Water in the hulls - a foam sandwich dilemma

[syscode]

A boat I am looking to buy has small amount of water in both hulls.

The owner says the wetness comes after rain. He never got around fixing it, since it never bothered him. (really not much wetness - but it bothers me.)

The hulls are foam sandwich.
They were built very thin for racing at the end of the 90's.
(The catamaran comes with daggerboards btw.)

Current owner sanded original hulls and thickened the waterline areas with carbon fibre layers.
he got the boat around 8 years ago.

The owner claims the hatches might let some water in since the wetness follows rain.

How wrong of me to suspect the hull build?

If indeed the whole wetness question is nothing but my ignorance -
i might miss a bit of a bargain.

In case the wetness is indeed an issue - it seems moving on might save a head ache..

The price, a few 1000's GBP, makes me feel a bit reluctant getting a surveyor in.


Any ideas?

Cheers!

 

[RivalRedwing]

walk away, its very easy to buy a boat, not so easy to sell it later, espcially if it has issues,,,

 

[PeteCooper]

Is the water fresh or salt?

 

[Sandy]

I'd be getting my running shoes on, well my Zimmer frame with go faster stripes.

 

[syscode]

Many thanks!
Hard to tell the water flavour.
Not very salty by any means - however, the boat sits on a river + if indeed just rain water, there should be some salt around the hatched.
Cheers!

 

[vyv_cox]

It seems to me that if the owner suspected it to be a major problem he would have wiped the water up before you viewed. To me a small amount of water inside the boat is not a disaster, these things happen. If the rest of the boat is to your liking I would not let a little dampness put me off.

 

[Wansworth]

First thing I check are the bilges,one boat did have salty water in the bilge not a lot,but then you get thinking where does it come from,keel bolts keel to hull bond……it’s still for sale at lower price……..old wooden boats always had a bit of salty water in the bilge,the they actually had bilges and not flat fllors

 

[oldbloke]

If it is what you want and its not a lot of money, and you think you can look after it, then buy it. A 25 Yr old lightweight cat is going to be an ongoing project as things will continuously break and fall off. Any holes or cracks will be easily fixed unless it's going the whole Team Phillips.

 

[RivalRedwing]

It seems to me that if the owner suspected it to be a major problem he would have wiped the water up before you viewed. To me a small amount of water inside the boat is not a disaster, these things happen. If the rest of the boat is to your liking I would not let a little dampness put me off.

If the seller had any common sense then the water would not have been there on viewing whether a major or minor issue

 

[vyv_cox]

If the seller had any common sense then the water would not have been there on viewing whether a major or minor issue

Indeed, but I have viewed boats that looked like tips, stove almost invisible under layers of grease, dirty water in the sink, toilet disgusting.

 

[Boathook]

Is the deck foam cored as well. I would be wary if it only gets wet after rain.

 

[Neeves]

It might help, or not, if you tell us what cat it is. Lots of cats have been built 'for lightness' and then they might have very few hatches. Hatches can leak, just read some of the comments on modern yacht build. It is not difficult to remove some hatches and re-bed. A few thousand of stg is not very useful, my idea of a few will be different to yours. Similarly water in the bilges might simply be poorly installed or unattended, old, hatches - its whether its 'lots', such a useless term or a little (or water). As mentioned the current owner does not seem concerned as he did not bother to wipe it up prior your visit.

As Vyv recounts we too looked at a number of cats before contracting having a new one built. One cat had the saloon table removed, another had 2 heads one of which was filled with reeking laundry, another had 3 generations of wiring and not a wire labelled.

I'm intrigued by the owner buying a lightweight cat (apparently built for performance) and then he beefed up the waterline with carbon fibre (a performance material, if its part of the original design but unusual as a patch), its expensive and not as straight forward as glass to work with).

The fact the build is foam cored is just a diversion unless its delaminated, test with a small hammer. Our 38' cat was foam cored above the waterline and simply glass below, we had her for over 20 years with no issues.

Jonathan

 

[srm]

If it is what you want and its not a lot of money, and you think you can look after it, then buy it. A 25 Yr old lightweight cat is going to be an ongoing project as things will continuously break and fall off. Any holes or cracks will be easily fixed unless it's going the whole Team Phillips.

An Australian bought a lightweight cat - 2 hulls and "pilot house" with sitting headroom slung between the hulls - in the Azores.
He spent all of last summer working on it.
Returned this spring, worked on it, sailed it to mainland Portugal and is still working on it. Has yet to get it to a yard where they can remove the mast to replace the forestay. . . . . . . . .

 

[lusitano]

You also need to know if the core is open or closed cell foam - If it is open, then it certainly won,t be "lightweight" anymore.

 

[syscode]

Many thanks for the suggestions.
---
I am surprised the water was there untreated. Since it is a small 24ft catamaran, it also surprised me to see a bilge pump in each hull.
The seller says the pumps come from previous owner, and that he never used either pump.
-----
I really don't fancy fixing boats, perhaps should look for something slightly more expensive and less historically troubled - maybe both
Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[Neeves]

We had bilge pumps, one, in each hull (cat), both electric

Electric bilge pumps cost peanuts - I'm not quite sure why you would rely on one for the whole, 2 hulled, yacht. Our pumps were never used.

We, also, had one manual bllge pump, with a long hose. The hose would stretch to each extremity. We never had need to use the manual pump.


You did not mention 'historically' troubled.

You did mention leaking hatches ..... remove hatches, remove old sealant, clean surfaces carefully, re-apply new sealant, screw down, when sealant cured give each screws half a turn to compress - go sailing.... smile

Why not tell us the manufacturer of the cat...... Be really original..... post a picture

Jonathan

 

[syscode]

We had bilge pumps, one, in each hull (cat), both electric

Electric bilge pumps cost peanuts - I'm not quite sure why you would rely on one for the whole, 2 hulled, yacht. Our pumps were never used.

We, also, had one manual bllge pump, with a long hose. The hose would stretch to each extremity. We never had need to use the manual pump.


You did not mention 'historically' troubled.

You did mention leaking hatches ..... remove hatches, remove old sealant, clean surfaces carefully, re-apply new sealant, screw down, when sealant cured give each screws half a turn to compress - go sailing.... smile

Why not tell us the manufacturer of the cat...... Be really original..... post a picture

Jonathan

hi.
yes. a bit unclear regarding why some-one will bother fitting in electric bilge pumps in both hulls.

Not really sure who made the one i am looking at.
Generally, a strider 24. from the 90's. this one has a few modifications with a wider beam, a hard plywood cockpit (??) area, and the initial grp hulls got some carbon fibre top-up in the 10's
If i get the boat, will also have some pics

 

[shanemax]

I borrowed a mooring last night (ropes covered in growth so no one coming back) in Harwich harbour 20 meters from a yellow seal tour boat. The bilge pump was going off every five minutes pumping out two of three litres of water. There was no phone number on the boat so I could not do much. I just hope it has a good battery. I could not see a solar panel but I expect there is one ???????

 

[Mark-1]

a strider 24.

 

[dunedin]

A bit like this then … Woods Strider 24 for sale UK, Woods boats for sale, Woods used boat sales, Woods Sailing Yachts For Sale Strider Club Sailing Catamaran - Apollo Duck

Perhaps you need a bit more experience before investing. For example, bilge pumps in each hull would be a requirement for any new build cat (other than day sailers / racers) to get CE certification, so should not be a surprise.