Hey everyone, I'm looking to buy a boat for cheap for the summer with 3 friends, fix it up in New England and sail down the East coast until I have to go to grad school in August (in Colorado, which is landlocked- bummer). Anyway, we've been looking at boats in the Boston area and a '74 Pearson 30 caught my eye. He wants $1500, but we may be able to talk it down.
It has sails and a motor and all the extras, but it has "some softness in the cabin roof, stress cracks in the deck, and the hull needs to be compounded." Now, I've sent the guy an email but he hasn't responded yet and really, I'm wondering:
a) Is this worth pursuing? I know softness in the deck speaks of water damage to the deck core and might be difficult or impossible to repair.
b) If the deck is soft, what will I have to do to repair it? I can invest a lot of time, but not a lot of money.
c) What should I ask the guy, or what should I look for if I go look at the boat?
I think a survey is out of the question for our price range, and we're not afraid of a little hard work, but we don't want to be stuck with a boat we can't sail and can't use. SailNet, please help!
It has sails and a motor and all the extras, but it has "some softness in the cabin roof, stress cracks in the deck, and the hull needs to be compounded." Now, I've sent the guy an email but he hasn't responded yet and really, I'm wondering:
a) Is this worth pursuing? I know softness in the deck speaks of water damage to the deck core and might be difficult or impossible to repair.
b) If the deck is soft, what will I have to do to repair it? I can invest a lot of time, but not a lot of money.
c) What should I ask the guy, or what should I look for if I go look at the boat?
I think a survey is out of the question for our price range, and we're not afraid of a little hard work, but we don't want to be stuck with a boat we can't sail and can't use. SailNet, please help!