Radar Arch and Dinghy Davit

[jjahanmir]

Hello,
I am looking to buy a Catalina 400. It has a Radar Arch and dinghy davit. There are cracks on both sides where the arch is bolted down. The broker says that this is superficial and can be repaired. Has anyone encountered this problem? Is it really superficial?
Thank you for your help.
Jay

[Bash]

Welcome to the forum.

That arch is not original equipment--probably a custom installation. The broker is probably right, that it's just a gel-coat problem.

If you're purchasing a used boat YOU SHOULD HAVE IT SURVEYED BY A LICENSED SURVEYOR.

Your surveyor will not only be able to tell you whether this is a superficial problem, but how much it will cost to repair it regardless of whether it's superficial.

[Kenomac]

You need to take a good look from the underside of the deck to see if the davits are properly supported and not just bolted on. We had a similar issue where the davits had actually crushed down on the underside supports when water had entered through surface cracks on the deck and saturated the decking core and plywood backing material. It cost around 2000 pounds to repair in the UK.

Didn't look like much from above, but glad our survey caught the issue.