I did a personal
inspection of a 12 year old
Leopard 40 prior to
survey and sea trial. I read Don Casey's book and other sources on the
internet relevant to
boat inspections such as
Marine Survey 101 and a blog from a guy who bought the same model
boat and posted on things he wished he had found. I also looked at 8 other
boats before this one with 3 being the same make/model/year. So I have some theoretical background and some comparison
experience but not enough practical knowledge to understand whether some of the things that I saw are critical or typical. I thought it would be a good idea over the next 5 days to post 1 picture a day to get your input on the findings for my edification and as well as others perhaps.
Topic 1 -
keel hull attachment
See the 2 pictures. One is from the boat that I looking at and one is from a nearby
hurricane salvage boat of the same make (not the same model or year). It's pretty obvious which one is which. I took the second picture to understand the construction I was looking at.
On the boat I am looking at I tapped around the
hull,
keel and over that attachment line and it sounded OK - nothing hollow sounding. How concerned should I be that it's very clear where the hull/keel joint is?
(Unfortunately the 3 same make/model/year
boats I looked at prior to this where in the
water so no comparison pics from there.)