We purchased our 40ft
Searunner look-a-like in 2012. It was built by Iriwn Krebs, of Perry
Florida and was the last
boat of eight that he built. We were advised by John Marples that Krebs was a renegade and never paid for the plans on any of his boats and therefore they are not "certified" Searunners.
Originally the
boat was named "Comocean", When the boat was almost completed, Kreb's was diagnosed with cancer and was not expected to live very long. They took it on an eight month
cruise and then put it on blocks for two years. Following his death, "Comocean" was put on the market, we had it surveyed and purchased her.
We named her "Wingin' it" and the love affair began. Initially we spent 35,000 to upgrade
electronics, infrastructure and re-stepping the
mast and
rigging. After 40 years of sailing mono-hulls Wingin'it was a pleasure to sail with friends and
family, then the cracks appeared.
It seems that Kreb in his rush to prepare the boat for his final
cruise, did not prep the glass on the three hulls for the first coat of primer. We found that this type of builders negligence is not covered by
insurance.
First it was a crack, here and there. We patched them but more cracks continued to appear on the amas and main
hull. All it took was for one freeze to come through
Carrabelle Florida one evening and the
condensation between the glass and primer expanded and literally blew large sections of
paint off the sides of the boat, overnight.
We had the boat inspected by Boat US, our carrier and were informed we were on our own, they would not offer one dime...oh well, go figure.
We pulled the boat and put her in a yard to assess the
work that needed to be done. It was obvious that this was going to continue being a problem and that all the
paint need to be grinded off the boat and the boat needed to be completely repainted.
Well, it has been three months and Wingin'it it is taking her new shape and facelift very well. I'll share the before and after photos and will continue with this forum segment, all the way through the splash.
I think you will be impressed with the re-birthing of our
Searunner look-a-like.