Westerly Ocean Ranger Squeeky Deck

[rivertest]

Hi

Went to look at a very tidy teak decked 96 Oceanranger today with a view to buying. Things were looking good until I wandered down the side decks and noticed they creaked about a foot in-front of the shrouds where they enter the deck. It was the same both sides but after a few judicious jumps and tape dancing the squeaking went away. There was definitely no signs of the teak moving and wood and caulking looked very up and together, as did the rest of the original decking. So, the question is, is it the glass underneath the teak creaking or the teak decking moving slightly. I wonderd if anyone out there had sailed/owned on an Oceanranger and noticed anything like it. I've sailed boats before that made the same sort of noise and they were fibreglass decked, Sadler 32, Hurley 22. Not too worried if its the fibreglass moving a bit, more concerned if its the teak and obviously will be very happy if someone says they've owned a OR for years and its always done it.
Oh yes, and it goes without saying that should I decide to purchase I will get the vessel surveyed.

Thanks as always for any help and advice.

R.T.

 

[Tranona]

Run!

That age of boat is just coming into the deck failure zone. The movement is almost certianly the teak cladding starting to part company from the GRP. Replacement on that size boat is £30k+, so you don't want to be holding the parcel when that needs doing.

 

[rivertest]

Progress

Thanks Tranona, but I don't give up that easily and I do believe there is a lot of scared people out there regarding teak decks. Most of the fear justified of course :0)

However, following on from my discovery, the owner, agent and myself did a bit of further investigation. Which was basically jumping up and down in the relevant areas and giving the teak deck a good tapping with a rubber mallet. We found that it was the window that was squeaking. We removed the coaming window, including the frame, and repeated manic jumping up and down again. The squeaking disappeared, although we could see a very and I mean very small movement at the bottom of the window appeture. Replacing the window frame, after lubricating the seal, cured the problem.

Anyone got any comments?

Full buyers boat survey scheduled for the 1st October.

 

[CPD]

I am no expert on this subject and I applaud you for your digging and finding the source of the problem. Teak decks certainly look the business however I think I have come to regard them a little as cottages with a thatched roof, but in the boat sense, it is likely that the replacement thatch will cost a much higher proportion of the assett value than if it were a house. Do a search on the East Coast Forum on Guapa, year before last. It was a nightmare for him and cost a small fortune. Good luck with it if you go ahead.