Hull/Keel repair ?

[TopperHarley]

Hi Folks,

Im in the market for a 30-34ft Catalina and recently came across a very well presented, late 90's C320.

The broker mentioned it had had some work done to the hull.... I did some investigating and found the invoice for the insurance company.

It details 60hrs work as follows:

REPAIR HULL DELAMINATION TO INTERNAL FLOORS AROUND KEEL
REMOVE TEAK CABIN SOLE FLOOR FROM PORT & STARBOARD
SALOON. REMOVE GALLEY TABLE , PLUMBING & GREY WATER
TANK FROM STARBOARD SETTEE. CUT OUT FIBREGLASS CABIN
SOLE FLOOR TO GAIN ACCESS TO REPAIRS. GRIND BACK INSIDE
& OUTSIDE OF PORT & STARBOARD SETTEE. GRIND BACK
DELAMINATION TO HULL & FLOOR & OVER AFT 2 KEEL BOLTS.
SET SEVERAL ACRO PROPS TO STARBOARD HULL FROM
OUTSIDE TO PUSH HULL BACK INTO SHAPE.
FABRICATE & EXTEND 3 AFT FLOORS TO STARBOARD SIDE
OF SETTEE. APPLY A COVE RADIUS WIPE AROUND SETTEE, FLOORS
& FIBREGLASS REPAIRS. STAGGER 6 LAYER OF 600 CSM OUT 100MM
FROM FLOORS. RESET PLATE WASHER FOR AFT KEEL BOLTS
IN A BASE OF POLYESTER. REFIT & TENSION AFT 2 KEEL BOLTS.
SAND BACK GLASS WORK, VAC , WIPE DOWN & FLOW COAT REPAIRS.
GLUE BACK & GLASS DOWN FIBREGLASS CABIN SOLE. REFIT
FIT GREY WATER TANK & PLUMB UP WITH NEW HOSE CLAMPS.
REFIT SALOON TABLE. REFIT TEAK CABIN SOLE.

APPROVED EXTRA WORK:
EXTERNAL KEEL HUB REPAIR
REMOVE ANTIFOUL FORWARD OF KEEL HUB & AFT STARBOARD
SIDE. GRIND OUT GELCOAT & DELAMINATED FIBREGLASS.
LAY UP 3 LAYERS OF 6OO CSM TO REAR KEEL HUB. FILL
& FAIR REPAIR. STAGGER 6 LAYERS OF 600 CSM FORWARD
OF KEEL HUB. SAND BACK GLASS WORK. FILL, FAIR & PRIME
REPAIR. TOUCH UP ANTIFOUL.

The work was done by a reputable boat yard, and signed off by a reputable surveyor/boat builder.

I have 25yrs boating experience, but am a bit embarrassed to admit that this report dosent mean much to me.

If done properly, is a repair of this kind something to be overly worried about ? or should I be running a mile ? (Ive been told the repair makes it "better than a new one" ! - which made me instantly suspicious.)

Obviously, if I proceed I will be organising an independant surveyer to have a look.

Any thoughts ?

Cheers,
Craig.

[delmarrey]

Personally, I wouldn't buy a boat that had that kind of work unless I had been watching them do the job. And 60 man hours isn't a lot of time for what was said in the report.
I would have my own surveyor take a look at the report and then the work to get an opinion.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Personally, I wouldn't buy a boat that had that kind of work unless I had been watching them do the job. And 60 man hours isn't a lot of time for what was said in the report.
I would have my own surveyor take a look at the report and then the work to get an opinion.

No way would I consider that a pro repair. CSM means "chopped strand matt". This means they removed the very important structural tabbing between the hull and floors due to delam and replaced it with a matt only layup, which is unacceptable for structural use. Not sure what a keel "hub" is, but assuming they mean the keel stub, they did a matt only layup there too. I would guess this boat ran aground, hard. Which led to the delam of structural members and keel repairs. Sixty hours and some all matt layups is not even close to what would be required to make it right if that's the case. Start asking questions, seriously. Ask for pictures of the repair work and post them. Find out what caused the delam. Make sure a competent surveyor who knows the situation looks for more delam in bulkheads, stringers, and floors. If they had to cut their way in to get access to the delam, odds are they didn't get it all in 60 hours. Good luck, and caveat emptor!

[Bash]

60 hours? Was there a typo there somewhere?

[phorvati]

or a missing 0, more like 600 hours, and even that is not enough. So could this be the case of insurance going cheap and repairing the cheapest possible way, and the owner not knowing what was taking place?

[TopperHarley]

Great info thanks - I think Ill keep my distance, save $1000 on a survey, and move on to the next one !!

Cheers