Boat survey report, not great news! Opinions please

steve930

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 Dec 2015
Messages
157
Location
Weymouth/Dorchester
Visit site
I had a survey carried out on a Bavaria sportscruiser earlier in the week.

Whilst I've not yet received the full report the surveyor has informed me of some of the major findings. The one of most concern is cracking in the hull below the waterline, he thinks this may have been caused by either bad crane handling or trailer damage!


The surveyor is of the opinion that the cracks should be repaired before using the boat, I've spoken to one GRP repair man who's fully booked until may. I do have contact numbers for other people but I haven't spoken with them to see what their work schedules are like, given the time of year I'm guessing they could be just as busy

Knowing this what are everyone's thoughts, do I walk away or negotiate a sensible price & have the repairs carried out myself???
 
You not the first person recently to have a problem with a cracked Hull on a Bav .

Dustbin diagnosis allways seems to end up with an element of --- "dropped in the slings " .

Last chap ( DOAN -remember him ?) who raised the same issue --- upset a few on here '- the mods banned him and took down the post

Walk away
 
Last edited:
Who says it is major? You or the surveyor? And who is the surveyor..there are some skilled ones and some pretty useless ones.
The question is whether it is just the gel, or through to the GRP, and that probably can't be identified without grinding back. I think I would discuss with the seller- unless he already knew, he probably wants to know the story too.
 
How old is the boat? Where are the cracks? Is there any sign internally?

You do realise that anyone can pay to do a course and then call themselves a surveyor, don't you? If it was me and I wanted the boat I'd get a decent GRP firm like Destys to inspect. They did most of the hull repairs on Sealine S38s
 
Who says it is major? You or the surveyor? And who is the surveyor..there are some skilled ones and some pretty useless ones.
The question is whether it is just the gel, or through to the GRP, and that probably can't be identified without grinding back. I think I would discuss with the seller- unless he already knew, he probably wants to know the story too.

I didn't say the cracks were major. I used the term "major findings" to describe the surveyor's pre report findings, perhaps I should've used the phrase " bulletin points"

From what I know so far the cracked areas are covering an area of approx 1 metre by 200 mm on each side of the hull, so I'm guessing it probably looks like crazy paving!

The surveyor was nick vass, so I'm pretty confident in his opinion
 
Is it just crazing or deeper cracks? Was Nick concerned about them?

Knowing Nick if, during the survey, he identified area or areas of concern, he has the good grace to call the prospective owner during the survey. I take it that this was the case for the OP?

................and, for what it's worth, I'd be looking elsewhere for my MoBo fix.
 
At the moment I'm only guessing what the cracks are like

Until I get nick's full report & speak with him again I won't know for sure. His opinion thus far is that they can be repaired & should be repaired before using the boat
 
How old is the boat? Where are the cracks? Is there any sign internally?

You do realise that anyone can pay to do a course and then call themselves a surveyor, don't you? If it was me and I wanted the boat I'd get a decent GRP firm like Destys to inspect. They did most of the hull repairs on Sealine S38s

I'm not with Desty's any more so I don't know what their workload is at the moment, but Neil is very knowledgable and Stuart (who did all the Sealine hull repairs) is the best in the business, so get them to have a look before you walk away.
 
I had a survey carried out on a Bavaria sportscruiser earlier in the week.

Whilst I've not yet received the full report the surveyor has informed me of some of the major findings. The one of most concern is cracking in the hull below the waterline, he thinks this may have been caused by either bad crane handling or trailer damage!


The surveyor is of the opinion that the cracks should be repaired before using the boat, I've spoken to one GRP repair man who's fully booked until may. I do have contact numbers for other people but I haven't spoken with them to see what their work schedules are like, given the time of year I'm guessing they could be just as busy

Knowing this what are everyone's thoughts, do I walk away or negotiate a sensible price & have the repairs carried out myself???

Well I know what I'd do... plenty more boats, errr, fish, in the sea... :)
 
Quick update, I spoke to quite a few GRP repair firms who were all fully booked until late April/early may.

No doubt if they commenced work there's a high chance the damage could be worse than first thought, thus taking longer to complete.

I want a boat to use this season! So along with other considerations I've decided to walk away, so the hunt resumes
 
You not the first person recently to have a problem with a cracked Hull on a Bav .

Dustbin diagnosis allways seems to end up with an element of --- "dropped in the slings " .

Last chap ( DOAN -remember him ?) who raised the same issue --- upset a few on here '- the mods banned him and took down the post

Walk away

On a point of fact, Doan didn't have a cracked hull. He also went out of his way to throw as much mud as possible in the hope some stuck.
Jimmy the builder, if I remember correctly, was the forumite who highlighted that the 'repair' In Doans photo was in fact the wire holding the aft cabin blind.
 
Top