Survey Question

[doubleeboy]

One of these days we expect we will find a boat enough to our liking that we will make offer subject to survey and sea trial.

My question is if the boat gets hauled Monday morning when should I have survey done, Mon, Tues Wed ? I would think you would want the hull to dry out a bit before surveyor comes, so that when surveyor takes his moisture readings, his reading reflect the moisture in the hull and not on the surface.

Along these same lines follow up question would be that here in the Northwest rainy season is going to start within next couple months and that hull is going to likely be damp no matter how long its been out of the water, so how big a difference does it make then how long the boat has been out?

Any thoughts on this would sure be helpful, thank you.

michael

[sailingdog]

Having the boat out of the water for just a few days really isn't going to make much of a difference in the laminate moisture readings for the below-water line sections of the hull.... it takes longer than that for the layers of antifouling paint to dry out.

If it is a cored hull and the boat is on the hard, it will take months for a wet core to dry out to any degree, so if there is a wet core problem, it is likely to show up regardless of how long the boat has been on the hard.

Personally, I'd have the survey done on Monday with the boat in the slings. It usually doesn't take all that long, at least for the below water line sections, and you might be able to not have to haul the boat completely. Hauling the boat completely is much more expensive, since they usually have to be blocked and have boat stands setup.

[Melrna]

Have the survey done while the boat is in the sling. What the surveryor will look for on the hull is delamination, voids, blisters, keel integrity, rudder and rudder shaft condition, prop, cutlass bearing and prop shaft condition. As a general rule, they will not take moisture reading below the hull, only topside. The surveryor has a rubber mallet he will bang on the bottom of the boat to find voids and delamination. Hull blisters will show up to the visual eye. If the boat has damage from groundings or collisions with hard objects most will be seen with the naked eye. A good surveryor will be able to tell if there was damage; either repair properly or not repaired at all.
In addition, take a look at the zincs, thru-holes and speed wheel. The Marnia yard will ask if you want to pressure wash the hull when they lift the boat out of the water. There is usually an extra charge for it. If they pressure wash the thru-hulls make sure you close off all the seacocks or you will have a big mess inside.
The sequence of events for most surveryor's is do as much of the survey at the dock. He can do 80% or more of the survey there. If there is a deal breaker in his findings, you will save everyone time and money before the sea trial and haul out.