Looking At A Boat That Has Been On The Hard For 5 Yrs....

[Siberianhusky]

"Best not to buy a boat that has been on the hard over one week."

This is a joke right? Canada they spend 6 months a year on the hard, best time to buy is the spring, see the boat out of water, then launched, then sailed. Can usually get a better deal if the owner doesn't have to pay for the seasons mooring etc.

[hamburking]

I don't want to negate the many things that can could be wrong with a boat stored for 5 years on the hard...because there are plenty of things that could be wrong.

However, I actually did buy a boat that had been stored on land, uncovered, for 5 years. I bought it cause it was cheap, sight unseen, on the internet, when the internet was a new thing.

To jump ahead, I splashed it, put in a new battery, and the engine started, but would not idle. $100 to the local mechanic and it was fine. I put up the mast, checked everything out, added my own (new) safety gear, and sailed away.

However...the boat was DIRTY. Dirtier than any boat I had ever seen before or since. I scrubbed from top to bottom. It took days. All the woodwork (above and below) needed attention, and some painting below. After about 2 weeks though, it was in pretty good shape.

Now I'm not making any promises about YOUR boat...but I needed to counter the naysayers and doomslingers who have posted so far. Truly, its a mystery...you just don't know until you look/try/test. One thing for sure though....the price had better be worth it.

[Scout 30]

Buying this boat is like buying any boat. You can ask people to guess about what might be wrong with the boat but they're just guessing. If you're interested in the boat you need to get a good survey & find out what's wrong with the boat. There will be mold but you can clean that up. If the boat was jacked correctly there shouldn't be any hull problems. Jack stands keep the boat from falling over. The keel holds it up. Like any diesel you need to have it checked out by a mechanic. It is true that blisters will disappear as the hull dries out & a moisture meter won't help. I think you'll have to roll the dice on that one. I think I'd barrier coat it before splashing. The good thing is that the boat has been stored & unused for 5 years. That's a lot of wear & tear that it's missed.

[Island Time O25]

Also a thing to consider is the initial quality of the parts, components, rigging, hardware, etc. The above average lot can take a bit more neglect and/or punishment and still function adequately years later. Not an ideal situation of course but for many (most?) of us buying on a limited budget the only choice is between a derelict POS and a semi-derelict OK (or above average initially) boat and both are usually priced similarly. Very few Bristol maintained and initially excellent boats are out there either long enough or affordable enough to be considered for an average used boat buyer. I bet you that fewer than 10-20% of the used boat purchases involve boats less than 5-7 years old, with the bulk of used boat transactions involving boats 20-30 years old. Just the reality of things.