Well, its Sunday evening and I have some time to write some experiences with my good old Bavaria 430 Caribic.
Are you looking at the
Lagoon or Caribic version? We really liked the double aft beds on long passages. We added a lee cloth in both aft cabins reducing the width of the
bed and creating some more
storage. Very comfortable sleeping on
passage even in 40+ knots of
wind.
The stanchions are mounted in a small stainless holder which is fastened thru the
deck using 3 nuts and bolts. Any force on the stanchions is translated to those 3 bolts (m6 I think) and they will start to leak and the stainless holders themselves bend and tear apart after some years. I replaced all the stainless holders with new ones, re-caulked everything and it seemed to be OK. But I checked them every year since then.
Apart from the normal checks (engine,
osmosis, standing and running rig etc. etc.) I would pay special attention to (I just wrote down the things I would check if I bought a 430 again…. ):
The 430 has a transom that is an integral part of the hull, not of the
deck as in most modern yachts. This greatly enhances the stiffness of the hull. The deck then is mounted on the hull using hundreds of nuts and bolts that go thru the foot rail, deck and hull flange. This creates a cold bridge on all those bolts. I never experienced any
leaks from the deck-hull joint, but with cold outside
weather all these bolts where dripping. (Of course the leaking stanchion holders did not help also) Check the back-panels of all the cabinets on port and starboard just under the deck (remove the trim above the back panel) and see if you find any black spots of
water ingress into the wood. Adding isolation behind the cabinets may solve this problem…
The
mast is standing on a
compression post in de hallway between the main
cabin and the fore-peak
cabin. There are 2 large structural bulkheads, one just in front of the
mast and in the main cabin (the most critical one). Open the floorboards and check if the bulkheads are still securely laminated to the hull. Also check the lamination of the chain-plates and the bulkheads close by. If you leave the mast on for years and years you will find that the hull starts to deform a little and the side decks are raised a little. You cant see it with the naked eye, but the bulkheads will show the amount of deformation. Another check is to empty a bucket of water on deck next to the mast and see if any water stays behind around the mast step indicating a little ‘dip’ in the deck. None of this has to be a problem, take the mast of in the
winter and the hull will settle again. But if the bulkhead-hull lamination starts to fail you have to address it.
The rudder has a nylon bearing at the bottom that slides within a sleeve. The nylon bearing will absorb a little water and the bearing starts to move heavy. The top bearing is just the conical rudder shaft in a metal sleeve… it will wear out. Basically the whole rudder ‘hangs’ on a large nut on top of the top bearing. Check by disconnecting the push-rod and
autopilot from the rudder quadrant and then move the rudder manually to check for play or heavy movement.
The
keel bolts are caulked with butyl, check if the butyl is still in good condition, it is the grey glue-like stuff around the
keel bolts. It should be flexible and a little sticky. Don’t use any solvent to clean the
keel bolts!
The
steering wheel is a rack and pinion system. Under heavy load one can damage the teeth resulting in some stuck
steering wheel behavior.
Parts are very difficult to find…
Check the lid and
storage of the swimming platform. It gets a lot of water and is known to
rot away, also check the secondary small bulkheads there for wood-rot. And while on the swimming platform also check the external
shower housing. The polyester is very thin and not UV resistant…. It will fall apart after some time in the sun. Although the swimming platform can not leak into the boat, it can still
rot away...
The deck is a wood
core sandwich construction, and none of the deck hatches, stanchions or anything else bolted to the deck is bolted in solid
epoxy or polyester (except around the mast step). Any leak in the caulking will start to rot away your wooden
core. Check every inch of the deck for excessive movement indicating a rotten wood core inside. And when re-caulking the deck hatches, use the 'drill-fill-drill' system when fastening them again.
That’s it for now, of course there is much more to check but this post is getting too long already………
😊
much appreciated. Seems like you had quite some adventures with your 430. Also very happy about the pros that you mention and that it seems to be a very sturdy boat which can take quite a beating if needed.
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