Nauticat 33

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MILLPOND

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I am looking at buying a 1989 Nauticat 33. Looks good superficially and has had the teak deck surveyed with no problems identified.

Does anyone know of any issues specific to these boats which I should look for prior to commissioning an expensive survey?

Thanks!
 
Welcome to the forum. If the boat has a wooden superstructure look very carefully for signs of rot - although I think 1989 is a GRP top. very well built, but they have lots of equipment for such a relatively small boat so you need to make sure everything works. Stratton Yachts are the UK representative and it might be worth giving them a call for advice on a surveyor who is familiar with the boats.
 
I guess you've already found the Nauticat Owners association (see here: http://www.nauticatassociation.co.uk/ ) and I would say well worth joining as there is a bucket load of information there. I've a Nauticat 39 but haven't kept up my membership because, in reality, its an association of Nauticat 33 owners which are by far the huge majority of the boats owned by the association members. There is also a US Yahoo Nauticat group which again is primarily N33 owners talking about their boats.
 
I've surveyed several Nauticat 33's in the last couple of months, one on the East Coast and another on the South Coast. Both had a few issues, but none serious. Look out for the following and feel free to PM me if I can provide any further information.

Rot on the wheelhouse roof
Teak lifting to the sides of the wheelhouse
Rot on the sliding wheelhouse door panels
Deck lifting in way of the cap shroud/lowers securing points
Foredeck lifting in way of the windlass
Upper rudder stock seal corrosion
Stress cracks in way of the winches on the wheelhouse roof
 
From hull 500 (circa 1978), the deck was a GRP moulding rather than timber construction, so you will be avoiding many of the problem areas in the early wooden-superstructure boats. You can never be too careful about the teak decks, however, especially if fastened using screws: every fastening is a potential leak point into the deck core.

The hull is pretty bulletproof, though: I've only seen one bad case of blistering, and that was a poorly-applied epoxy coating.
 
I know of one 33 that had the mast compression post mounted on top of the plywood sole. This is obviously bad practice. Check that the compression post is on firm footing that have not rotten .... and check that the deck isn't depressed in way of the mast .... but this shouldn't be a big expenditure anyway.

As for 33's ..... masses of room for the size, and will sail when wind is on the beam or further aft. When the wind is forward of the beam, motor-sailing is probably the only realistic option. Tends to roll in waves abaft the beam, and hence can be uncomfortable for the inexperienced.
 
Lovely boats though narrow which I guess doesn't help the rolling. Very loyal following with owners keeping individual boats for many years. You say the teak deck has been surveyed - by whom and when? It's just that you'll get no change from £7k if it needs replacing and if it's lead to waterlogged core you can add another £3k. I'm not suggesting it does have problems but it's worth paying a very competant surveyor to do a very thorough job of inspecting it. It it turns out to be a bad deck it would be less hassle to replace the engine.
 
If she is a MkII hull, she'll have a long fin and skeg profile underwater. If she's a Mk I, she'll have a long keel: if this is the case, watch out for the skeg at the aft end of the keel. It is a separate moulding, and quite lightly built (foam sandwich construction, while the rest of the hull is solid GRP). As a result, it is quite susceptible to grounding damage: I've seen a couple with part of the skeg missing, leaving the bottom of the rudder unsupported.
 
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