Meter Readings

[GST]

I'm looking at buying a boat and have had access to an old survey of 2000 this is great but the figures that were given for the moisture readings were 0-3 topsides and 0-5 for below the water. I don't know what meter was used and for certain they used hypens not dots. Anyone got any ideas? The other problem is that the boat is on a swinging mooring so if I survey her the readings will be wonky anyway. Is it true that if I get some readings done from the inside they will be more reliable, i.e. suspended on the travel hoist soaking wet.

Thanks
Glyn

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[Ben_e_Toe]

A four-year old survey sounds unliekly to give you a reassuring feeling that the hull is OK, so I would recommend a new survey (I'm not a surveyor myself though!).

As to whether you can pull out the boat and take readings, I gather that depends somewhat on the age of the boat and the constitution of the gelcoat. Most vessels in the last 10 years have gel coats made from Isophalic resins which are far less impervious than the older resins and so should absorb less moisture in the first place. That said you would need to keep the hull out for some time to allow the water mosiuture to evaporate to be sure that any 'moisture' readings are in fact glycols and breakdown products rather than water. I believe that testing from the inside is an option and that it negates some of the water moisture prblems, but 1) many hulls have some or most of sub-water line covered with reinforecements or fittings, 2) some meters, e.g. Tramex, can detect moisture through 5mm of GRP witout degredation of results.


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