Any boat guys here?

Oy.

My son's outlaws are boat people but don't know what end of the hammer to hit their hand with and have moved on with a bigger cruiser.

Got a 28 ft. something on a trailer in the driveway that "has been sunk twice". OK, they drink a bit, not good at navigation etc. Been sitting in their drive for a while, no need for the money, no hurry to get it gone.

It was offered to me at a bargain price.

What's it gonna take to rebuild a something that's been sunk? Guy paid $3k for a trailer just to get it home. If I flushed, et al the motor; can it be flipped easily?

914Driver said: It was offered to me at a bargain price.

Are you sure they are paying you enough to take it?

Go take a few grand out from the bank, come home, roll around in some fiberglass insulation so you're good and itchy, douse the money in Bacardi 151, drink the rest of the bottle, then set the money and yourself on fire.

If you're still alive in the morning, you'll have what it takes to get this done.

Tough crowd. If it was here for ~$7k, can you make money on it?

In reply to WilD:

this x1000

Need a lot more info on the boat/powerplant, what it looks like now, and more clarity on what the two sub-surface events actually were. "Sunk" is too loose a term if you think it might be still worth $7k and your time.

Coming soon.

So, a hole in the sky to fill with money is not enough for you? You need a hole in the water to fill with money too?

Yeah, there are a lot of variables in a 28 footer. I'm going to guess it's a I/O. They can sink for any number of reason. I'm going to guess it's a cheap boat to start with. Those do NOT age well. A lot of names are pretty much disposable and don't hold any value.

If it was sunk and not immediately pickled, you can pretty much write off the engine. The drive will probably be fine, but U-joints may be trashed. An inboard transmission may or may not survive depending on if water got in the vent. Inboard transmissions can be very expensive. Without a test drive, assume the worst.

If it went down in saltwater and wasn't immediately cleaned up I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. The entire boat will be a basket case.

Plan on replacing all the rubber in it. Hoses, bellows, shift boots, the works. They are frequently the cause of sunk I/Os and inboards alike.

Plan on lots of differed maintenance. If you think luxobarges are ignored, you haven't seen anything until you buy a cheap boat.

Go over the entire hull with a ball peen hammer. Hollow sounding, means rot. Check the transom around the drive in particular if it's a I/O. Rotten transoms are a nightmare to repair. Check the floor closely. They are pretty much a nightmare as well. Do not buy.

toyman is right on rot. Just because the boat is 'glass does not mean it is solid glass. Most glassfibre boats have foam or more likely balsa coring. Balsa is a great material until it's not. Once it gets soaked, it turns to mush

mad_machine wrote: toyman is right on rot. Just because the boat is 'glass does not mean it is solid glass. Most glassfibre boats have foam or more likely balsa coring. Balsa is a great material until it's not. Once it gets soaked, it turns to mush

I had a 2 year old Sea Craft bought back due to port side glass deformation due to the foam having been compromised during construction or defective. It took 30 months to get the payment back even with them not disputing that there was no post purchase damage to the haul or signs of any repair to it.

If it's a Bayliner Brand, remember, they don't put port hole windows in Bayliners. They aren't needed.
The fiberglass is so thin, the sunshine comes right through.

For houses you have Home Inspectors. For boats you have Boat/Marine Surveyors.

Like home inspectors, there is little in the way of licensing or formal education requirements so ask around and find one who is well recommended and knows his way around both a moisture meter for the hull as well as marine engine aptitude.

Not much that hasn't been said already, but unless this is a... I dunno, Lockheed? Fincantieri? I wouldn't touch it for anything more than the trailer is worth, less the cost to dump the boat.

I use to work for MasterCraft boats. We had a boat that we sent to a show, it traveled from the plant in TN to the gulf of Mexico using nothing but lakes and rivers. It then went around Florida to a show somewhere around Miami I think. Anyway, I don't remember the reason but it sunk at the marina. They raised it, put it on a trailer, shrink wrapped it and brought it back to the factory. I got the pleasure of assisting in the removal of the interior. When we first pulled the shrink wrap off it stunk. It stunk bad.

That one got stripped all the way down to the bare Hull and rebuilt for one of the managers.

That's my sunken boat story. I don't like them.

Let me get this straight, who's the heavy drinker, you or them?

Swim away as fast as you can.

Boats can (and frequently do) have negative value. It's simply impossible to fix them for a cost that's less than just acquiring a working example.

A 28ft powerboat that's been sunk twice by people who don't know what they're doing? Probably parts at best.

It's kinda like how late model German cars get when you don't keep up with them, but worse.

What's the difference between a Bayliner and VD?

..You can get rid of VD

About $300 will get a 30ft Roll-off Dumpster delivered to your location. Chain saws make very quick work of reducing a fiberglass boat to pieces that will fit within that dumpster.

I have seen it done with a 35 ft sailboat which had unrepairable damage.

I kind of surprised they actually want money for this.

28 foot boats are hard to sell when kept in perfect shape. No one will buy a twice-sunk-and-repaired one. You shouldn't either.

And this is from a guy that owns a 44 year old 'glass power boat.

OK, thank you. I was hoping for a bit of work and a flip.

Next....

In reply to spitfirebill:

I kind of surprised they actually want money for this.

yeh, my thoughts exactly. Their best bet at getting anyone to give them money for this thing is either part it out or donate it to a charity and take a tax write-off.

best advice, dig a hole to fit it up to the waterline, strip it of anything not kid friendly, and make it into an awesome playhouse for the littles