Beneteau Idylle 15.5 - Worth the effort to repair? (water damage)

[Landsharkk]

Hey all, I've been a lurker on this website for a few years and just want to start off with how much I appreciate all the posts here. You've all provided invaluable information while researching boats and just sailing in general!

Long story short, we ran into someone selling a 1987 Beneteau 15.50 that is being 'totaled' by current owners insurance (so technically insurance is selling it).

It had leaked water at the prop very rapidly (sudden catastrophic failure), which put enough (sea) water into the boat to a depth just below the bottom step.

It was fairly quickly pumped out and the leak issue was fixed (issue with the dripless shaft), but now the boat is left with decent water damage below that bottom step line. The rest of the boat, above is in great condition. Owner was a live-aboard until this happened just a couple weeks ago. Also, while there is water damage below that bottom step, the actual interior is totally clean, despite the water that made it inside. No musty smell or anything like that, wood work looks to be in great condition.

The engine itself has less than 200 hours on it (fairly new engine). Mechanic claims the engine can be brought back to running status with less than $10k. I figure another $10k for electrical/pumps/hoses and any misc pieces that were under water.

I've never restored a boat before, mostly doing the big work through hiring someone else and the little stuff on our own.

I figure purchase price of between $30k and $40k, plus another $20k in repairs.

There's a caveat here. We currently have a (much smaller) powerboat we got for free that will sell for about $20k to $25k, which we can put towards the repairs of the Beneteau, assuming my costs for repairs are inline with reality.


Anyone more experience than me have any suggestions/comments/etc?

We are a large sailing family and I really like the Idyll series of Beneteau's, so am intrigued with this one considering our situation. This would be our 3rd sailboat, we have been slowly moving up in size. If we got this one, it would be our forever boat (and finally something I can sail to Hawaii and back!). Not sure if I should be talked into or out of this idea though.

Thank you!

[Tillsbury]

The big question is whether you will be able to insure it since it’s been written off.

[Landsharkk]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

The big question is whether you will be able to insure it since it’s been written off.

That's a good point and will be one of our first calls Monday, to our current boat insurance company asking about this.

[Stu Jackson]

Don't do it.
Really.
$10K to get the engine running?
I call BS.


Go find a boat that's still working


Do a search on this or any other boating forum on Project Boat.


You are barking up the wrong tree, my friend.

[Orion Jim]

“Owner was a liveaboard” but is walking away......hint, hint, hint

[Stewie1]

You will probably need to re-wire it as well. Run !!!

[GoneIsland]

Man, I don’t know about any mechanic throwing out a number like $10,000 just to get a small diesel up and running again after being soaked. Pull injectors, new starter, crank over to make sure no water is in the cylinders then pull the oil out of the engine and tranny. Do several oil changes in both until you can’t see any trace of water emulsion, then change one more time cause it’s cheap insurance.
Your getting bad advice from the get go. Plenty of cheap boats out there that don’t need this much work. Plus the whole problem about insuring a totaled boat plus future resale value of said totaled boat. Just my 2 cents.
John

[Ken Z]

I am pretty confident you could find a good boat with that amount of money, find another mechanic, I would not buy the boat or deal with the mechanic.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by GoneIsland

Man, I don’t know about any mechanic throwing out a number like $10,000 just to get a small diesel up and running again after being soaked. Pull injectors, new starter, crank over to make sure no water is in the cylinders then pull the oil out of the engine and tranny. Do several oil changes in both until you can’t see any trace of water emulsion, then change one more time cause it’s cheap insurance.
Your getting bad advice from the get go. Plenty of cheap boats out there that don’t need this much work. Plus the whole problem about insuring a totaled boat plus future resale value of said totaled boat. Just my 2 cents.
John

Absolutely. Have done this a few times with outboards and once with a diesel. All ran perfectly for years. The ONLY caveat, don't let the engine sit too long with salt water in it, otherwise it's a simple job. Mechanic quoting $10k to get the engine running is a crook or an idiot. Either way don't deal with him/her.

[TrentePieds]

What do you mean by "just below the bottom step"? Do you mean the bottom step on the companionway ladder? If so, there would have been anywhere from eight to twelve inches of water OVER the cabin sole.

The boat may not smell YET if the incident was only a couple of weeks ago, but it most certainly will in the future. It is VERY doubtful that the "furniture", every bulkhead in boat, every low-set drawer, would not have soaked up so much water that the plywood has already begun to delaminate. Such damage happens over a long period of time, and I don't know of any method that will determine in the here and now just how bad it's gonna turn out to be. You can probe with a moisture meter of course, but what would be your accept/reject criterion?

Any wiring installed below the sole would have to be entirely renewed because it WILL become sporadically unreliable. Depending on how bad the damage is, there could even be a future fire hazard.

You've said explicitly that you've never done BIG repairs yourself, so you need to have a serious discussion with yourself about whether you have now, or can quickly develop, the skills to do the work, the need for which, and the magnitude of which, will reveal itself increasingly over time. You also need to be realistic about the number of tools and quantity of other equipment the work will demand and the need for a place ashore where you can do the work that cannot be done within the boat. And there is likely to be a lot of that.

For a "hobbyist" woodworker to rebuild this boat's interior will turn out to be a life's work. It is much more difficult to do that it was to build the original interior.

As other have said in other words: Don't let the foot-it is lead you astray!


TrentePieds

[captlloyd]

Would need some pictures to accurately assess the damage and amount of work and money to repair. Most likely a ridiculous amount of money quoted to get the engine up and running.

[MartinR]

This might be a find, might be a money pit. Not sure where the wiring is drawn in this boat. Replacing electric cabling is kind of expensive. But maybe not much need to be replaced.

The joinery may have survived, not sure of the quality of plywood they were using.

If the engine has been sitting for two weeks now in the dry without running, the mechanic may be right.

The boat needs to be looked at carefully by a competent person.

[Pegu Club]

Don’t Do it!
There are hundreds of boats you can buy and use now.

Fair winds,

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by Ken Z

I am pretty confident you could find a good boat with that amount of money, find another mechanic, I would not buy the boat or deal with the mechanic.

Same thought here. That mechanic is trying to give you worst, worst, worst case scenario or hose you for a repair. If water only made it to the bottom step it may not have even got into the motor. If it is anything like my 38 there are a lot of electronics in the aft cabin that may have been harmed. The wire that is down there should be fine just the exposed ends may be a problem. Corrosion will creep up the wires depending on how long and how deep it was submerged.

[Group9]

You can fix anything if you throw enough money at it, but why would you want to do that instead of finding one that's ready to go for the same, or even less, total cost?