Uneven bilge

[RogerVT]

Hi-

We are considering buying a Sabre28 and I just joined SailNet to ask the following questions.

A Sabre 28 we recently looked at has an uneven bottom to the bilge area above the keel- is this normal? This is in the area of the keel bolts just below the two access hatches in the cabin sole.

We have looked at several other brands of boats with bolted on keels and all the others have had a flat or gently changing surface area around the keel bolts. I can't tell if the bulges in this particular Sabre 28 is due to excess epoxy or water getting in and freezing or causing expansion in some other manner. I would descibe the bulges or lumps as roughly the size of golf ball. The boat has been on the hard for 4 yrs and it appears a garboard plug was only recently installed. This boat is in a northern climate with long, cold winters.

One other question while I'm typing. The cabin roof is not depressed around the mast step. However, the plywood cockpit sub-floor just below the compression post is delaminated/rotten, the top of the compression post shows some rot and the mast is stepped onto a ~12"x12" piece of plywood. Is that plywood mast step original and is this boat due for some compression post related work soon?

We will hire a marine surveyor when and if we decide to put an offer in on a boat, but we are not to that point yet.

Thanks,

Roger

[Faster]

If you up your post count so that you can put up some pictures that would be helpful... There are several Sabre owners about that will hopefully chime in here, but even so pictures would help.

Welcome to Sailnet btw..

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by RogerVT

One other question while I'm typing. The cabin roof is not depressed around the mast step. However, the plywood cockpit sub-floor just below the compression post is delaminated/rotten, the top of the compression post shows some rot and the mast is stepped onto a ~12"x12" piece of plywood. Is that plywood mast step original and is this boat due for some compression post related work soon?

HArd to say about the "uneven" bilge from your description. As Faster mentioned, photos would help. It sounds suspicious -- a surveyor will notice it right away if there's a problem.

The compression post also sounds potentially problematic. Is that 12"x12" piece of plywood on deck, immediately under the base of the mast? If so, that doesn't sound right and I doubt very much it's original. More info would be helpful, but based on what you've described, I'd say there's a good chance the boat will need some attention at the compression post and mast base. Again, the surveyor will hone in on this in a heartbeat.

Welcome to Sailnet!