Today I did my first survival sailboat inspection and learned new things.

Rudders with major impact craters and cracks thru gel coat into laminations are better because they soak up water faster, and get heavy, giving you the same benefit as water ballast in MacGregor boats.

I think that’s the way you raise the pop-top but I never used it.

Teak that is in a silver-gray eroded, crumbly-looking state is like vintage wine, some sailors just prefer them that way.

The dappled daylight you can see through the fiberglass hull bottom from the inside that matches with hundreds of gouges through the paint and gel coat on the outside are normal in a boat of this age; a little sanding and repainting will set it right.

Flexing and oil-canning in the lower hull shows the boat has good flexibility to absorb the effects of waves; all good boats have this kind of flexibility.

A six-inch impact crater in the rub rail and surrounding fiberglass deck, clearly showing the underlying laminate is also cracked, is not important because if the boat is that heeled over to put the rail underwater you are already in bigger trouble than a possible leak,

Seals under the pop-top and hatch were optional, it is better to have fiberglass-to-fiberglass contact because it is stronger; if you have waves hitting them you are already in bigger trouble than a possible leak. I don’t know anything about that line of what could be glue marks around the underside of the top.

Battens missing from the sail suite are not important; if battens are missing its because the sail designer did not think they helped the sail and they weren’t with the sail when it was first delivered.

Kinks in running gear wire just happen and will pull out over time to straighten the wire.

Bow end impacts [with the trailer’s V-block?] that have crunched through to the laminate to form a couple of four inch long smash lines about a ¼ inch deep into the laminate [look like someone took a big piece of rebar and whaled away] ate part of boating; they are the kind of cosmetic thing you can fix in an hour if you are fussy about your boat.

Yes, I glued down some new carpeting along the sides of the inner hull to spiff up the boat inside but there were no leaks, stains, or damage in those places or they would have been fixed first.

Torn and sagging ceiling liner? That’s just part of every older boat’s character.

I don’t know what’s under there; but it doesn’t matter because I would have looked if there was ever a problem and I don’t remember ever looking.

All the lights work as far as I know but I don’t sail after dark. Well, this is the master switch but you don’t want to run down the battery. Since you insist, uh, that light’s never worked and that one is just the bulb – no, I am out of bulbs – no, it’s too much trouble to swap bulbs to check.

You can hear the static so you know the radio works but without an antenna you can’t hear anything. I took the antenna off to work on it; no, we can’t hook the antenna up because it takes too much time.

Raising and lowering the mast is real easy but I just got it up and don’t want to go through that again. All the stuff up top works fine.

No, hooking up the boom and raising the mainsail is too much trouble, you can just lay them out on the lawn if you want.

The main sail is on a furling boom but I just reef so I don’t know how to use it.

You can’t stand in the back of the cockpit or the boat will fall off the back and hit the ground; makes it easy to launch at a ramp. I normally use a 9.9 horsepower motor and take 6 gallons of fuel but I carry them in my truck and put them in the boat after it is in the water. No, I don’t have a strap to hold the boat on the trailer and I have never had any problem.

I never bothered with the mast crutch when I trailered so I have no idea where it is – you don’t need it.

I don’t have anything to say about the keel; you can look if you want.

No there aren’t any bumpers; I only used mooring buoys, like at Angel Island

I berth the boat for one month a year near Rio Vista and sail the Delta and the Bay.

No there’s no dinghy; I never needed one because it’s just a day sailor.

Marine surveys are a waste of money on boats as old as this,

I never used the galley so I don’t know anything about it; I don’t think a stove came with the boat. No, that can of beans doesn’t go with the boat.

No. you can’t unsnap the cushion to set up the dinette berth; if it tore up I couldn’t sell the boat. The fabric is frayed off the entire end of that cushion; I’m not sure why – the boat probably came that way.

Those holes through the transom are probably where someone had a depthfinder; you can just seal them up.

Pretty comprehensive. So, when do you take delivery on this seafaring jewel?

Please tell is that this is not all on the same boat!!!

I was on a boat just like that Yesterday.
I'm looking for a nice 30'er, with good cabin space, a wheel not a tiller, and a built in engine.

One boat, one guy, one hour or so. Only slightly fictionalized to paint a more complete verbal picture of the inner truth of the situation.

I think the universe sent me this boat and this guy to see if I was serious about finding a sailboat to liveaboard. If there was a law against sailboat abuse ....

The amazing thing was that the rigging was really very good. Stainless steel is pretty tough stuff.

His attitude empowered me to look at every single piece of gear, open every ccompartment, every surface, look at both sides of every sail, ask every question, have him drag out everything from the garage for me to look at, etc. I kept saying," Well, I know it is a little trouble but I need to check it out now so I can justify my purchase decision."

I'm glad my buddy Richard was along. He has a lot of experience with boats. I think he was worried I was seriously interested in the boat, until I quietly told him, "This has just turned into an educational experience, what else can we get this guy to say?" It became a game of finding everything screwy on the boat and getting the expert explanation about why I shouldn't worry about it.

My visual is the boat slowly sinking under full sail with our hero looking at circling fins and cursing the inferior "manufacture" of the S/V Tormented over the VHF to the Coast Guard - who keep telling him his signal is breaking up too much for them to vector in. Over and over again - as the Devil laughs.

All very sound advice and practical observations ... if you don't mind getting wet... and quite a deal considering that they throw in a swimming lesson and impromptu sea survival course with every purchase.

With a little luck, assuming you can get a call out and they can get there in time, you might get to see the USCG in action up close. Surely a spectacle worth the price of admission.

If they don't get there in time ... well ... you were looking for adventure and sounded like you needed a bit of time alone to contemplate life and regain perspective.

There is nothing quite so adventurous as facing down a storm at sea in a completely inadequate boat. And nothing so conducive of a change of perspective as contemplating spending the rest of a rather foreshortened life bobbing cold and alone in a life jacket on a dark and stormy night. Be sure to bring your own life jacket. Not having one takes a lot of the fun out it.

Assuming you live you could expect it to be a tale you could tell the grandkids. There I was ...

I don't see a problem. Just park it in a campground and call it an RV.

:-)

The hull bottom looked and felt "funny" but if the sun had not been shining so I could see through from the inside, I might have doubted my evaluation. I am still trying to figure out how the hull bottom got so dinged up.

My best guess is someone tried to chip off a layer of anti-fouling paint, apparently with a delicate jack-hammer-like action, instead of sanding it off. But I suppose it might have been the end result of removing a layer of barnacles! It really must have taken hours and hours.

I can't wait to see the next boat!


Edit: Note to self, bring flashlight to duplicate outside sun effect from now on.

I am glad that you are looking at boats with your BS Detector working at full power. Just remember to keep acting dumb about sailboats and keep asking questions!!!

Perhaps too easily done at this point, but I like to think I am a quick study.