Almost bought a project I hadn't planned for! Suggestions?

[quirozson]

Almost bought a 1980 Montgomery 17 and on my final inspection I noticed a stress fracture in the bilge below the cockpit bench. It is on the port side. It is high up along the inside of the hull, should be well above water line. My question: should I renegotiate price and take this on as a DIY repair or walk away? I'm okay with a partial project boat and patching with a few layers of fiberglass, but I'm not interested in a boat with structural integrity issues. See Pictures

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum quirozson.

Hard to tell from that picture as I know sometimes when posting on CF, it can rotate the view 90 degrees. Not sure where you are from but if you're around a lot of boats, maybe wait. If it's significantly under market value, it might be worth the fix. For me, I'd like to know how it happened. Water that froze in the bilge? Impact of some kind?

[EngineerRetired]

Is you inner masochist trying to gt out? smile

[JPA Cate]

Looks like the cracks have been there for a while. I wonder if that's rotting plywood staining the sides of the cracks. I'd want to know how far -- if at all -- there is rot. Agree with CS, above, that how they occurred might be revealing.

Ann

[quirozson]

For the most part I've moved on. The entire deck of this boat was sturdy, the sails and the standing rigging were above average for a boat 41 years old, and the running rigging was average. Could use some minimal gelcoat scratch repair and bottom paint. I was excited about the overall condition until I saw this

Does anyone know if the HULL above water of the Montgomery 17 had balsa? I know deck did, but not sure about hull. This is high along the bilge, so I can't imagine much water ever entered these particular cracks. I'm in Colorado, so not a huge selection. Seems this boat began it's life in Florida and Alabama, so damage could be storm related or perhaps trailering related. I did a BoatHistory Report and nothing came up.

[Shanachie]

The Montgomery 17 is fiberglass, I believe. It really wouldn't make any sense to core the hull of a sailboat that small. And it's a well-respected design, so you can be sure they made the right choices.


If you don't see a crack on the outside of the hull, I don't think it's a big deal. Cut open the crack a little, fill it with thickened epoxy, then epoxy a couple of layers of fiberglass over it and go sailing.


The stress levels on a 17-foot sailboat on a lake are not large. You're not talking about crossing an ocean.


So even if there were balsa in there, it would not be a big deal with a proper fiberglass repair. Most large bluewater boats have tons of rotten balsa in their decks.



The fiberglass is strong enough on its own to handle any stresses.



This is predicated on the idea that you're buying this boat for a couple of thousand dollars. If the price is much more than that, keep looking. A 40-year-old daysailer is not worth 7-10K.

[tenchiki]

The picture looks more-or-less upright. Those black things on the left look like they could be the cocpit drain hoses, though they are a little different than my boat had. I had a '83 model. The back doesn't look at all like the inside of the hull -- you should be able to see the inside of the lapstrake clearly there. Or the perspective is really wonky. Something is off, anyway. Is that a 4-berth model? that kinda looks like it could be the support for the port quarterberth, in which case it isn't structural. The 3-berth model (like I had) has a mini galley to port, and just a big empty space as a port cocpit locker.

[Spot]

Hello Quirozson,
Picture from sailboatdata.com
It looks like a longitudinal member that is supporting the cockpit floor down to the hull and not the sides if the hull.

My boat, similar vintage, has saddles from the cockpit floor to the hull and the longitudinal members hold up the side berths. My sides are solid glass, one can see sunlight through the hull when the light is bright.

It could just be a crack in the face ply after 40 years of hot weather.
It could be something worse.You'd probably need to 'tap' it out and determine if it is cosmetic or structural. Did it creak and squeak while you were in the cockpit? Sistering new wood on the insides of those could be a possible and not overly difficult repair.

Understanding your own limits for fixing versus sailing is good too. Once you name it, feed it, like it, etc. it is harder to walk away.

[quirozson]

Originally Posted by tenchiki

The picture looks more-or-less upright. Those black things on the left look like they could be the cocpit drain hoses, though they are a little different than my boat had. I had a '83 model. The back doesn't look at all like the inside of the hull -- you should be able to see the inside of the lapstrake clearly there. Or the perspective is really wonky. Something is off, anyway. Is that a 4-berth model? that kinda looks like it could be the support for the port quarterberth, in which case it isn't structural. The 3-berth model (like I had) has a mini galley to port, and just a big empty space as a port cocpit locker.

Black on left is indeed drain hose which seems to exit below water line (does this work well?). There is also a white fender stuck back there that a previous owner must have lost on day one as it looks brand new. The boat is a 3-berth.

I'm beginning to think it is not directly up against the hull, but a support wall for the cockpit bench with a cavity behind it. In which case I could fill the void with something (expanding foam?) and build up fiberglass layers to seal the crack.

Might be worth if I can buy the boat for a bit less than originally worked out.

I appreciate this communities quick responses and help.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, quirozson.

[Stewie12]

It is a small boat and the problem area is above the water line and it is probably not a major concern. Keep any eye on it and if it worsens go for some of the repair suggestions you have had.

[Mike Banks]

Walk away? Don't you have runners?

[Don C L]

Hard to tell what we're seeing there but it looks like wood that was wet and then dried out in a dry climate. In any case I'd guess either no project, or minor project.