So I might buy this old boat...

Erix

Recruit
Joined
Jan 21, 2005
Messages
1
but Im really not sure about the hull. <br /><br />Shes a 1954 30ft Hunter Sedan cruiser, all wood with a semi planing hull, for a very good price. She was well maintained (overhauls and bottom paintings/scrapings every 3 years, rebuilds in the late 80s and 90s) up until a year or so ago when the current owner came into possesion and only ran her twice in that time (shes been in a marina the whole time, since the late 70s). The last time she was bottom scraped and painted was 2003 (Ive seen the receipts).<br /><br />Cosmetically, she needs alot of work but Im not afraid of stripping/sanding/refinishing. But I dont want her if theres something seriously structurally messed up. <br /><br />Lifting the floorboards, the wood was darker and damp along the keel and about 1 - 1 1/2 ft each side. Is this a sure sign of rot or is there more to look for? What should I expect? Mold? Any soft wood? Is a wet keel normal in old wooden hulled vessals?<br /><br />In the engine compartment (basically along the keel beneath the floorboards), there was about 2 inches or so of water sloshing around. I was told that this is expected of wooden hulled boats and provides some of the cooling of the engine. Is this true or was that made up?<br /><br />While in the marina, the bilge pump is left on auto, and pumps out about once a day (Im told). Is there any way of telling what would be a normal rate of bilge pump flow for a particular span of time?<br /><br />We havent gone out in it yet, just ran the motor, we are going out in it ina day or so...is there anything I should look for/feel for when we are running it, like sway or soemthing? Should I keep an eye on the bilges and got to wide open throttle, or is that dangerous?<br /><br />The price on this is good, but not so good that I think it might be worth paying for rebuilding the hull as well. <br /><br />I dont have pics of the boat Im looking thinking of buying; this boat is similar but in far better condition (I dont know these people or this boat, its a google result). The one Im looking at is 30' not 36' and the interior is a bit different but the hull is very much the same:<br /><br />http://www.boats.com/listing/gallery.jsp?entityid=12017961&galleryBack=%2Flisting%2Fboat_details.jsp%3Fsearchtype%3Dbuy%26showDL%3Dfalse%26searchid%3D1%26back%3Dsession%26showMD%3D false%26entityid%3D12017961&pic=0
 

Tinkerer

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 15, 2003
Messages
760
Re: So I might buy this old boat...

Welcome to iboats.<br /><br />That is a seriously lovely boat. I went weak in the knees when I saw the picture of the controls. <br /><br />What I know about wooden boats is limited to a 12 foot dinghy, so I can't comment on anything except I can't see how a couple of inches of water under the motor has any impact on cooling when the fire is inside the motor and the cooling system is also inside the motor to transfer the serious heat out of it. Unless the water intake is in the bilge, which would drain it pretty quickly and have the cooling system sucking air, or it's air cooled in which case a cooler environment would help but not that much as it'll heat up a confined space pretty soon.<br /><br />I'm guessing you're going to be paying a decent amount of money for such a beauty. That'd warrant taking out an insurance policy in the form of an inspection by a marine surveyor experienced in looking over such timber lovelies. His fee is nothing compared with the cost of repairing the hull if it's rotten.
 

petrolhead

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Messages
614
Re: So I might buy this old boat...

I agree, first step is to have a survey done and pay attention to what the surveyor says!
 
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