problems we find.
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as long as the needed work isn't catastrophic it sure sounds like a good deal! Good luck!
 
Just left the survey. Looking for some advice from the group. Bottom line, the surveyor was very impressed with her condition and found nothing that concerns her about a 14 year old boat. Especially at the price point I'm getting her.

The stuff I was concerned about (obvious moisture around the rod holder and fresh water deck fill) didn't really bother her. Those are pretty easy fixes and the moisture doesn't seem to spread very far.

What I didn't expect was the amount of moisture she found in the cabin and cockpit sole. Her meter read high levels of moisture but she percussed the whole hull, bottom, deck, sole, gunnels, and said it sounds great. She said she expected worse. She took me over to another random boat in the yard, put the meter on the transom to show me how wet it was and then percussed it to show me how different it sounded from the C-Dory.

Her professional opinion is the moisture in the sole isn't a concern. The floor isn't mushy and sounds great. She doesn't think this is the kind of thing where if I start drilling holes water's going to come pouring out. She said she would have no heartburn about buying the boat. The one concern she does have is if I go to resell her and the buyer has a surveyor who isn't as thorough as her. The surveyor may detect moisture on the meter and not actually assess whether its a problem or not. Again, for the price I'm getting her I can price it accordingly on the resale. (Do most people even survey a $20,000 boat?)

So, it seems like a great boat, and the surveyor believes it's a great boat. If I just went off her opinion I'd close the deal tonight. But after reading all of your horror stories about water problems I'm a bit hesitant. I don't want something that's going to turn into a major issue down the road.

What I don't understand is this boat was hardly used, the hull's in great shape, there's no cracks or anything, so why would her bottom be wet?

Thanks for the advise! I'm hoping to join the C-Brat family if this is the right boat but I can pass up on the deal if it's not worth it.
 
Anxiously waiting to hear more about the cabin, hull and cockpit sole "moisture". Seems like it could be an overly sensitive meter, Or ...? ( some kind of artifact.) OR, you a got a really good and smart surveyor.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

old_chip_2_GB_324.thumb.jpg
 
She's incredibly thorough which is why she was recommended to me. We percussed probably every 6 inches of the boat. She's been doing this for 20+ years. She's telling me it's no big deal and I've spoken to another C-Dory owner offline who also said he wouldn't worry about it.
 
curioustraveler":26fa3wfr said:
(Do most people even survey a $20,000 boat?)
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I think the only answer is "it depends". I didn't survey C-Miner when I bought it from Ron. He taught me a lot about the boat and we sea trialed it, and when I sold the boat, the new owners didn't ask for a survey either. But these boats are pretty simple creatures, I see more extensive surveys done on boats that cost half as much but are much more prone to issues (bigger/wooden boats) etc.

Either way I think you were to smart to get one, it's a small price to pay for piece of mind!
 
DuckDogTitus said:
Either way I think you were to smart to get one, it's a small price to pay for piece of mind!
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That's the funny thing...the survey gave me less piece of mind! I would've had no idea the floor was possibly wet until her meter started pinging. Would've probably used the boat for years with no idea but now I'm wondering if there's a major problem lurking (a la Scallywag.)

The more I'm reading about wet cores and the sometimes unreliable nature of moisture meters, I'm wondering if this is some kind of anomaly? The boat's hardly been used and never sat in the water. The hull sounded great with a hammer yet showed pretty much from the transom to the galley table was "wet."

This boat doesn't have the screws into the deck by the fuel tanks, just the little metal pieces that secure the straps. These look to be sealed well. The bilge pump isn't screwed into the deck, it's mounted to starboard that fits in the sump. So where could this much rain water be leaking in to somehow flood the hull and cockpit floor with water?
 
Well, curioustraveler, it's been 2 weeks and you've inspected the boat with a magnifying glass. I would assume that by now your neighbor has an idea that his boat is worth more that you're paying. time to buy the boat or give up?

Boris
 
Leaning towards buying her and hoping no major problems develop. She's up at the yard right now where they checked her motor and looked at fixing the crack for me. I'm going to have them look at the water fill area and get their opinion on the floor. Then I'll make a decision.
 
I met with the boat yard's main fiberglass guy and we went through the surveyor's findings together. We're going to fix the 2 areas we know need repaired (around the lazarette, rod holder, and the freshwater fill,) and I'll start rebedding all the other screws and deck fittings. He doesn't believe there is any reason to worry about the floor. After doing his own assessment he doesn't think I'll have any problems. It's solid.

So, considering the motor checks out fine, I'm going to take the advice of the surveyor and fiberglass guy, and jump on this. You never really know with a used boat, or even a new boat, but for the price I'm picking this one up I think I'm willing to give it a shot.
 
It'll be a couple of weeks. I'm having them do a full service on the engine too. Hoping I can do most of that myself in the future but for starters I want a good baseline.

I also need to do a good deep cleaning but I really want to have her launched by the end or March, if possible.
 
that's great, that's not a long wait at all. I'm seeing the local shop already getting a line up of boats preparing for the spring season. Once they get busy the wait becomes months.
 
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