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3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You can 'smell' osmosis.

If you 'pop' a bubble / blister it will contain a small amount of fluid (normally vinegar coloured) and it will smell strongly like vinegar.

 

This site has some details and pictures of the blisters.

 

http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/osmosis.htm

Cheers Alan! I found that site the other day! A few folk have mentioned about the vinegar like smell for such blisters, so definitely something to check for 

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1 minute ago, Dastardly53 said:

Yeah thats right, especially since the vessel is nearing the 40 year mark (built in 1978). This is for the companies I've checked so far anyway. 

As for the osmosis, I'll remember to bring a along a torch and some other bits to try and identify any problem areas 

I guess your going third party only then should you buy it. 

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52 minutes ago, Dastardly53 said:

Hi Neil 

I'm probably getting the terminology wrong but the boat is built for inland rivers and canals. So a GRP cruiser built for Inland waters, rather than the brand your referring to? 

Yes the vessel itself is priced under £6000 and during the onboard inspections the cabin appears dry as far as I can see. 

The boat is 24ft long, built in 1978 and a widebeam. The engine onboard is a yanmar 12hp job. From this you can probably determine that its getting on abit in years but as stated, my purpose for buying is simply as a 'floating apartment'.

Appreciate the reply! Cheers! 

The boat you are looking at, unless I am very much mistaken, is an Eastwood 24.  These were "proper" cruisers designed for inland/coastal cruising.  The Eastwood company were based on the Norfolk Broads so that is the market they were aimed at but the hull was used in other designs and is reputed to be a strong, sturdy affair.  

if she seems nice and dry inside the chances are the boat has spent the winters out of the water so osmosis shouldn't be an issue.  Even if it is, with a hull like this you have plenty of leeway.

On the down side, this sort of boat is not designed for living on in the colder months.  I have spent time on a simple broads cruiser like this in the winter months and it isn't a lot of fun.  Other members would be better placed to advise on what can be done to improve matters with better insulation.  

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I have had both lectures from and 'hands on' time with an industry expert in Osmosis. It's certainly not something the OP is going to be able to correctly assess for himself and even experienced surveyors' opinions will vary widely. The one thing the expert did say that's worth remembering when buying a cheap boat is this: "Boats don't sink because of Osmosis".  If you're buying a high value GRP boat and it's resale value is a consideration, then Osmosis can be a significant factor in the valuation, but we're not in that market here are we. I'd be far more concerned about damage, poor repairs and delamination in a GRP hull of that age.

 

Edited to add that, whilst they may cost proportionally more versus the value of the vessel, surveys don't become any less helpful for older boats at the bottom end of the market.

Edited by Sea Dog
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2 hours ago, Neil2 said:

The boat you are looking at, unless I am very much mistaken, is an Eastwood 24.  These were "proper" cruisers designed for inland/coastal cruising.  The Eastwood company were based on the Norfolk Broads so that is the market they were aimed at but the hull was used in other designs and is reputed to be a strong, sturdy affair.  

if she seems nice and dry inside the chances are the boat has spent the winters out of the water so osmosis shouldn't be an issue.  Even if it is, with a hull like this you have plenty of leeway.

On the down side, this sort of boat is not designed for living on in the colder months.  I have spent time on a simple broads cruiser like this in the winter months and it isn't a lot of fun.  Other members would be better placed to advise on what can be done to improve matters with better insulation.  

Yeah thats the one! Reassuring to hear the background on these craft are fairly sturdy and well built! Thanks for the insight, as for the winter season I can imagine that this is an issue. Fortunately with spring just on the horizon I hope this will give me a bit of time to look into sorting heat retention out.

Thanks Neil! 

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7 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 If you're buying a high value GRP boat and it's resale value is a consideration, then Osmosis can be a significant factor in the valuation, but we're not in that market here are we.

To be fair, I bought up the osmosis possibility before any discussion of age and value were determined. 

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1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

To be fair, I bought up the osmosis possibility before any discussion of age and value were determined. 

Not targeted at you, or anyone else come to that, Rusty - just throwing my experience (for what it's worth) into the pot! :)

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11 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I have had both lectures from and 'hands on' time with an industry expert in Osmosis. It's certainly not something the OP is going to be able to correctly assess for himself and even experienced surveyors' opinions will vary widely. The one thing the expert did say that's worth remembering when buying a cheap boat is this: "Boats don't sink because of Osmosis".  If you're buying a high value GRP boat and it's resale value is a consideration, then Osmosis can be a significant factor in the valuation, but we're not in that market here are we. I'd be far more concerned about damage, poor repairs and delamination in a GRP hull of that age.

 

Edited to add that, whilst they may cost proportionally more versus the value of the vessel, surveys don't become any less helpful for older boats at the bottom end of the market.

Thanks for the insight Sea Dog, I have no doubt that for more obscure signs of osmosis would probably go under the radar from my observations. Though your not the first to say that osmosis is not a boat killer it is definitely something to take into consideration. Other than the actual hull inspection, I'll be checking around the mechanical areas for anything that stands out such as leaks and unwanted build up of substances common for old engines. 

Cheers for the advice! 

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12 minutes ago, Dastardly53 said:

Yeah thats the one! Reassuring to hear the background on these craft are fairly sturdy and well built! Thanks for the insight, as for the winter season I can imagine that this is an issue. Fortunately with spring just on the horizon I hope this will give me a bit of time to look into sorting heat retention out.

Thanks Neil! 

I have a bit of a thing about old grp boats from the 60's and 70's, some of the stuff you see for sale is just rubbish but others are real classics to be had for relatively little money.  Take your boat this was designed by a guy called John Bennett who is a bit of a legend, designed bigger boats like the Fairline 29 and the Princess 37 which is the boat I have always wanted.  

You have to be careful with boats from the mid 70's when a lot of cost cutting was going on but mostly among the budget stuff.

If this boat has been carefully looked after it could be a little gem - and the engine is a bonus too, a lot of this sort of craft have a petrol inboard which you do not want. 

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1 minute ago, Neil2 said:

I have a bit of a thing about old grp boats from the 60's and 70's, some of the stuff you see for sale is just rubbish but others are real classics to be had for relatively little money.  Take your boat this was designed by a guy called John Bennett who is a bit of a legend, designed bigger boats like the Fairline 29 and the Princess 37 which is the boat I have always wanted.  

You have to be careful with boats from the mid 70's when a lot of cost cutting was going on but mostly among the budget stuff.

If this boat has been carefully looked after it could be a little gem - and the engine is a bonus too, a lot of this sort of craft have a petrol inboard which you do not want. 

Gotcha! Seems like there's a lot more history to these things than I anticipated. Thought looking at old car engines was a rabbit hole but boats even more so! Haha

Just had a look online at the Fairline and the Princess, extremely nice looking craft.

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16 hours ago, Dastardly53 said:

Gotcha! Seems like there's a lot more history to these things than I anticipated. Thought looking at old car engines was a rabbit hole but boats even more so! Haha

Just had a look online at the Fairline and the Princess, extremely nice looking craft.

Nice 32 here for £8k

http://www.tingdeneboatsales.net/boat-spec?BoatID=5989496

Should be a bit of haggling left in the asking price.

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31 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Looks like a lot of boat for the money. 

 

Yes, shockingly cheap price for such a lot of boat.

Twin engines are enormous fun too. A bow thruster becomes doubly unnecessary.

Twice the maintenance costs though.

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5 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Yes, shockingly cheap price for such a lot of boat.

Twin engines are enormous fun too. A bow thruster becomes doubly unnecessary.

Twice the maintenance costs though.

Not sure engines are high up on the OP's list either. 

 

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55 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Nice 32 here for £8k

http://www.tingdeneboatsales.net/boat-spec?BoatID=5989496

Should be a bit of haggling left in the asking price.

Princess 32's are pretty much unloved these days, they are often wrongly described as designed by John Bennett as he did design the 25 and the 37.  Bennett designs have stood the test of time, the old 32 looks its age.  A Fairline Mirage is a much better buy IMHO though they often seem to have petrol engines for some reason. 

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Hi folks

First off just want to thank everyone for the replies! 

I went and had the vessel taken out the water on Friday, I had the underside jet-washed to have all the crud taken off so the hull was more visible. 

Despite not having a certified surveyor, the folks down at the marina were more than happy to point out a few areas of interest. 

These are a couple of photo's I've included of such areas, as you can see there appears to be the usual cosmetic scratches and repairs on the front. There also appears to be some osmosis 'moon crater' pattern appearing on the hull. (Not sure of the last time it was anti fouled)

If anything stands out in particular then I'd be more than appreciative if you drop a comment! 

All the best!

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5 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

How much are you paying for this boat?

If it's £1k I'd say you have nothing to worry about. If it is over about £2k I'd run a mile. 

Oh sh*t! Really? 

Listed at £5750, but after negotiation had it knocked down etc. Though now you've said that, I'm starting to wonder! Haha

Is it the condition of the hull that stands out to you Mike? 

Edited by Dastardly53
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On 16/04/2017 at 15:15, Dastardly53 said:

Oh sh*t! Really? 

Listed at £5750, but after negotiation had it knocked down etc. Though now you've said that, I'm starting to wonder! Haha

Is it the condition of the hull that stands out to you Mike? 

 

Well yes, that's the only information to go on we have so far isn't it?

That damage on the corner of the transom bothers me a lot. The gel coat pox isn't critical as the boat won't sink, but it isn't nice and it isn't ever going to self-heal. 

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2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Well yes, that's the only information to go on we have so far isn't it?

That damage on the corner of the transom bothers me a lot. The gel coat pox isn't critical as the boat won't sink, but it isn't nice and it isn't ever going to self-heal. 

Yes your right. Apologies, as I'm unsure of what further details I could give other than whats previously mentioned. Perhaps the lack of information and history is enough to warrant a withdrawal from the sale. 

Cheers Mike

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On 16/04/2017 at 15:23, Dastardly53 said:

Yes your right. Apologies, as I'm unsure of what further details I could give other than whats previously mentioned. Perhaps the lack of information and history is enough to warrant a withdrawal from the sale. 

Cheers Mike

 

I'd say such a decision would best depend on your personal financial situation as much as the technical condition of the boat. Is £5,750 pocket money or would losing £5,750 should this boat turn out to be a mistake be a financial disaster for you? Or something in between?

If nearer the former I'd just buy it if I were you and get on with some boating. If closer to the latter then I think you cvan probably find a GRP cruiser with a better hull and more likely to hold some value.

Just my opinion though, which many on here stuggle to see any value in ;)

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13 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I'd say such a decision would best depend on your personal financial situation as much as the technical condition of the boat. Is £5,750 pocket money or would losing £5,750 should this boat turn out to be a mistake be a financial disaster for you? Or something in between?

If nearer the former I'd just buy it if I were you and get on with some boating. If closer to the latter then I think you cvan probably find a GRP cruiser with a better hull and more likely to hold some value.

Just my opinion though, which many on here stuggle to see any value in ;)

Gotcha! No I appreciate the input, like I say boats are a new frontier for me so any feedback is good! 

I'll bear that in mind over the next few days before the sale is settled! Cheers! 

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