Colecraft used boat and blacking concerns

[Eldog]

Hi All

 

Just about to buy our first boat and are quite taken with a 1996 Colecraft trad. Just a little worried that it hasn't been blacked since 2011 and has spent most of its life in a marine without a galvanic isolator. Before We commit to a deposit and survey, do those out there with undoubtedly more knowledge than me think we should walk away. I should also add that overall the boat looks quite reasonable and up together.

 

Grateful for any advice

[cuthound]

Has the boat been connected to a shoreline line (mains electricity) whilst in the marina?

 

Does it have an inverter?

 

If the answer is no to both questions, then the hull is unlikely to have suffered corrosion from stray electrical currents. It may however have suffered corrosion around the watwrline from not being blacked.

[Victor Vectis]

You won't know about the state of the hull until the boat is out of the water, so get it out and get a survey.

 

If you like the boat, and everything is hunky dory, then the cost of said survey will be £s well spent. If the surveyor says "walk away" or words to that effect you will have saved yourselves grief and money!

 

(Do I need to add that I am not a marine surveyor?)

 

ETA If you decide to go ahead then it would be a good idea to get it blacked while it is out of the water for the survey.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Victor Vectis

[system 4-50]

Was it epoxy blacked?

[Guest]

Hi All

 

Just about to buy our first boat and are quite taken with a 1996 Colecraft trad. Just a little worried that it hasn't been blacked since 2011 and has spent most of its life in a marine without a galvanic isolator. Before We commit to a deposit and survey, do those out there with undoubtedly more knowledge than me think we should walk away. I should also add that overall the boat looks quite reasonable and up together.

 

Grateful for any advice

A lot depends on the actual amount of residual blacking and the condition of the hull rather than entirely when it was last done.

 

Some boats blacked only a year ago will show results of poor blacking if the job hasn't been done well. A bad diesel spill will wreck the blacking on a boat blacked only yesterday.

 

The time between blacking isn't the only important factor.

 

I would be inclined to have the boat out for a hull survey IF the boat is right in all other ways.

 

Even if it needs some rectification work it might not br too bad and of course I would be asking the vendor to pay for it or reduce the boat price accordingly.

 

Colecraft are generally regarded as good shells so if a good job has been done when it was last blacked it more than likely will have suffered no or little harm anyway. Unless of course it has been subject to galvanic corrosion which your survey should pick up anyway.

Edited September 4, 2016 by MJG

[Geo]

Is this boat with Whilton Boat Sales ?

[Phil Ambrose]

Is this boat with Whilton Boat Sales ?

I bought our 60ft Colecraft from Whilton and was very happy, oh and our hull is cold galvanised too.

Phil

[MtB]

Hi All

 

Just about to buy our first boat and are quite taken with a 1996 Colecraft trad. Just a little worried that it hasn't been blacked since 2011 and has spent most of its life in a marine without a galvanic isolator. Before We commit to a deposit and survey, do those out there with undoubtedly more knowledge than me think we should walk away. I should also add that overall the boat looks quite reasonable and up together.

 

Grateful for any advice

 

 

It's impossible to say without any money figures mentioned.

 

If the boat is under £10k then I think I'd buy it regardless then sort out any corrosion problems once I get it out of the water for blacking.

 

If it's £20k ish I'd be getting a hull survey to establish the condition more definitively as spending £10k on overplating/replating would result in a boat still worth less than £30k.

 

If more than £30k I'd walk away and carry on looking unless there is something that you like about this boat in particular.

[Richard T]

Colecraft are a good middle of the market builder. Their hulls have good lines with decent length swims. We are happy with our 1988 one. Yes it needed some welding last time out of the water but nothing major ie less than £500.

It would be worth having a survey if you are happy with the rest of the boat. However if not blacked since 2011 has other maintenance been carried out - such as has the engine and gearbox been serviced at the required engine hours and annually if that figure has not been done, has the CH boiler been serviced? You need to look at the general maintenance for the boat not just one aspect of it.

[BargeeSpud]

As has been already said, blacking not been done since 2011 is only an issue if the blacking is bitumen. If it's a 2 pack system, it could last 7-10 years. Anyway, irrespective, a visual check will be a reasonable guide, if it looks thin or heavily scuffed, it's knackered.

 

Personally, I wouldn't rule out any boat based on the age or condition of its blacking. At least it's condition is obvious, unlike a freshly blacked boat who's hull could be totally shot under its shiny new coat.

 

Only a survey is going to tell you the hull's condition & if you walk away without a survey, you could be losing a very good boat.

[Eldog]

Hi All

 

Absolutely amazed by he speed and quality of the replies - thanks - in answer to a couple of Qs

 

Has the boat been connected to a shoreline line (mains electricity) whilst in the marina?

Does it have an inverter?

If the answer is no to both questions, then the hull is unlikely to have suffered corrosion from stray electrical currents. It may however have suffered corrosion around the watwrline from not being blacked.

 

Probably connected; cannot tell for how long. No inverter on the boat.

 

Was it epoxy blacked?

Don't know but probably not.

 

Is this boat with Whilton Boat Sales ?

No - without upsetting the mods; this boat seems to be a different offering to that at Whilton!

 

Finally (thank goodness I hear); The general blacking around the waterline seems ok with no apparent pitting or flaking (if that means anything!). The inside and exterior paintwork seems really good; essentially it seems quite tidy apart from this hull integrity concern,

 

Incidentally the other candidate is a younger East West construction with a 12 mm hull albeit not with same character as the Colecraft.

[Phil Ambrose]

Hi All

 

Absolutely amazed by he speed and quality of the replies - thanks - in answer to a couple of Qs

 

 

 

Probably connected; cannot tell for how long. No inverter on the boat.

 

Don't know but probably not.

 

No - without upsetting the mods; this boat seems to be a different offering to that at Whilton!

 

Finally (thank goodness I hear); The general blacking around the waterline seems ok with no apparent pitting or flaking (if that means anything!). The inside and exterior paintwork seems really good; essentially it seems quite tidy apart from this hull integrity concern,

 

Incidentally the other candidate is a younger East West construction with a 12 mm hull albeit not with same character as the Colecraft.

Bit of an insult to those including me who bought from Whilton.

Phil

[Ssscrudddy]

Hmm just imagining what Jay from The Inbetweeners would call peeps who bought a boat from Whilton...

[nicknorman]

I'd get a Colecraft over an east west (made in China) any day, unless the former was really pants.

Edited September 4, 2016 by nicknorman

[Phil Ambrose]

Hmm just imagining what Jay from The Inbetweeners would call peeps who bought a boat from Whilton...

Never seen the prog so best give us a clue.

Phil

[cuthound]

So if it has been connected permanently to the mains in a marina, and doesn't have a galvanic isolator or isolation transformer it will almost certainly have some galvanic corrosion. How much, who knows. Could be a few pits (easily filled with weld) or need overplating.

 

If you like the boat, offer less than the asking price, subject to survey, and get it surveyed. Then adjust your offer to reflect the degree of work needed.

 

If you don't like it that much, or your initial offer is rejected, walk away.

 

Edited to change get "pics" back to wot I rote "pits".

Edited September 5, 2016 by cuthound

[Mike Tee]

From your description it looks well worth the cost of a survey - unless its one of the brokerages that expect you to pay a deposit before the survey, in which case I'd walk away on principle.

[Traveller]

I thought all brokers required a deposit prior to survey - a refundable deposit that is.

 

And Phil, we bought our first Nb from Whilton with no issues. We went after another a couple of years ago and paid Whilton the subject to survey deposit. The survey did not go well and our deposit was refunded promptly. No issues here with Whilton either.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Traveller

[Machpoint005]

Ours is a 48ft 1995 Colecraft and has always had traditional blacking as opposed to epoxy. It also seems to have remarkably long-lasting anodes. There are no hull corrosion issues I'm aware of, although it is due to come out of the water soon.

 

As others have said, if you like the boat, get it lugged out and have a survey. You're going to do this with the one you eventually buy anyway, so why shouldn't it be this one?

[Eldog]

Hi All

 

After looking at a number of other boats, this one still came to the top of the pack so after a lot of deliberation and a bit of negotiation I had an offer on the Colecraft accepted today. I'll let you know how the survey goes and hopefully will be adding a boat name into my profile in about a month (or so!)

 

Thanks again for all the advice.

[Chewbacka]

Good luck, hope all goes well with the survey

[Greylady2]

Hi All

 

After looking at a number of other boats, this one still came to the top of the pack so after a lot of deliberation and a bit of negotiation I had an offer on the Colecraft accepted today. I'll let you know how the survey goes and hopefully will be adding a boat name into my profile in about a month (or so!)

 

Thanks again for all the advice.

All the best with your dream, its exciting and scary but the enjoyment after the purchase is lovely, one bit of freindly advice us be prepared to spend at least 3k on stuff that never even crossed your mind.

 

:-)

[Eldog]

Hi All

 

Update - had the survey last week and the hull was fine and there was only light pitting - less than 1mm, so with a huge sigh of relief the purchase is progressing apace.

 

We're both hugely excited about becoming owners of our first boat and then getting out and about on the water but I suspect I'm going to need a fairly fat wallet over the next few months!

 

Thanks for everyone's help and advice

[Penfold]

Get some piccies up Eldog

[toekneep]

I am genuinely excited for you Eldog and looking forward to the pictures. We are at the 'looking for a boat but have to sell a house first' stage which is so frustrating. Your tale is exactly how I imagine and hope our experience will pan out one day and it gives me a real positive feeling. Good luck with it all, I hope it goes well.