Buying a Rampart 48, need some advice please

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gilbertM

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So I've found the boat (in Spain), agreed the price and been out there this week to spend a couple of days with the surveyor, some questions:

1) The survey seems ok, apart from the teak deck needs work, it's leaking where it's nailed down and the plugs are coming out - is there some way I can correct this or do I need a new deck? The surveyor reckons it might be salvageable for 5-10 years but is not sure, the deck looks ok, it was re-corked 2 years ago - originally laid in the early eighties. A newdeck would cost a fortune....

2 I need to get it back to the UK, had a quote for £4,500 & VAT for a lorry from Aardvark in Exeter, this seems pretty good to me, any comments?

3 I want to keep it on the Hamble, though not too sure of which marina, recommendations - Port Hamble will be around £10,000, however I think this may be a little too noisy for my 'retreat'

4 I've agreed the price and paid my 10% deposit, if it turns out that the survey finds lots of work, is it normal to renegotiate? The contract says that I can.

Finally, any general comments on Ramparts gratefully received.

Thanks very much,

Gilbert
 
Deck sounds a bit dodgy - you could pull all the plugs and fixings, remove it then re-lay it, but it's so much work you may be better off getting a new deck laid, rather than sticking down old (worn thin) planking.
Have had lots of boats delivered to us by Aardvark - they've never been a problem, always very professional, and very securely loaded. As for competitive price, get a few quotes and go with a reasonable one. Renegotiate by all means - when I found the engines on my boat weren't all they were cracked up to be (I got a seperate engine survey for a very reasonable £50) - I was able to negotiate the price down from the original £21000 to £14000!
 
Brilliant, thanks for that.

Just spoken to an engineer who has looked at the engines for me - needs a new water pump and alternator on the starboard engine, other than that ok.

Will get more advice on the deck from a local builder.

Tanks for the help - appreciated.
 
Ramparts are good boats, in my book.

The deck may not be an insoluble problem; there are a range of fixes for older teak decks and "Mirelle"'s 69 year old original deck is still there, refastened, under six coats of Coelan, which is one solution.
 
1. Mirelle is right about there being solutions for older teak decks. However, I had one inch teak on quarter inch ply which meant that tracking the source of the leaks was difficult. The problem is the damage underneath from the fresh water that's leaked through - guess though there's not much of that in Spain? I found I had to replace a number of half beams and half of the starboard beam shelf. I couldn't get the old teak up (average of one and three quarter hours to remove each plug and screw) but then the fastenings were in v poor condition. So I didn't put teak back down. Where are the leaks you know about - between the covering board and gunwale? If so I would be worried about fresh water damage to the beam shelf. On TG there were clues to this; obvious signs of dampness to the copper fastenings and some mustiness if you got your nose right up under the deck. I would have thought it was worth talking someone who knows about teak decks into a cheap flight to Spain.

2. I paid £500 to have TG brought from Salcombe to Maldon in 1991 (£1 a mile return - Exonia were the people), so that quote doesn't look bad.

3. Why on earth would you want to keep a boat like that in the Hamble? (Sorry ignore me - been there, thought it was awful)

Dad had a 31ft Rampart back in the late 50's. Lovely boat, currently being rebuilt up at Boston. Class act.
 
A teak deck in Spain will suffer from the sun and misstreatmentWhen you retern to the uk youll need a deck to keep the rain out!If its a laid deck leaks will leak if its been laid on ply then it will rot!

If its been repaired the screws may not have been sealed with cotton or sikaflex in which case you will heve direct water injection to the ply laminate!

Dig a bit of the calking out if its like ??umm well if its sikaflex polyurathen then its no good if its heavy less chewing gum??UUM hard to find an example but it has to be the heavy less elastic but very strechy polysulfide 2 component with calking cotten in the grove its ok and fixable!
 
Thanks for all the advice - much appreciated.

The boat you show is the one I'm buying! Just got the survey report:

Decks
The deck framing is constructed of laminated iroko deck beams joined to a solid iroko beam shelf. The framing is substantial and in very good condition with no signs of decay or softening of the timber found.

A plywood sub-deck and teak planking have been attached to the deck beams with bronze Gripfast annular nails. Tapered planks rather than a king plank have been used giving the decks a somewhat low quality appearance. Several planks on the foredeck have split and been repaired with caulking material.

Although the decks are visually in good condition, the teak planking has worn to a degree where the heads of the nails are no more than two millimetres below the surface of the planks. Many of the plugs are starting to fall out exposing the nail heads. Water will freely run down the nails soaking the sub-deck and eventually enter the vessel. In fact, water ingression was found in one place in each of the three cabins. The pillow in the forward cabin has been stained by water dripping from the deck head.

Ample plank thickness and depth in the caulking grooves remains. If screws had been used instead of nails, they could have been removed and buried deeper into the planks extending the life of the decks for many years. In my experience, the annular nails will be very difficult to remove without breaking off the heads. Devices for removing nails are available although I have not found one that can remove Gripfast nails without damaging the surrounding timber. In other words, complete replacement of the teak planking and possibly parts of the sub-deck will be required in within a few years.

The board covering the stem head starboard side is missing leaving the end grain of the stem exposed. The stem must be dried and the board replaced.

Recommendation

1. All the exposed nail heads must be plugged

Now I need to get a quote and also try and work out how many years until a new deck is required.

Thanks for the ongoing help.
 
I quite like Hamble, it's not too far from London (where I work - I'm intending to live aboard for a few days each week) and I do a lot of sail racing so it's handy for that..... Agreed I would rather be in the West Country (on the Dart for example), however it's just too far away
 
She's a handsome beast; she must be one of the last Ramparts built. If she is as sound as described, why not sail her home, or pay a delivery crew to do so. 1500 miles at, mebbe 10kts or so, should give ~30l/h, which is ~6 days steaming and ~4000 litres of diesel. Hmm, maybe not a money saver, but you would get to know your boat REALLY WELL! That would be a nice delivery, even at this time of year.

cheers,
David
 
Thanks, yes I understand she is the last - built '81, commisioned '84.

I considered sailing her home, maybe through the canals, however the cst difference is not too big and I don't want to risk her - having a full exterior job done in Spain and don't want to potentially spoil that so soon!!!
 
Nice looking boat!

No idea about the deck, I suspect the only way for anyone to really know is to start pulling part of it up........and the Vendor probably won't allow that!

Quite normal to at least try and haggle after a survey, I am sure your surveyor can find at least 1 or 2 things to bargain over!, "subject to survey" basically means you get to withdraw and your money back if she is not as described / something wroing is revealed that only a Survey could show which was not obvious or previously disclosed. (of course it can be "open to question" exactly what "not good enough" is!)
 
Nice boat!

If your coming to the Hamble you might try Peter Foukes at Swanwick for a quote on any wood work, he's really good and fair priced, its a good boat yard, one of only two on the river actively servicing wooden boats.

I'd think how long it is before a new deck is required is wholly dependant on how good a job is done now of sealing up the plugs.

With a boat like that an all over winter cover would be a worthwhile investment, there's a biggish Bates at the Foulkes yard, he has a all over winter cover and it makes a big difference, I'm quite envious of his cover in truth!
 
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