[Public-List] Surveying older boats? Determining if they are seaworthy...

[George Dinwiddie]

Randy,

You want a surveyor who remembers the dread polyestermite. Newer resins 
are not susceptible to this boring pest, and newer surveyors may not be 
aware of it.

There's an article about the problem in 
http://archive.cyca.com.au/media/3437938/offshore-june-1973.pdf in case 
your surveyor needs an education.

  - George

On 8/28/20 10:53 AM, Randy Katz via Public-List wrote:
> Greetings, Fellow A-30 Owners,
> 
> I've written recently because an interested party is having an
> insurance person inspect the bottom of my 1967 A-30 next Wednesday to
> determine if it's insurable. If not, no sale.
> 
> Someone during the insurance discussion mentioned being sure the inspector
> has experience with older boats. What about that? What difference, I
> wonder, would one allow for a boat being older?
> 
> I know of two methods of hull assessment. One is tapping the entire surface
> with a plastic hammer to listen to the sound and being sure there are no
> "soft spots." The other method could be the dreaded moisture meter, which
> seems to offer wildly varying outcomes depending on the type of instrument
> and experience of the user.
> 
> While the boat had around 10 blisters 20 years ago, since ground out and
> epoxied, I know the hull to be sound and the survey back then confirmed it.
> I guess no one knows this for sure, but what will be the ultimate fate of
> 50+ yr. old fiberglass? Does it eventually develop soft spots & at some
> point fail? Does that make it wise to check each year in order to avoid
> surprises? Or does the stuff simply last and last and last?
> 
> Alberg owners, who possess some of the oldest fiberglass hulls around, are
> among the pioneers with regard to this experience. I suppose some of us
> will be around to witness and learn from the final outcome.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Randy Katz
> #249 Simple Gifts
> Bellingham/Seattle

-- 
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   When I remember bygone days                         George Dinwiddie
   I think how evening follows morn;            gdinwiddie at alberg30.org
   So many I loved were not yet dead,           http://www.Alberg30.org
   So many I love were not yet born.                          also see:
                'The Middle' by Ogden Nash     http://idiacomputing.com
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