Ashore for 15 years

[cagey]

My brother is asking for advice, and I thought a good spread of opinions from the forum is the best answer.
We live 400 mile apart so until he has found the boat he wants it would be silly to go across country on what might be a waste of time.
He is looking at a 30+ft fibreglass yacht, long keel encapsulated iron been resting on wooden blocks , she’s kept upright by scaffold poles, these don’t take any weight just stop it tipping over, other than rain she hasn’t seen water for at least 15 years. He is good with engines and he is happy the diesel is winterised properly.
What should I advise him to be aware of. If the boat passes the PBO survey I will go up and have a look with him, and if we’re happy find a surveyor.
I think the boat has only seen 10 years of sailing,my worry is that puts the boat in the right age for the “osmosis “ scare, what would 15 years of being ashore do to the pox.
Please be harsh, I feel awkward trying to help him but I don’t want to be responsible for him dropping some cash.
Thanks
Keith

 

[pvb]

Some more info would be useful. Is it a production boat? If so, what make/model? Or is it a home-build? Any idea why it's been ashore for so long?

 

[jwilson]

Years ashore all to the good from a hull point of view as long as properly chocked up and (important) the bilges have not been full of water.

 

[dunedin]

Years ashore all to the good from a hull point of view as long as properly chocked up and (important) the bilges have not been full of water.

….. but regular use and maintenance generally preferable for most of the boat gear and “systems”

 

[mrming]

Has the running rigging been installed the whole time? If so it could be due for renewal. Standing rigging should probably be renewed as a matter of course. Other than that the main issue will be weathering of the hull and decks and any fresh water ingress. 15 years of water ingress could be a disaster, but if it’s dry inside there might be remarkably little wrong.

 

[dankilb]

Our boat was ashore 5 years when we bought her - and another 2 since (which itself says something!).

As above… The hull, which does (did?!) have minor osmosis blisters and pox, has passively dried nicely. So at least any of that sort of glasswork, barrier coating, etc. can be done without worry about moisture post lift-out.

OTOH, very little else works (systems not just outdated - as they would be - but neglected and mostly knackered)!

Biggest issue for us was rain water ingress. Not tonnes. But enough to rot out the bottom 6 inches or so of all the bulkheads. That’s where most of the last 2 years had been spent (not helped by lockdowns).

So from our experience, check all bulkheads (and structural floors, engine bearers, or anything else with a wooden core).

The boat can look (and largely be) dry, but it doesn’t take much. I think it was only ever a few inches that did us (no staining to suggest she was left with water above the sole or anything near that bad). Plus it could’ve been any time in the past - in your case - 10 years!

But it doesn’t take much to set the rot going (in plywood at least). And my god - the combination of jigsaw-puzzle joinery and contorting yourself into the least accessible parts of the boat, usually while wielding an angle grinder, has been neither fun nor a particularly productive way to start our refit (or should I say ‘rescue’ - because that’s really what we’re talking about here!).

 

[jordanbasset]

Some more info and preferably pictures would help.

 

[Biggles Wader]

15 years ashore plus 10 years previous use makes the boat about 25 years old. Probably need to budget for a complete recommission of the rigging and deck gear(sails?) plus whatever needs doing down below. You say he is OK with the mechanical stuff so he can make his own decisions there. I suspect it needs to be cheap, very cheap, or it wont be worth the effort.

 

[davierobb]

We bought a boat in similar circumstances, it had been surveyed at £45k ish with many issues mentioned by the surveyor but not reflected in the price. We carried out our own survey and our list of fixes, worst case totalled £25k/£30k, in the end we spent about £30k. All the work was carried out by us and would have cost £1000s in labour to employ trades. The survey value after all the work was £50k.
We negotiated the purchase price down to £13k which with hindsight was the right price.
We spoke to a couple of different surveyors and they all agreed that their valuations don't reflect the amount of work/money a boat need spending on it. None of them could really give a reasonable explanation as to why. Bottom line is after 15 years on the hard then nearly everything will need replaced, you'll be lucky if the engine is salvageable. Assume the worst and offer accordingly.