Marine Survey Findings

The marine survey was done by Bernie Feeney who goes by the business name Gulf of Maine Boat Surveyors. Bernie has positive comments on his reviews and was recommended by a few locals.

Significant Findings

Bernie left a note with significant findings of the survey. The worst news is at the end of the list.

1. Toe rail and rub rails need attention. Rub rails have broken scarf joints. Other minor woodwork needed.

2. The bilge pump float sticks. This needs to be fixed. It might involve no more than soaping up to lubricate but at worst new switch.

3. Inside the cabin both aft lower chain plates and the top bolt show signs of water running down them and discoloration. The recommendation is to remove the top bolt and inspect. Depending on condition either just clean up the chainplate and bolt or replace the entire set of bolts on each of these two chain plates one by one.

4. The forward cabin door sticks. This could go away when the boat is in the water and the hull no longer stressed by the blocks under the keel failing and pressure on the stands.

5. The wash down pump wiring uses household twist connections. These should be replaced with marine crimped but joints with shrink seal and adhesive. This is very easy to do.

6. Cockpit drain seacocks are stuck. Bernie recommends WD40 or similar on exterior and maybe down drain to break it loose. Once loose, work the seacocks until they move freely. Bernie does not recommend forcing it with pipe extension on the handle except as last resort. This should be done before launch.

7. There is oil seapage below the back of the valve cover. Bernie suggests first tighten the valve cover bolts (but not overtighten) and clean up, then if still getting wet it will need a valve cover gasket.

8. There is high moisture on both side decks and separation of the skin from the core. At least 5-6 feet will need to be cut out, maybe 8, but likely not 10 feet. This needs to be taken care of.

The last item is very significant. It will cost an estimated $5,000 to $6,000 to repair (or possibly more depending on how extensive the damage is).

The final survey report arrived just prior to purchase. There were no surprises in the changes made after the sea trial.

Having worked with Bernie, I can now join the set of people recommending him for a marine survey. His schedule at this time is tightly booked but patience pays off as he is very thorough.

Deck Condition and Sidedeck Repairs

The hull and deck were moisture tested and sounded with a plastic hammer. The hull is solid fiberglass. The entire hull, both above and below the waterline, showed no significant moisture content and sounded out well. The is slight oilcanning on the port side, mostly aft, which had already been noticed.

There was some variation in moisture reading on the cabintop and fordeck but the variation was small and the cabintop and fordeck sounded out fine. The sidedecks near the chainplates on both sides had very high moisture readings in places and sounding the sidedecks revealed that the skin had separated from the coring material in places.

Planned Deck Repair

As a result of the marine survey sidedeck repair and related work was done by Rick Richardson of Richardson's Marine Services in Chatham, MA.