Re: 79 walkaround grady white. stay away? or buy
It's a great boat if it's sound. Look out for (1) stress cracks in the hull (2) rot in the floor and transom. Walk away from the former since you can't fix'em, but consider that with a boat hull as good as a grady white, even if you have to pay a shop to repair the latter you may be ahead if the price is right. IF you can afford it, a fairly modest expense to replace all the wood in an old grady white with a good hull will give you a boat very close to good as new structurally. Price out a new one and do the math.<br /><br />Stress cracks run more or less lengthways on the hull usually near the keel. They open up when the hull flexes and let water in. Once you get one it keeps growing and is very hard or impossible to repair. Look for very fine cracks or for cracks that don't appear to come from surface gouges. Stress cracks come from excessive pounding in high seas at speed, especially when rot has compromised the stringers. Knowing the boat's history and owner's temperament will help you figure out if he thrashed it. Another sign is unexplained water in the bilge after a run. If you see any possible signs get a professional to look at the boat before you buy.<br /><br />The plate on the transom may mean its rotten and has been braced and maybe patched in the middle or where easily accessible instead of fully replaced. Given the size of motor you'll be putting on to move that big boat, a sound transom is important and I wouldn't trust someone else's half measure myself. The rot doesn't always start in the middle at the bottom where most patches are done. Look at the inside of ther transom to see if the glass shows signs of repair in places. If the owner will let you, plunging an awl into the transom from the inside in various places will tell you how sound the wood is (or use a small drill bit on a drill -You can patch the holes you make with marine caulking). Check inside and out around the drain hole and motor mount holes, and the through hull fittings for signs of water and delamination or signs of epoxy repairs. If the motor mount holes have been redrilled see if they properly sealed the old ones. If the transom has an aluminum cap, see if you can lift it. <br /><br />Transom replacement is not that bad if your boat is a good one. Even with tricky splashwells that make replacement from the inside tough, up here you can just get the whole back cut off, replace the wood and put her back so you can't tell for under $2,000.<br /><br />Floor rot can be a bigger problem if you have a glass floor. Put your hands down inside any hatches you can find and just feel around. Damp or soft wood will be apparent if you can get at it. if the floor is wood, tap it all over with a wrench. You'll hear the difference if the floor is soft in places.<br /><br />If its got a wooden floor like some gradies from that era then even paying to replace the whole thing including stringers is less than $1500. If it's a glass floor then removal and refitting is trickier and outside my experience.
