Newbie looking for advice on buying a boat

[believer247]

Hello everyone, I'm Kat from VA. It's been several lifetimes ago since I owned a boat, and that was briefly with an old boyfriend. I am looking to find something to help my son (and myself) get through the grief and loss of my father. We were his caretakers for the last year, and lived with him most of my son's life before Daddy took ill. HUGE gaping hole in our life and my son is having a hard time adjusting.

I found this on Craigslist for a "steal of a deal", and the owner seems upfront and honest with me. He says it runs, but needs a new floor to walk on as it has many soft spots due to age (which is understandable for a '71). I am asking if some of you experts out there agree with me that if it runs and not smoking, and the outside looks good, for $550.00 is it worth the undertaking?

Don't worry, I swear I won't come back and say "It's all your fault, I only did it because you said so." (Yes, my attempt at humor.) BUT, if I can pull it off, I promise I will be asking for advice.

Thanks in advance!

 

[GT1000000]

Hello Kat,
Very sorry to hear about your loss...
Unless you can find out for certain if the core under the fiberglass is something like foam or some other structure that is NOT wood and it isn't deteriorated or water logged, then...
Unfortunately it is a sad truth that 99.9% of all fiberglass/wood boats older than a few years, improperly stored and cared for, with soft spots in the deck, are more than likely rotten from the core up.
Brown wood rot is like a cancer and once it gets into the wood, spreads unceasingly until there is nothing but some fiberglass covering what amounts to mulch...
The only proper and safe solution is to completely gut the hull and replace all of the substructure with new wood and fiberglass.
Your best bet is to try and find an aluminum hulled boat that will probably need the wood replaced in it, but it will be much less of an undertaking in both labor and money...
Best of Luck,
Gus

 

[jbcurt00]

Sorry for your loss

Welcome to iboats. Unfortunately, your pix didn't attach. The forum got a software upgrade that didn't go as planned. One of the lingering major hang ups is problems posting pix. Another is an erroneous error message when posting. If you get an error message, click OK and it'll appear as though your reply didn't post. It most likely did, no need to repost it. Just refresh your browser window.

Use a 3rd party pix hosting site. I (and many others) prefer photobucket (there are other sites). Load your pix to a free photobucket acct. Each pix has an IMG code under or beside it. Copy that code and paste it into your reply. The IMG code looks something like this:
IMG]http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/other%20people%20boats%20or%20pix%20info/57ec4e09-c5f0-45bd-a3db-68d5c87c62c2_zps212275d5.jpg[/IMG

And the pix show up IN your reply instead of as attachments that have to be opened to be viewed:

There are more mother/son projects @iboats then you'd think. Following GT's excellent advice, I banged around the VA craigs posts and didn't find a great tin project, but they may be in there some where.

Tell us roughly where in VA you call your home port. Better still stab a pin in the map:
iBoaters...Where are you!!!! - Members Map

How do you intend to boat? Is your son into water sports? Does he (or you) have friends that'll want to go to and spend a Sat or an entire weekend on the water? Cruising local waterways at a leisurely pace, just enjoying the time on the water? Primarily fishing? Freshwater only, or an occasional trip offshore?

This info ^^^ will help narrow what type and size boat you'll want to be looking for.

Maybe just a small 14ft semi-V w/ a sub 10hp outboard would quickly get you out on the water.

 

[GWPSR]

Important questions to have a positive answer to before beginning:

1. Does the seller have clear title to both boat and trailer? Some states have methods of title search if he doesn't, but many also will refuse. Regardless, it's easier with paperwork.
2. Are both you and your son ready, willing, and able to get dirty, learn new skills, and look apparent defeat square in the eye and kick its ass?
3. How do you feel about abject poverty? Would you feed the Boat Beast before yourselves? Seriously though, it's never cheap if done right and done well, though doing it yourself is far less expensive (and more satisfying ultimately) than paying a so-called "professional" to do it for you (No offense intended to the several Pros that hang around here -- they are not who I am indicting...)

If you can, post some pics (use Photobucket, Imageshack or Picassa for hosting) and we'll all help you assess it. We're all nuts, but in a good way.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Welcome aboard KAT.

Sorry about the loss of your dad. Hopefully us here at iBoats can act as a surrogate as needed.

one of the the best links for looking at a boat is http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gene...eeding-help-buying-a-boat-a-buyer-s-checklist

as regard to your craigslist find. simply posting the link here will help us comment. However as indicated, old fiberglass boats with "soft spots" in the floor are a thing that we see often. If you were my sister, I strongly advise against it and push you toward an aluminum boat. However, as also indicated, without us knowing what you would like to do with the boat, its hard to give advise on a boat.

If you could, please indicate what you would like to do (fishing, cruising, water sports, etc.) and what your limitations are (size of tow vehicle, location to store/park, etc.) and us here at the iBoats family will be glad to help.

 

[jc55]

Welcome to iboats Kat. I was widowed a little over 3 years ago (but have since remarried). My young wife had ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) for over 6 years. I was also care taker for those years with children, and boating became a big part of our lives. It's been a huge outlet for us. Many prayers to you and your family as your journey is very much beginning in many ways.

My best advice, like we did on the classic car forums, is to find a friend or have someone close to you geographically, take a look. So much junk out there. These guys will keep ya straight.

Edited...sorry, I thought you said his father.

 

[redneck joe]

Hey kat welcome aboard.


First advice - get young boyfriends not old ones. My lady friends tell me the young ones are more fun....


Second advice read what the folks have already posted about rot. That is the biggie. If you are wanting cheap on the water with less issues aluminum is the ticket. Unless you want to have a bonding experience with the boy on a complete restoration project.


Take care and make sure you laugh every day.

 

[jigngrub]

Checkout Ms. Friderdays restoration she did with her son:

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...d-hull-repair/559755-stringer-bulkhead-design

 

[believer247]

Wow, y'all are awesome! Thanks for all the warm welcome, and advice! Here's the link to the boat - https://richmond.craigslist.org/bar/4651986472.html
My computer is broke at moment at home, so I'm stealing time at work. I tried to pin the map, but I'll have to go back to that. Closest person to me would be "gatorfan1996" and he is a little distance. I'm 20 minutes from Richmond, VA. I have a few acquaintances I could ask to help, but they would read to much into the request, (if you know what I mean).:embarassed:

Using it for freshwater fishing, or just lazy days out on the lake, or rivers. Lake Anna is close to me, and an awesome place to go. I have a 3/4 Dodge 4x4 that will pull anything, so hauling isn't a problem. We have a friend with a pontoon boat that we use to hang out with, my son enjoyed those days, and yes, there are friends and extended family that would love to go. I'm thinking for quality time something that would hold 4 people would be good, most times I believe it will be just my son and myself.

Thank you "jigngrub" I will check out Ms. Friderdays project! You have all made me smile today. My Daddy was in the Navy in WWII, he was a Petty Officer though I can't remember which class. I'll will keep looking, and get better acquainted here. Thanks again to all of you!

 

[Corjen1]

Welcome to IBOATS Kat! Sorry to hear of your loss, some of my best childhood memories are from when my Mom took me fishing.....

Not sure what your budget is, how mechanically inclined you are, or how close Windsor is to you, but this one showed up in "nearby" Richmond...

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/boa/4642437554.html

Im sure some of the other folks here will be chiming in as well...

Cordell