Archives

The caulking has hardened and fallen out along the entire joint.

This is one of around a dozen such fractures found on a 1988 Wellcraft St. Tropez 32. This type of damage is typical where lightly built vessels are powered by large engines (in this case twin 454 XL Crusaders)   

The builder has added bits of scrap iron, steel, and probably anything else he could get his hands on to add weight to the poured concrete ballast (concrete is not very heavy, particularly as compared to lead). Once water seeps into the ballast (from the bilge or possibly via hull damage) the metal scraps begin … Read More

Be wary of installations that employ short pieces of pipe between the seacock and through-hull (as in the below picture).  Each section of pipe introduces a potential failure point within the hull that is not protected by the seacock and should be removed as soon as possible.

Do you have any idea what the boat you are buying has been through?

Look closely at this one. It took me a few moments to figure out just what it was about this install that gave me willies. At first I though it was the gate valve (which I’m not overly fond of to begin with, especially in below the waterline applications such as this), then it hit … Read More

  Cracked composite (plastic) through-hulls are a fairly common problem, as a walk in pretty much any boatyard will bear out.  Ultraviolet light is the main culprit here and while different brands vary widely in their susceptibility to UV damage, some are so poorly made they can fail within a year.  Although manufacturers began adding … Read More