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The cored hull issue is a bit of a mystery to me. All of the factory adds i have found stated that the 35 and 39 had airex cores while only the later 31's did. I had 2 surveyors look at the boat. Both said the hull was solid glass. I have also seen liturature stating that the hull was only airex cored above the waterline. Airex itself is not affected by water...i.e it doesn't rot. That does not rule out the issue of delamination though, which any good surveyor will identify. I am going to remove all of the thru-hulls soon so I will know more then. I have also heard of some 70's era boats were copied in overseas factories (in which case they wouldn't have used airex), but i have verified my HIN and the boat has a factory interior. Really though, everything about this boat is so much more solid than my Pearson 26.
Now for reality though. Any of the boats you have mentioned are old. Old boats, even with proper care, need lots of work. If you choose to pusue this endeavor rember that boats really are "a big hole in the water into which you pour your money". I was discussing this the other day with an old guy at my yard. He said he didn't feel that way about his 60 or more years of boating. Then I saw his boat. It was covered with a very old, dirty piece of shrinkwrap that he had tied on like a tarp (that says it all). It was a wood boat and he was in the process of "fixing" a prop shaft leak with something that looked like an old can. To each his own...he was very proud of his boat, as we all should be. My point is though, this is the only guy who ever disagreed with me. I paid 11k for my boat (list was 18,900) which i thought was a good deal (fall is a good time because sellers are forced with lowering their price or paying for another winter storage). Since then though I have paid 2k for storage and shrinkwrap, 750$ for surveys and I have been busting my ass all winter working on it and arguing with my wife about it. At times I have felt like I am getting nowhere with the work and everyone i talk to tells me there are more things I should do. To top it all off....I have never even had the boat in the water! BUT...my first good day out in Buzzards Bay I will be grinning ear to ear. This will be my first real seaworthy boat, I own it outright and I will have rebuilt almost everyhting on it myself. I will have spent 100's of hours with my new friend before it ever hits the water. When i'm working on it sometimes i rest and imagine it's motion in the ocean, I have spent many nights lying awake thinking about it. Call me crazy, but that has to mean more than just buying a new boat and sailing away from the dock. I kind of think of it as a muscle car (my old hobby). The only difference is that you would never replace a 350 or 427 with an electric motor (here we go!) because the #'s wouldn't match!
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