Used boat question

S

sgilder

New Member
New here and looking at a couple 14.2's. Their the same age, and each has it's good and bad points. One of them has "failing foam." Basically the owner has noticed some of the foam going bad and has removed some pieces of it. My question is, how bad is this? Is it a dealbreaker, will it need tons of work to fix, or is it one of those "keep an eye on it and it'll probably be fine" kind of things? I can probably get this boat for a few hundred less than the other one, but is it worth the potential savings if I end up having to spend the time and money to get it fixed? I'm going to look at it tonight, so any inputs are appreciated.
Thanks,
Sean
 
Failing Foam, how does Foam fail?

I am assuming you are talking about the foam under the bench seats... this is merely positive floatation for the boat. If a couple chucks rip off, no biggy.

My personal experience with it, is the boat has enough floatation to float a crew of 2 adults, PLUS about 800lbs of water, with all its floatation intact. Don't ask how I know.

Suffice to say... NOT an issue if it is only a little. If it is MOST of the floatation that is gone, then you might want to buy some block foam, and shove down under the seats to provide some replacement float...

If you are talking about the foam in the mast... more "GREAT STUFF" spray foam, and you are done.

Things YOU SHOULD look for on ANY used sailboat are:

  • soft fiberglass, or cracked weak spot at the mast step
  • blisters (huge - size of 50 cent piece - this is osmosis, and a pain to fix) on the hull
  • chain-plate warping of fiberglass (shrouds meeting at deck) - means the block under the fiberglass that keeps it from pulling through has rotted away
  • frays in the stays
  • block on the back of the bow eye rotted (bow eye loose), MOD 1 guys can SEE this easily, other MODs have to take the cubby out to look (something a seller isn't going to allow if you are just looking - shake the bow eye with no tension on the winch and see if it moves).
  • cracked/split (below gel coat) fiberglass (usually bow below waterline- inevidibly people beach their boats, so most damage is done there).
  • lack of bearing buddies on trailer (meaning smoked bearings on way home - could be disasterous at high speed for boat, and or you!)
Other than that, the minor, yet pricey stuff are, ripped sails.... split centerboard, split rudder, deep gouges in the fiberglass below water line, missing lines (these are all likely $100+ repairs).

Really minor stuff, is like, chalky fiberglass, non-working trailer lights, bad tires, gel coat spider cracks, split boots, gray lines, etc.
 
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