Noise when turning laser over?

I'm looking at a boat to buy. The boat has been stored upside down all the time Iv'e been told. When we turned it upright heard some noise. The guy said that this was normal and that that was the floatation devices in the hull. Is that right? Also the boat has no more shine on the bottom which may be due to soring it upsidedown and prob. not covering. Is this a problem? Could gel coat restore it shine?
 
Hello Jwise,
There is a few things to look at when buying a used Laser, most important in my mind is the mast step. Look with a flashlight into the mast step. Are the sides smooth with no gouges or cracks? Do you see deep scratches possibly circular in nature in the bottom of the step. Fill it with water, and wait a few minutes, if the level doesn't go down it should be in good/decent shape. If it leaks be leery of the boat there might be major repairs to make it right. Look hard at the deck around the mast step for stress cracks in the gel-coat. Check the deck on the sides of the cockpit... Where you'd normally sit, press down on that area, if it flexs and or appears dished it's a soft deck. Look over the entire deck... Does it appear to have any waves or raised area's that look different or funny or just catch your eye. These could be areas where the deck is delaminating from the foam core.
Flip the boat over, look around the centerboard trunk for stress cracks in the bottom of the hull, use your flashlight again and shine it inside the trunk. Look at the top of the trunk, this is where the deck and hull are joined. Does the inside of the trunk appear smooth, are there bits or pieces of missing filler that is used to cover the joint (easy fix, but could indicate where water leaked into the hull). Another thing you might want to do is remove the drain plug and raise the bow as high as you can, see if any water leaks out. Last reccommendation is to weigh the boat. Use a bathroom scale tip the boat on it's side and balance it on the scale, it should weigh between 128-132 lbs. If it is close to that weight, it should be a good laser. If it is much over 135lbs, it is probably waterlogged and you don't want it. This is just the tip of the iceberg on things to check. With 180,000+ Lasers made, there are many diamonds in the rough out there ready to be raced again. Also for a first Laser you don't want a new boat for at least the first year. until you gain competence in your boat handling skills. A good boat retains it's resale value well and after that first year or so you can probably sell it for what you bought it for or close to it anyways.
Good luck in your hunt,
Fishingmickey
150087/181157
 
This question keeps coming up and people ask "What do the flotation devices look like?"

On the very oldest Lasers they are blocks of foam wrapped in plastic. On everything else, they are cubicontainers. Photo here: http://www.2kstore.com/water/ws1.htm

They aren't anchored in -- so they can move around.

On my boat, I looked in through the inspection port and couldn't see any -- "What a dork the previous owner was," I thought, "to take out the flotation to save a few ounces." So I bought more and chucked them in. Turns out that the old ones had simply migrated to the stern when the boat was stood up on its transom -- so now I have double the required flotation in there... sigh.
 
Thanks Chris that's actually kind of funny! Now your the one on the water that flies right? Seems you might have to take some out.
 
if he stored it without the access pannel covers on it then it could also be pinecones, I had pinecones, they were unpleasant to get out as they had begun to decompose...
 
I saw a squirrel around my boat the other day and got concerned that he might try to nest under the cover. If pinecones can get in I guess squirrels and snakes too! Me thinks it best to store with acess covers on mate
 
well its a toss up really, i think i would try to tape over some kind of screen, you want it to air out as well or else you could get a little rain forrest growing in there and that can cause much larger problems (delamination etc, not to mention mould and a nasty smell)
 

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