Yacht for sale with rusty keel bolts - walk away?

[Jonny Lees]

Happy New Year to one and all.

We are a couple in our early and late fifties with a decent amount of sailing experience in our local club and on bareboat charter, but we have never owned a boat before . This holiday season we went to look at an old but solid 1992 Frers designed Grand Soleil 45. It looks like it has everything we need to spend a year in the Med, then cross the Atlantic, spend a year in the Carribbean, the head across the Pacific on the Coconut Run.

The only issue for me is salt water and crystals in the bilge, plus lots of rust on the engine components and supports, but also on the keel bolts (the engine is mounted under the centre seat in the middle of the saloon directly over the keel).

Is this a bad sign or what?

Jonny.

[GordMay]

Greetings and belated welcome aboard the CF, Jonny.

[Jonny Lees]

Thanks Gord.

Looking forward to buying our first boat and getting out there.

We've been boat shopping for over a year now, have seriously viewed about 10, so have been through a lot of realisations with regard to our budget, must haves, etc.

I think we're ready!

Jonny.

[gmakhs]

If you don't wanna spent time hardly maintaining the engine because of rust (broken screws etc ) and don't wanna deal with the anxiety of russted keel bolts and water intrusion , just find another boat .

[Terra Nova]

The boat is 26-years old and likely ready for a refit, which might include new keel bolts. A thorough survey is required.

[Hesti]

Chances are, that it was the raw cooling water pump leaking and spraying everything with salt water.

On the keel boalts, if the rust is not just on the surface, they definitively need attention. They should be stainless as a minimum, so, they should not rust ... .

In terms of economics - what does it cost to pull the engine, change the keel bolts etc. and how much cheaper than normal market price is the boat? And how long will that take, allowing for some more surprises?

[carlheintz]

Before you walk away, think about looking real closely at the keel bolts. Take a screw driver and scratch them... is the rust just surface rust? Maybe they're OK.
As to the engine area, again, look past the mess and see if things are really rusty, or just dirty.
I wouldn't buy this boat without a survey, for sure.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by Hesti

...keel boalts...should be stainless as a minimum...

Negative!

Keel bolt material must be compatible with the keel and the rest of its support structure.

[dochip]

My first boat was a wooden sloop built in Yugoslavia in 1964. I bought it about 1981 I think. At survey found several keel bolts that were suspect. Renegotiated the price and replaced them. It's a cost-benefits-risk analysis (as are most boat things). If this boat is calling your name, analyze what the cost of the upgrades are, and decide. Most things are fixable, if you have the time, money and inclination. In addition, fixing things helps you learn the boat, and if you learn the boat you can love the boat.

[Minggat]

I couldn’t feel comfortable with my keel bolts as I was preparing for a major passage. I called a keel bolt guy and he came to my boat to install new keel bolts. I went from 8 bolts to 16, and cleaned up the messy oily bilge in the process. Did the work right in my slip.

[scallowayuk]

Hi i have a bolt on keel.never use stainless jeel bolts they get crevice corrosion.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by dochip

My first boat was a wooden sloop built in Yugoslavia in 1964. I bought it about 1981 I think. At survey found several keel bolts that were suspect. Renegotiated the price and replaced them. It's a cost-benefits-risk analysis (as are most boat things). If this boat is calling your name, analyze what the cost of the upgrades are, and decide. Most things are fixable, if you have the time, money and inclination. In addition, fixing things helps you learn the boat, and if you learn the boat you can love the boat.

Best bit of advice here for you
If the price is right the boat is right , get a good survey and any major issues your survey should be able to tell you if serious or not , and then negotiate the price, bought my 42ft ketch (1977)(knocked £15000 of asking price) and am heading out next year , if your prepared to get your hands dirty ,and read books and come and ask on forums , then you will get the satisfaction of doing the boat up yourself and like me, I now know the boat inside out, and as I built it inside i know how to fix it
good luck

[Suijin]

It all comes down to two things:

1) is the condition of the engine and the keel bolts an indicator of poor overall maintenance of the boat? When you have a leak, be it a hose or pump or who knows what, you fix it and clean up the area. If the engine develops rust you get it off and paint it. Otherwise you have no way of monitoring things going forward maintenance wise.

2) Separately, identify what needs to be repaired on the boat, cost it out, and adjust your offer accordingly.

I would be very suspicious of a boat with the issues you mention because I would be concerned about other, unseen or unknowable deferred maintenance issues.

If the zincs were not maintained your heat exchanger could be on the brink of failing along with other corrosion issues. The batteries could have been abused. The boats wiring could be end-of-life. The list goes on, and these are things that a pre-purchase survey will not reveal.

It’s worth waiting for a well maintained boat to turn up, unless you get a phenomenal deal and have the knowledge, skills, and stamina to deal with a whole raft of problems coming to light after you sign the check.

[Mike Banks]

That depends on the vessel--I used to put salt in my bilges to stop rot--but that was a wooden vessel, and my keel bolts were not made of iron.

Replacing keel bolts is a big job but it can be done. What kind of metal used for the bolts depends on what kind of metal forms the ballast in your keel.

[donregan]

There are keel bolts, and studs cast into keels. Studs have washers and nuts visible and threaded rod (stud) extending above the nuts. There are lead keels, iron keels, and possibly other bolt up types, maybe concrete. And there are encapsulated keels, not likely an issue in this conversation.


Once looked at a lovely boat, iron keel, what appeared to be bolts rather than studs showed a lot of rust, walked. Drilling out ferrous/galvanized bolts and retapping cast iron is challenging. Didn't know if the keel was tapped or had threaded sleeves cast in.



Studs are safer from that perspective, if you can torque the nuts to a good value likely they are solid. Need to ask an expert what torque value.


Good fortune with your choices, DR