rotten 41ft yacht in chichester

She has been next to the loos by S pontoon for about a year. The gashes are quite spectacular, but seemed repairable. There are also a couple of other plates welded on, but AIR, there was failure nearby or on the repairs. Apart from that, not too bad - if you are good welder. The rest of her is not that bad & someone could end up with a bargain.

Di
 
It looks as though someone has ground the coatings away working out from the holes to find good metal and then ground the edge area of a proposed patch to see if the metal is good. However the holes nearby suggest that the patches are going to join up! The thing will look like the bumpiest old workboat you have ever seen. If they cut out the metal and butt weld the patches in to make it fair it will be a long job and probably need stripping inside.
On the basis that simple jobs will always turn into bigger ones this is a big job that will turn into a money pit.
 
That is exactly what someone has done with a boat in Northney. I speak with the owner regularly. 10 years ago we had our boat next to his for our grit blasting and coppercoating. At that point the interior or his boat had been removed and whole sheets of steel plate were being welded into position. It is due to be launched later this year, it is now a fine looking well put together world girdler.
 
Agree with money pit comments, been there, done that, with another 42ft round chine steel boat also built in Holland and funnily enough did it at Northney close to boat mentioned above.

First thing I'd do would be to get a foot by foot metal (ultrasonic?) survey done before deciding if it's doable. Covering boat or put in shed, stripping out innards to get to steel to do properly probably needs to be done along with getting steel rolled, checking frames, mast step and then putting all back together etc etc - then there's parking fees - I estimated 18 months took 3 years - boat mentioned above 10 years at say £3000pa - soon mounts up - oh it's got a teak deck (how old) but we won't go there !

Guesstimate £30-£50k
 
It's getting old for a steel yacht. A serious ultrasound survey would be needed on the hull and you could easily be horrified at the amount of steel that needs replacing. I'm not saying that it's worth running away from straight away but definitely get to know what you're in for before buying it. If I was interested in it I'd contact the owner and put in an offer subject to survey rather than buying it off ebay.
 
WestWittering said:
She has been next to the loos by S pontoon for about a year. The gashes are quite spectacular, but seemed repairable. There are also a couple of other plates welded on, but AIR, there was failure nearby or on the repairs. Apart from that, not too bad - if you are good welder. The rest of her is not that bad & someone could end up with a bargain.

Di
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I noticed it when I was wandering round the marina a couple of months ago. It looks like there are quite a few previous repairs to the hull, so I think that someone would have to be very brave or dedicated to take it on.
 
Im going by the photos but it seems the whole hull below the water line is corroded I can only think either no anodes fitted or wrong type.they did used to make hulls out of 3mm steel but if it was high carbon steel that might be why its so rotten.the last boat I rebottomed was a tug which was used at a dock where chemicals were imported that had severe rot but five weeks later it was done. I'd made a tent around it got a mig going and got bored welding sheet every day
Its going to be a scrapper for some one with a new hull
 
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Steel boats tend to rot from the inside when not used and water collects inside.

A local steel yacht went aground by me and when re floated leaked like a sieve due to all the rust that was shaken loose inside.
 
If an ultrasound is done make sure that it only takes account of the metal some ultrasound kit adds the paint thickness. It also has some corrosion under the toe rail from the rust streaks. It seems cheap enough to restore.
 
Well, her new owner & friends have masses of work on her - she is being re-launched today and is off via Brighton to the East Coast.

She was worth the money for the gear alone!

Di
 
Yes worth it for the gear, and if the hull is not worth fixing then at least steel can be easily cut up and weighed in, unlike "frozen snot"
 
It depends on the facilties available, a yard which repairs steel hulls all day, every day could have her fit for a circumnavigation in a few hours..
 
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