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A surveyor is a tool... not an answer! 

 Over the years I have been asked or been involved in discussions regarding the purchase of steel boats. Often the subject turns to surveyors and how many people suggest that buyers should put great faith in them.... This runs shivers down my spine. I did that once and if I ever find the XXXX he is going to die the bloody slow death the chicken shit, low life scumbucket deserves. Strong language? Bullshit! You ought to have seen what I just deleted. It's been 9 years and I haven't cooled down yet.

"This vessel was professionally designed and built and has been well maintained to a very high standard. Hull and superstructure are in very good condition. Paitwork (sic) has been kept up to protect all areas. All windows have stom (sic) boards. No defects were noted with hull or superstructure."

 

Owning an old steel boat has taught me many things but paramount is the realisation that a good skipper is absolutely self sufficient, and that begins on the day of purchase. Never ever delegate YOUR responsibility to a person whose abilities or interests are unknown. when it comes to buying a boat it is 'Buyer beware'!

See the article below and judge for yourself! (Always!)

 OK.. it's been 10 years now and I've cooled down a little..

 Lesson number one,
The skipper is responsible from day one


Over the years I have been asked or been involved in discussions regarding the purchase of steel boats. Often the subject turns to surveyors and some people suggest that buyers rely entirely on the surveyors report. This runs shivers down my spine. I did that once.....

"This vessel was professionally designed and built and has been well maintained to a very high standard. Hull and superstructure are in very good condition. Paitwork (sic) has been kept up to protect all areas. All windows have stom (sic) boards. No defects were noted with hull or superstructure."


Owning an old steel boat has taught me many things but paramount is the realisation that a good skipper is absolutely self sufficient, and that begins on the day of purchase. Never ever delegate YOUR responsibility to a person whose abilities or interests are unknown. When it comes to buying a boat it is 'Buyer beware'! A good surveyor can be very helpful but do learn enough yourself to know the difference between a good boat and a disaster. How to judge a steel boat? Very briefly, look around as you board. Is deck gear bolted through the decks? Or on raised flanges? Leaks on decks ruin steel. Is there timber fastened to the steel? Oh oh.. look carefully around the edges of the timber for signs of fresh paint to hide the rust scale. Go below and look immediately for the lowest point in the bilges. Not accessible? Walk away. Accessible? Is it dry? I like to see dust and cob webs, maybe even a little saw dust left from the fitout. Is the prop shaft seal dry or a dripping stuffing box? Is the fitout nailed and glued? Or does it appear to be removable so the steel can be accessed for inspection and service? Are the electrics tidy and well organised? Poorly designed or badly installed electrics can destroy a steel hull. If those items pass muster then go hire your surveyor to see what he/she finds.

The reason for the revision? Because I have met on a few occaisions over the years, surveyors that are proffesional and they do not deserve to be painted with the same brush as the low life that sold me out.

And why haven't I named the surveyor? Because it would serve no purpose at this time. As far as I know he folded up his shingle and hasn't pursued business since this incident. If I hear he is back in business I will publish his name.

 Our first clue, the little rusted spot I saw at pre-purchase inspection and brought to the surveyors attention. He said not to worry, 'a little anti-foul over it the next slipping' This slipping was two months later and when I scratched the spot the screw driver went through!! I hired a local engineer to patch the steel and replace the worn cutlass bush. They managed to put a huge ugly patch on the hull that I later replaced and in the act of repairing the bush,they bent the shaft and wrecked the cutlass and stern tube. It became obvious the jeweller was going to have to learn about boat repair.
 I asked the surveyor about the "bumps" in the teak deck too. "Not to worry..."
 I have never doubted that I married well. Kay was down below working and wasn't happy about this photo but I wanted something to give a sense of scale to this nightmare. There was no steel left under the teak. It was now soil!
Cut the old out and weld the new in. This is my first welding job.... EVER! The first go I shaped the sheets of steel to perfection. All a perfect tight fit. Zero gap between sections. This was a disaster of course as the welds started cracking later. After cutting all the seams again and leaving a 3 mm gap, I got great penetration and very sturdy welds. Another lesson learned.
 I was pretty proud at this point and figured I was half done....... Another lesson learned.
 Of course the bow was just as bad and was all replaced too. The side decks were heavily repaired but saved in large part.
 It looked OK under the cockpit seats... but they had hidden the mess with a layer of fibre glass. This shot is after I cut away the rotten combing.
 That's the cockpit... lovely eh?
 While I was at it I redesigned the whole thing including a "light box" type thing to better illuminate the Galley below.
 Progress.... The decks are now water tight... so time to start below.
 I have read old books on steel boat building saying how good blown in polyurethane insulation is in steel boats... BULLSHIT! Water soaks it and retains it. the steel was a mess under the crap.
You can see some of my patches in this shot. All the rotten foam gone, the steel scaled for days and a very careful paint system installed. Lost count of how many layers of paint. Two of pre prime, then a couple of epoxy primer, then a couple coats of "jotomastic, then layer upon layer of white polyurethane two part paint. about 12-15 coats in all.  
 The prop shaft on left and the shaft tube in center was all replaced with much of the surrounding steel.
 After...
 This is the low point in the bilge, the water tanks had been here, preventing inspection and hiding horrible sins. I had to cut them to pieces to remove them. We held off scaling the rust back till the boat was on the slip, good thing as the tool punched 8 holes through the steel. She was floating on rust and paint!!
 The engine was very good but the cooling system/ heat exchanger was stuffed. In fact everything that was bolted on was wrecked. The uetectic fridge system was a disaster and I threw that rotten thing away and never missed it. Electric is the way to go!!!(below)
 I did the stainless work in sections on the wharf.
 Then checked by eye with Kay holding the bits in place.
 Experimenting with the plastic window replacements.
 This was all done on the slip and the fishermen didn't like the slip tied up for long so we did it in one week periods max, three sessions. We had two welders then. I would work on the inside after cutting the holes and rough cutting the patches. Kay would work outside hammering in wedges behind the dogs to roll the steel to the shape of the round hull as I tacked the plate from the inside before welding all around inside. When done with that, I would come out and weld the outside bead with the other, more powerful welder. Over 40 sq FT were done this way. By this time especially, my welding was very good. Not one leak occured when relaunched. No weld has had to be serviced in any way.
 Go ahead... ask me what I think of surveyors...
 Kay insures the paint is chipped back to firm before a coat of primer. The burn marks where there are no patches are where I found isolated worm holes in otherwise good steel. I would just weld them up from the inside.
 Good!
 Now to repair the stuff the engineers fucked up. I welded up a new stern tube out of schedule 80 stainless pipe and 5/8 plate.
 Done!
 Didn't save them all but these are SOME of the peaces of steel removed from under the water line.
 Good shit eh?!
 This is one of the water tanks I cut apart to expose the bilge under the galley. It was holed (another thing the surveyor missed) but notice it rotted from the outside in!!!
 That pile of debris is rust scale. We literally shovelled it out.
 It was surprising how thick the stuff would get.
 When done the wood was kept to a minimum and where it could be removed for service of the paint. Every system of the boat was rebuilt and refurbished. All up 12 plates of steel (thats 1200X2400mm or 4" X 8") were used in the repair and countless lengths of angle and bar.

 A very good boat!... Now anyway.