Howdy,

I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some
damage to keel and needs repair. It is almost 30yo so I am afraid that
any damage
to fiberglass might have fractured a bit more than "a hairline crack"
as owner describes.
I have a lot of experience in sailing but none in boat ownership or
repair - how expansive
is is repairing fiberglass keel? What are the costs of dry-dock/
workspace? Is it something
that can be done by a beginner (assuming I can have help from a very
experienced
carpenter/builder)?
Thanks for any pointers/info,

JT

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:32:27 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

Thanks for any pointers/info

It depends on what the damage is and what is behind the crack.

If it is just a hairline crack in the surface gel coat, then it's not
hard to fix if you have some patience and can work with epoxy fillers.
Basically, it's a question of widening the crack a little, then
filling with epoxy (like Marine Tex), smoothing and repainting if you
are keeping it in the water.

The real question is if that is the only problem. You might want to
consider having the boat surveyed to determine if there are other
problems caused by this "crack".

Have you seen the boat?

On Oct 29, 5:11 am, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Have you seen the boat?
Thanks for reply.
No - I have not seen it yet - that offer just came up last
night. I may drive to marina today see how the rest of the
boat looks like. We had bad drought here in Central Texas
and lakes were very very low for most of last year. That is
when boat was damaged. Taking into account that there are are
few places where there are submerged reinforced concrete blocks
on the bottom of the lake it is easy to cause a lot more damage
to a boat then running it into some sandy shallows.

JT

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:32:27 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some
damage to keel and needs repair. It is almost 30yo so I am afraid that
any damage
to fiberglass might have fractured a bit more than "a hairline crack"
as owner describes.

The price on a 30 year old, 24 ft sailboat with keel damage should be
close to *free*. There are lots of undamaged boats of that size and
vintage for very reasonable prices.

The advice to have a surveyor look at it is good. You might also be
able to get a repair estimate from a boat yard which would give you
some idea how extensive the damage is.

All that said, most sailboats, especially older ones, were built to
withstand a hard grounding once in a while. It may be usable the way
it is, or with only minor cosmetic repair. If it is a boat with a
cored hull (as opposed to solid fiberglass) there is a high
probability of major damage. That's a walkaway in my opinion.

On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.

What brand is it?
I agree with the two posters so far, find a surveyor and/or get a yard
estimate. Keel damage is usually repairable but .....
You might also want to post this on rec.boats.building. There is some
good advice over there by some folks that won't see your message here.

Rick

On Oct 29, 10:38 am, wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.

What brand is it?
I agree with the two posters so far, find a surveyor and/or get a yard
estimate. Keel damage is usually repairable but .....
You might also want to post this on rec.boats.building. There is some
good advice over there by some folks that won't see your message here.

Rick

Bayliner Buccaneer. To be quite honest with you guys - I was not
actively looking for a boat - right now I have a friend with boat
that occasionally needs a helping hand to sail it - and that seems
like a better solution. But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.
Thanks for the info!

JT

Woland99 wrote:
On Oct 29, 10:38 am, wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.
What brand is it?
I agree with the two posters so far, find a surveyor and/or get a yard
estimate. Keel damage is usually repairable but .....
You might also want to post this on rec.boats.building. There is some
good advice over there by some folks that won't see your message here.

Rick

Bayliner Buccaneer. To be quite honest with you guys - I was not
actively looking for a boat - right now I have a friend with boat
that occasionally needs a helping hand to sail it - and that seems
like a better solution. But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.
Thanks for the info!

JT


I had no idea Bayliner made a sailboat. Another one of those you learn
something new every day.

On Mon, 29 Oct 07, Woland99 wrote:
I have an offer to buy (very cheaply) a 24' keel fiberglass sailboat
that has some damage to keel and needs repair.

Phantman wrote:
What brand is it?

Woland99 wrote:
Bayliner Buccaneer. To be quite honest with you guys - I was not
actively looking for a boat - right now I have a friend with boat
that occasionally needs a helping hand to sail it - and that seems
like a better solution.

Knowing only what I know so far, I would agree with your assesment.
Unless you're looking for a project boat to play with, even after
you've spent a lot of time, effort, and money, you'll end up with not
much to show for it except maybe experience.
-shrug- Just my 2 cents.

Rick

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:00:47 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.

Not free enough. It's probably a negative value boat, meaning that it
will cost more to fix than it is worth. There are a lot of negative
value boats out there, but that one is particularly suspect.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:00:47 -0000, Woland99
wrote:

But since price was almost free ~ $1000
range I thought I could investigate it a bit.

Not free enough. It's probably a negative value boat, meaning that it
will cost more to fix than it is worth. There are a lot of negative
value boats out there, but that one is particularly suspect.

You forgot to mention how much it will cost him to dispose of the boat
if he buys it and then realizes it is not worth fixing it.

It is common to see people trying to giving away boats just so they
won't have pay the trash man.