Hello all,
I just went through exactly this situation with a 2010 Lagoon 400 in Tortola. I agree with all other members on comments made as far as the importance of the survey and the contract. We too loved the boat and knew there was a bulkhead issue going into it.
Although the bulkhead issue was not mentioned by the broker, we decided to hire an independent surveyor in Tortola to have a look before we spent the
money and time going to look at the boat ourselves. This was well worth it, since there were 2 other 400's that already had this issue and he knew the problem even when we spoke on the
phone.
As one of the previous posts states, the factory knows about this design flaw an they have a
repair for it. The issue is that
water builds up an cannot drain in the forward bulkhead compartment. This then affects the bulkhead
marine plywood construction. Its very hard to find unless you know to look for it.
The remedy is that the rotten
plywood has to be cut out and replaced, then the tabbing needs to be reglassed and the bulkhead secured. This job takes about a week of cutting the compartment open and removing the rotten
wood.
Although we had all the pictures of the job, our underwriter would not insure the boat but this was also because they wanted a boat that was in above average condition to begin with. So you may want to check with your
insurance what they think. Remember, the bulkhead is the spine of you boat.
After we thought it through and considered all the other
repairs and additional equipmen such as geny and AC we needed to invest in, what looked like a great deal was not so great anymore.
We were smart enough to word our contract in a way that allowed us to back out in case the survey was not up to our standard or the boat was not insurable.
in the end, we got our deposit back and are now working on other options
...remember, you get what you pay for, so do yourself a favor, get a certified
marine surveyor and spend the
money on the survey. make sure you have a contract that allows you to back out...and remember, eventually you will likely have to sell the boat and any future surveyor will ask what was done to the bulkhead - so make sure you have that
work fully documented.
Good Luck!