Age and Seaworthiness?

[CalebD]

Originally Posted by flyingcarpet

Older Sailboats are like Victorian Houses they look pretty but once you start to fix the wiring you find out you have ...
Fair winds and smooth seas on your journey! Cap'n Rich

I rather like this comparison of older sailboats to Victorian houses. It is usually just the gingerbread moldings and a paint job that need to be done but sometimes it is termites, wiring or lead pipes that need to be replaced.
When it comes to boats though I just like the look of most older boats - my 1967 Tartan 27' included. Our boat may not win many races but it does turn heads with it's classic lines. On the boat we get to repair and refinish the teak toe rail (PITA like on a gingebread house), repair the chain plates and hull as needed (like a foundation on an old house), and re-do some of the work done by previous owners (which is the same for a boat or a house).

Congrats on your new-to-you Coronado 25'.

[mgiguere]

We have a 1967 Chris Craft built S&S designed sloop that is tough as nails. The mast is stout and keel stepped and every time we do some maintenance work, we are amazed at the construction quality as well as the thickness of the hull. It has never had hint of a blister, and I've had it off shore in challenging weather a number of times. I think each boat has to be evaluated on its merits, but this series seems very dependable. We took 2nd place in the Governor's cup a couple years ago during a rare year when the wind blew aggressively most of the night...many of the other bay boats were flailing and hanging on for dear life, while we were able to keep the 150 up all the way will little stress. On another occasion I hit a rock at full speed (cast iron fin keel with a bulb at the base-boat draws 6 ft). Hauled the boat out for a look, only a small chip where it hit...this type of strike would have destroyed the frame of many current day boats. Anyway, each boat has to be looked at on its merits, I think.

Moe
Crishelle
Apache 37

[BubbleheadMd]

Probably so Moe.

I found a Coronado forum but it's a bit slow. I'm trying to find as many owners as I can to evaluate this make and model for it's common failure points.

[flyingcarpet]

Don't get me wrong I've sailed many from FRP boats to ferro cement to wood
many types of rigs. Some I like more than others the Westsail was slow but she was a heavy displacement boat you got what you asked for. I sailed Cal 40's, Irwin 37's Brown and Piver TriMarans, Ferro Cement and so one. I'm not asking anyone to do what I did. Just passing along my knowledge for what it is worth.
Cap'n Rich

Get what you can afford,
sail what you can handle,
and love what you're doing! Tristan Jones

[Boasun]

When I first saw this, I thought you were talking about us older fellows...
But then I realized you were talking about the boats.
It is true that us older fellows & Ladies are seaworthy.
1. Is the boat older or younger than you?
2. Can your body handle the beating it will get out there?
3. Can that boat handle the beating offshore you will give it?

If you answered yes to #2 & 3 then you have nothing extra to worry about.
Now #1 is depending how you value Good clean lines of the older vessels.

[flyingcarpet]

Boasun, I salute superiors 1. The boat is not older than I am 2. Getting close 3. Better than me
Keep a good lookout for us old codgers in small vessels!

"To young men contemplating a voyage I would say go. The tales of rough usage are for the most part exaggerations, as also are the tales of sea danger. To face the elements is, to be sure, no light matter when the sea is in its grandest mood. You must then know the sea, and know that you know it, and not forget that it was made to be sailed over." - Joshua Slocum
Cap'n Rich

[johnshasteen]

Age is not nearly as relevant as are quality of build and care of the vessel. Paloma is 30-years old and at her ages of 16 and again at 29, we endured Force 10 storms in the Gulf with 50-60 knot winds and 28-30 foot seas. She performed no less well (no more creaks and groans) in the 2008 storm at 29 years old than she did in the 1995 storm at 16.

[Valiente]

All things being equal, and the hull having passed survey, I would be more concerned with the parts attached to the hull than the hull itself, like old gate valves, sub-current spec hoses, galvanized this and brass that and rotting wood the other. Certainly, every season I inspect the mast, rigging and chainplates carefully, and I'm in fresh water with a 5 1/2 month haulout.

I've found keeping a now 37-year old 33 footer less about the plastic and more about what is stuck to the plastic...or through the plastic.