So, would I be nuts to buy a boat with osmosis?

[smth448]

The boat itself looks fine as a cruiser as it was built before the IOR started to get really extreme with flexible fractional rigs. The narrow stern will make it a bit twitchy and rolly down wind. It will go upwind like a witch though.
If you are moving to the boat it could well be a worthwhile investment. It will probably be solidly built and once the osmosis is sorted out should be a first class boat. Either way I would have it professionally checked beforehand to make sure you do not end up buying a complete lemon.
If you had to ship it the 5000 miles it would not be worth it but if its only going to be 300 miles away then that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[penfold]

It's not a Swan 37, but yes, it could still fetch twice that in the UK.

On the subject of suspiciously cheap boats, I quite fancy this:
http://uk.yachtworld.com/boats/1991/Americas-Cup-Esp5-1984194/Germany
Of course, once you've spent a night or two in a marina, it'd start to look expensive. Classy though.

It is a Swan 37, it's a badge engineered one for the US market.

 

[BurnitBlue]

I spend about five minutes every day thinking that my next boat should be made of steel. Especially after a forum series of osmosis posts.

Then I think of the constant scraping and painting. Then I switch back to GRP and relax for another day.

However, if I was buying a boat at a distance I would prefer a surveyed steel boat to a GRP one because it would be quicker to repair if the surveyer missed anything.

I know nothing about steel Boats and I have never had a GRP boat with osmosis.

So if I were you I would ignore what I have just written.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Osmosis. Also known as Fibreglass Rust.

 

[zarathustra]

this Nautor Swan 37 would be worth upward of £30k even in sheddy condition in the UK. Unfortunately for the owner it's in Hawaii, so he's struggling to get interest at half that.

Why do you say its a Nautors Swan, who designed and built the boat? I did a quick websearch and couldn't find any info linking it to Swan. Don't all swans have the timber decks? Wouldn't an 11m 1974 Swan be asking for over 50k?

By coincidence here is a 1972 Swan of same size also in Honolulu, recently reduced!
http://uk.yachtworld.com/boats/1972/Swan--1986430/United-States

 

[Zagato]

Can you always get boat insurance if it has osmosis? Is there for instance a cut off point with regards to high moisture readings when they will not insure it?

 

[penfold]

Why do you say its a Nautors Swan, who designed and built the boat? I did a quick websearch and couldn't find any info linking it to Swan. Don't all swans have the timber decks? Wouldn't an 11m 1974 Swan be asking for over 50k?

This explains it. The PJ version may have differed in spec slightly, but it's the same basic boat.

Editted to add; on closer inspection I have blundered as the one I linked to is a dutch designed Standfast copy. I don't know whether PJ did the building or just bought from Standfast and rebadged them like the Swans. Less wellknown, but still a £30+k boat in the UK.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Can you always get boat insurance if it has osmosis? Is there for instance a cut off point with regards to high moisture readings when they will not insure it?

Moisture readings can not be used to determine if a boat has Osmosis aka hydrolysis. The GRP may just have raised moisture levels, hence insurance companies do not, in so far as I know, worry about raised moisture levels. However, an insurance company may insist on remedial work if a surveyor states that it is required.

I understand that moisture level indications are so open to interpretation due to the many sources of moisture that the results can be considered only as indicative i.e. 2 boats with the same moisture reading may have very different levels of Osmosis. However, this opinion has only been made after looking at various internet search results. So, it may be a damp squib.

Ubergeekians post on this thread eludes to the self serving industry that has built up around this phenomenon.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

As explained to me by somebody in the boatyard industry

Think of osmosis as like acne, not cancer.

How advanced it is will determine how much treatment is required, and how well it is treated will determine how much scarring it leaves afterwards.

 

[zarathustra]

Thanks for the replies. It's an '77 Ericson 34X - a fairly well respected, ostensibly decently built boat originating in the US.

Here is a 34footer in USA which looks a great price to me, if you are prepared to work on the interior, and probably a more pleasant project than tackling osmosis. 10k more than your Ericson, but a fine looking boat that would surely be asking a larger price in Europe.

http://uk.yachtworld.com/boats/1984/X-yachts-X-102-2206946/United-States

 

[armchairsailor]

Sweet boat, but sale pending and on the other side of a continent!

 

[zarathustra]

Is Waukegan on your side of the continent

http://uk.yachtworld.com/boats/1987/Dehler-Optima-101-2197540/United-States

 

[armchairsailor]

Err, no. Anyway, I'm a tight barsteward and couldn't justify that sort of money on a boat. Sadly....

 

[Boo2]

Is Waukegan on your side of the continent

http://uk.yachtworld.com/boats/1987/Dehler-Optima-101-2197540/United-States

As a matter of interest, is it possible to sail a boat to the sea from there (Milwaukee, Lake Michigan) ?

Boo2

 

[zarathustra]

As a matter of interest, is it possible to sail a boat to the sea from there (Milwaukee, Lake Michigan) ?

Boo2

I am not certain, but I think you can get to the ocean by 3 routes from the Great Lakes, The Saint Lawrence Seaway can take you to the North Atlantic, The Illinois river and then canal to Mississipi river can take you to the Gulf of Mexico. And also canal to the Hudson river takes you to New York. Ice affects the lakes.

Now I may very well be wrong on all that.