Serious Problem?

[nlmasopust]

Firstly, I apologize if this message should appear elsewhere. I have read the required readme's, and this seems the best place. I think. I'm looking for some help/opinions from seasoned CD owners.

Here goes:

I've been looking at a <a href="http://www.urifoundation.org/uriboats/b ... .JPG">1978 CD Intrepid 28</a> for purchase. My girlfriend and I want to take a trip down the coast a ways and back this spring... we don't have tons of money, but we have lots of time. I stumbled upon this CD and have kinda fallen in love. The price is right, but everything else may or may not be.

There is some damage to the deck and hull. At first it didn't look that bad, but on examining the pictures more closely, this could be a deal breaker. There is a large crack in the starboard aft corner of the cockpit. This crack extends through the toe-rail and over to the corner of the transom and side of the hull. Pictures (Large for detail):

<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~nlmasopust/DSC ... G">Cockpit Corner Crack(Chock is mounted above transom, not side of vessel)</a>

<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~nlmasopust/DSC ... G">Outside of Hull With Crack continuing</a>

It appears that something large hit the side of the boat. The seriousness looks to me like it might have fallen off the stands at some point, perhaps. What do you smart people think?

<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~nlmasopust/DSC ... G">Crazing on Starboard Aft Hull</a>

There is one other issue... which may have been caused by this 'accident' or not. This <a href="http://home.comcast.net/~nlmasopust/DSC ... G">picture </a> shows the joint of the aft port side of the cabin trunk with the cockpit coaming. There is a lot of crazing and the gel-coat has obviously been compromised. Not sure if this is through the glass to the core material, but I will probably check with a water meter soon.

Has anyone here seen damage like this before? Are there known issues like this for Intrepids? Anyone think the boat could be made sound with basic fiberglass experience? (I'm pretty sure I can patch it up and fair it in nicely... done enough epoxy work before)

Surveyor is a possibility, though I'm experienced enough to trust my judgement in most other aspects of boat inspection except this one.

Sorry for the rambling... I would love to hear comments! (feel free to ramble)

[Jerry Hammernik]

Nate,
Almost anything can be fixed. But to do so requires, time, talent and money. Are you confident you have all three in sufficient quantity? You are going to go out on big water and your life and the life of your girlfriend will depend on the quality of your boat and your skill. Can you take a chance on the quality of the boat? As a minimum starting point you need to engage a qualified surveyor. They are trained professionals and are not emotionally involved in the purchase decision. You need to know how bad things are before you can decide if you have the resources to deal with them. This is serious damage. I like to see neglected boats given a new lease on life as much as anyone. But the exterior teak shows signs of neglect, the boat has serious damage that has not been repaired and you need to wonder what else has been neglected or ignored.

I don't know what the price is, but for the purchase price and the price of repairs could you buy a CD without these problems? You may want to explore that option to help in the decision process.

If you still want to do this, get a professional opinion, do a brutally honest self-assessment of your abilities and finances, and consider your options. A wise man once told me that in a building project there are 4 factors: Cost, quality, safety, and time. You can have any three you want. I've really found that to be true.

You've made a good first move asking this board for advice. There are some real experts here. Fred from Fenix could give you any info you want if he was able to look at it. Since he's currently in New Zealand he can only comment on pictures, but I'd really pay attention to his thoughts, he knows what he is talking about. There are many more who can help more than I, and I'm sure they will weigh in shortly. Just remember, the Captain bears the life and death responsibility for the vessel and the souls on board. The sea does not care about good intentions, if it respects anything of man, it is quality in the vessel and skill and judgement in the crew.

Just my opinion. Good luck in your decisions.

[Steve Laume]

From the little I see, this looks like ice damage. If this boat sat as long as it looks like it might have, the cockpit drains could have clogged and then filled the cockpit with water. I hard freeze with a full cockpit could do that kind of damage. Still not minor but that may be better than the boat falling over on the stands. I would look very carefully down below for other freezing damage. I would also agree the money spent on a surveyor is well worth it. I this is a southern boat then my theory is all wet, Steve.

[Dick Barthel]

Nate,

I don't think in almost any case that you should purchase a boat without a surveyor but in this case there is no doubt. He will be able to tell you the significance of the damage and what it will cost to repair. He may also find lots more that you don't see. If it were me I'd be inclined to say why fight the problem...find another boat. There are tons of them out there. If you decide to go that route post again to this board and you'll get lots of ideas about where to look.

Dick

[Ron M.]

It does look like ice damage, take the advice you have been given. This boat has been shamefully neglected and will be costly to repair even with "free" labor. Life is too short, there are many boats available.
________
Buy Iolite

[nlmasopust]

I'm darned certain now that ice did the damage. The boat has been on the hard for more than 10 years somewhere around Boston. Shamefully neglected would be a nice way to put it. The crazing on the side of the hull must have been from something else. (This damage isn't nearly as serious)

I crawled/looked through every other compartment that might receive damage from ice and didn't see any. These boats are very heavily built, as you know, so water would need to be well above the top of the bilge or engine sump before damage occured inside.

I will probably take your advice. I say I fell in love with the boat... I guess that's not entirely true. Mostly, I've fallen in love with the design. I have found one other <a href="http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/ ... htype=">CD Intrepid 28</a> on the market. Anyone else know of any? It's not that I'm averse to full keel designs, I just have grown up on fin keel boats and know and trust them. We've hit rocks, gone aground, etc, and as long as it's a well-built boat (like the Intrepid), They always seem to survive. If this were not the case, I would seriously consider a normal CD 28.

Thank you everyone for your wise deductions. They are exactly what I need to hear. A loan and a boat in better condition is in my future. (Or my parents letting me use their's which frankly scares me to death. It's a Freedom 40/40! I have a great position starting mid summer to pay the loan.)

[David Perry]

Nate, I think you are looking at more of a problem than ice damage. First of all, the location of the crack is so high that, for water and ice to be at that level in the cockpit, water would have been over the bridgedeck and filling the cabin, not to mention the cockpit lockers. Also, the crack is not in just an interior liner --it is in the deck which is a major structure. This crack was not made easily! Another post talked of a "330" falling over with no such cracks. Given the hull crazing AND the deck crack, I think the boat likely was hit or fell over on her starboard quarter. HARD. Consideration of purchase should defitately involve a survey in my opinion (even without the damage).

[MarkW]

Hi Nate.

I spent quite a bit of time looking at boats around New England before I found my CD28 this summer.

I walked from the first boat I had under agreement because of the survey. The surveyor was great and he caught things I could have easily missed. For me a survey was a must.

If you are interested in the CD 28 Int, there is one at www.urifoundation.org. As for the one that you included in your original post, I looked at that boat last year.

Send me an PM if you would like some additional information on the boat in Hingham. I believe that I may still have the digital pictures and could forward those to you as well.

Best of luck with your search.

Mark out..............................

[bill2]

Nate

I agree with everything posted so far and would hazard to add $.02.

Not being an expert but having seen a little damaged fiberglass I'd even consider that what you have is a big ( really big ) impact that was repaired - not very well - and its coming apart again. Be very careful . . .

Good Luck and hope to see you in a cd soon.

[nlmasopust]

Wow, you guys are great. This has got to be the nicest forum I've posted on. No flaming! Awesome!

Mark, I'll PM you. I would definitely be interested in hearing about the Hingham, MA boat.

The boat in my pictures above actually <i>IS</i> the URI Foundation CD 28 Intrepid... So I guess a warning to anyone else on this board looking to check it out: It is definitely damaged! There is a good reason for the $6000 price tag. And I don't believe it's worth anywhere near 6k given all this info.

Thanks again for the advice, everyone.