[jetdrvr393]

Hello All,

We just had a 1975 C&C 38 surveyed today that we want to buy. I have not seen the report yet but spoke to the surveyor and he told me that he found a couple areas in the deck that were wet, he actually used the term "mush". He said the port side around the genoa track and chainplates was the worst. I spoke to a friend that has had the same vintage boat for a long time and he says it's no big deal and easy to fix if you even care to. He said that since the chainplates attach to the hull below its not a structural issue. He said the hull was completely dry and he saw no issues there but I am a bit concerned about the deck.
What do you all think?
Thanks

Joe

 

[jetdrvr393]

Thanks but that doesn't help me with my dilemma.

 

[jetdrvr393]

I appreciate the idea that there are lots of other boats out there but:
We really like this boat and have already paid for the survey. If we can figure out what it will cost to have someone fix the wet spots and adjust the price accordingly why wouldn't we buy the boat?

 

[jetdrvr393]

Not just because we paid for the survey, it's part of the reason but not all. We really like the boat and the preliminary from the surveyor (I don't have the full report yet) sounds like this is the only serious issue. I asked him if we should run away from the boat and he said no, just that it wasn't worth our agreed upon price and threw out a value about 15% less.

 

[jetdrvr393]

Very well said!

15% less should be the offer without any major issues. The best way to proceed is for you to get a yard (not the surveyor) provide an estimate for the repair, then negotiate with the owner.
Keep in mind that what lies beneath could be more problematic - once the work to fix the deck starts, there could be other surprises along the way, this always happens.

You would drop your offer 15% after the survey if he didn't find any major issues? The surveyors value was 15% under what I already negotiated off of the asking price before the survey.

 

[jetdrvr393]

Wait for the full survey. Get back on the boat and carefully inspect the Bulkheads that the chainplates attach to. (both sides.) Chances are that if the deck around the genoa track and the chainplates are mush, the bulkheads are also affected.

Dealing with the wet deck is only dealing with the result of water intrusion. The other half of the problem is finding where the water came from and remedying that? Toe Rail? Stanchions? Chainplates?

Are you capable of performing this work? The Mast will have to be removed or the shrouds will have to be attached to a cradle in such a way to support the mast while you perform the repairs. All the hardware will have to be removed, while you cut the deck, remove all the wet core and replace. Everything will have to be re-bedded. But the first order of business is to find the leak (s).

Once you fix this..you still have a 36 year old boat. What kind of shape are the sails in? the standing and running rigging? Engine, Mounts? etc etc.

I think we all get that you like this boat...but are you going in to this with your eyes and wallet wide open? Good luck..whatever you decide..

Thanks, I should get the report soon. The surveyor told me that all of the bulkheads are in good shape and that the chainplates attach to the hull further down below which he reported was all totally dry. I don't know if he was overstating the deck issues on the phone or not. I would have expected there to be lot of other problems below if it was that bad.
The seller really has done a lot of work on the boat and updated most everything. I know he had the boat surveyed 6 years ago when he bought it. Could the deck have gotten this bad in that amount of time? I just have a hard time believing they would have done everything else they did and just ignored a problem like this.

 

[jetdrvr393]

Thanks to all for the ideas. I spoke with the surveyor some more tonight and he will get the report to me next week. Once I have it in hand I will discuss with the owner the results and see if we can get to a price that will work to allow me to fix the problem and still buy the boat.

 

[jetdrvr393]

As I posted earlier in the thread there guarantee that chainplates that pass through a wet deck are in good condition without pulling them for inspection.

Good luck.

Thanks, after a more in-depth conversation with him tonight he told me that the main area of concern is aft of the port side chainplate area near the start of the Genoa track and aft from there. He told me that it was soft, not mush and that it was the only area of real concern that he had. He said there were some other areas in the deck that had elevated moisture readings but they were still solid. With this in mind I'm thinking that I have an area about 2 feet wide by 10 feet long that is soft and in need of repair.

 

[jetdrvr393]

Update:

Once I got the report back I talked to the local boat yard and got a quote to repair the soft spot. The owners knocked that amount off of the price and we bought the boat. The fiberglass guy was not nearly as alarmed as the surveyor was about the deck situation and it will be recored this fall after the rest of the season.