17 Montauk , Thinking of buying, need advice

  ContinuousWave
  Whaler
  Moderated Discussion Areas
  ContinuousWave: Whaler Marketplace
  17 Montauk , Thinking of buying, need advice

search | FAQ | profile | register | author help

Author Topic:   17 Montauk , Thinking of buying, need advice

sloppyrudder posted 04-20-2008 10:19 AM ET (US)
Hello All,
I'm seriously considering purchasing and '87 Montauk. I have a couple of concerns though, and wanted to check how significant you guys think these are. On the port side, near the rub rail is there is a crack, and on the port quarter there is another smaller crack. Also, on the cutwater there is a fair amount of scrapes (this isn't that big of a concern to me, as it seems like normal where & tear on boat that is used frequently.) How big of a concern are the other two cracks for me? What would it take to repair these cracks?
Photos can be seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25389668@N07/
Thanks,
Mike
wyeisland posted 04-20-2008 03:21 PM ET (US)
Of the three pictures the ones labeled ...65 and ...60 look like no problem.
As my dad would say ....61 looks major. It can be fixed I am sure but it needs to be investigated by someone who could carry out the repair. Also you may have a saturated hull, again lots of boats run today that used to be and still are saturated but this is a serious problem. At least you have reason to do some serious price negotiation on this one.
sloppyrudder posted 04-20-2008 03:49 PM ET (US)
Unfortunately I haven't been able to inspect this boat firsthand, but have had a friend go up and look at it for me. I emailed him the "Buying A Classic Whaler" Guide and he used that to inspect it. He found no signs of sogginess (walked around barefoot) in the deck, nor any signs of cracking in the exterior gelcoat or transom.
It's tough as I am in South Florida, and unmodified Montauk's get snapped up pretty quickly. This boat has a nearly new magic tilt trailer, and a 4 stroke Yamaha 90 with less than 100 hours, I don't mind a bit of work to make it right but I do want something ready for the water right away. Having been around Whalers my whole life, I know the right boat can be a lifetime boat...I just don't want to get into something that will have significant issues down the road.
Thanks for the help!
gfrutig1 posted 04-20-2008 03:58 PM ET (US)
You can't see too well on the water line picture, looks like it's been repaired. The othe two pictures are rub rail damage. If no damage behinde these area no worries, just replace the rubrail.
DaveS posted 04-20-2008 11:23 PM ET (US)
I guess the main question is going to be, how handy are you? There's a lot of great information at your fingertips right here at the forum. The last image just looks like the channel for the rubrail is cracked, if that's the case, I wouldn't think it's no big deal...for the other repairs, check out this thread...
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/whalerRepair.html
My main concern would be how much water was allowed to get into the hull...do you have any idea if the boat was used with that crack in it? I guess it's a good thing there's no water weeping out of it...but you really need to inspect the boat for your self. If it looks that its too much, walk away...in this market right now, there are a lot of good boats available, you just need to be patient.
If things check out, weight the hull if it's possible and start low...
Good luck...
DaveS
Tohsgib posted 04-21-2008 12:01 PM ET (US)
Sloppy...I told you already that I know where a PERFECT 17 is with newer 4 stroke and trailer. You won't listen so keep wasting your time with the junk ;)
sloppyrudder posted 04-21-2008 12:22 PM ET (US)
Refresh my memory, as the boat you mentioned has sold, right?
Tohsgib posted 04-21-2008 12:24 PM ET (US)
No..it was my old 17 Newtauk I mentioned in Dave's post after you said you did not buy his boat. It is in Venice.
sloppyrudder posted 04-21-2008 12:26 PM ET (US)
Can you forward contact info? pushfull@bellsouth.net Thanks!
Tohsgib posted 04-21-2008 12:26 PM ET (US)
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/015852.html
fisherman posted 04-21-2008 04:27 PM ET (US)
I agree with WYEISLAND and DAVES, water absorption into the hull could spell a lot of problems. From the looks of the crack in photo 61, there may have already been expansion or cracking from freezing??
sloppyrudder posted 04-21-2008 04:51 PM ET (US)
It's a Florida boat, so I don't think it too likely that it has been subject to much, if any freezing. Is it possible that it is a crack in the rub rail assembly? I haven't had a chance to look at the boat myself (6 hour drive), but a friend, who is not overly familiar with whalers said it looked like it was in 'plastic'. The photo of the port quarter shows that fairly well. Having to change the rub rail isn't a deal breaker for me, hull saturation is.
fisherman posted 04-21-2008 08:38 PM ET (US)
I assume the boat has always been in Florida, in which case I agree, freezing is highly unlikely.
If it's just the rubrail and it's separate from the hull, then it may have been very difficult for water to enter the hull.
Why don't you send an e-mail to Mr Bennet, at BW and ask if the rubrail is separate and / or can water enter the hull from the crack. Send a photo along with your e-mail.
His e-mail address is ;
cbennet@whaler.com
Good luck whichever way you decide to go.
superdave_gv posted 04-21-2008 10:44 PM ET (US)

60/61 look like the rubrail "lip" only, no water intrusion. 65 looks a little chunky but probably water tight. I would look for unkept screw holes in transom / stern from old installs of transducers, battery boxes, bilge etc. And the thru-hulls.
Erik 88Montauk posted 04-23-2008 07:19 AM ET (US)
When I looked at the pictures I immediately thought as Dave did, 60 and 61 are in the white plastic portion of the rub rail. There is no water intrusion there.
65 shouldn’t be an issue either. Those marks don’t look too bad, that said, if I bought this boat that would be one area in the top half of to do list (although I haven’t seen the rest of it).
Good luck.
sloppyrudder posted 04-24-2008 04:00 PM ET (US)
Hello All,
I made the drive to look at the boat today. Turns out the crack was indeed rubrail damage, apparently due to over tightening the tie down strap. On the bow, there is more than a little scraping and missing gel coat that has been repaired with marine tex or something like that. Lots of screw holes that have been filled with marine tex, all the 'repairs' were relatively half hearted, I don't think there was any water intrusion, but there is certainly some work to make it right. The biggest nasty I found was that the transom has been ground down, I think maybe some one was going to re-gelcoat at one point, but then decided against it. It looks like a likely trouble area to me, as roving was visible and there appeared to be the first indications of one are starting to de-lam. Super un-decided at this point. The motor and trailer are perfect, the boat not so much. I will probably keep hunting, as the owner and I are kind of far apart on what we think the boat's value is.
I really appreciate everyone's help and advice. Thanks!

Hop to:

Contact Us | RETURN to ContinuousWave Top Page

Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Freeware Version 2000
Purchase our Licensed Version- which adds many more features!
© Infopop Corporation (formerly Madrona Park, Inc.), 1998 - 2000.

Author	Topic: 17 Montauk , Thinking of buying, need advice
sloppyrudder	posted 04-20-2008 10:19 AM ET (US) Hello All, I'm seriously considering purchasing and '87 Montauk. I have a couple of concerns though, and wanted to check how significant you guys think these are. On the port side, near the rub rail is there is a crack, and on the port quarter there is another smaller crack. Also, on the cutwater there is a fair amount of scrapes (this isn't that big of a concern to me, as it seems like normal where & tear on boat that is used frequently.) How big of a concern are the other two cracks for me? What would it take to repair these cracks? Photos can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25389668@N07/ Thanks, Mike
wyeisland	posted 04-20-2008 03:21 PM ET (US) Of the three pictures the ones labeled ...65 and ...60 look like no problem. As my dad would say ....61 looks major. It can be fixed I am sure but it needs to be investigated by someone who could carry out the repair. Also you may have a saturated hull, again lots of boats run today that used to be and still are saturated but this is a serious problem. At least you have reason to do some serious price negotiation on this one.
sloppyrudder	posted 04-20-2008 03:49 PM ET (US) Unfortunately I haven't been able to inspect this boat firsthand, but have had a friend go up and look at it for me. I emailed him the "Buying A Classic Whaler" Guide and he used that to inspect it. He found no signs of sogginess (walked around barefoot) in the deck, nor any signs of cracking in the exterior gelcoat or transom. It's tough as I am in South Florida, and unmodified Montauk's get snapped up pretty quickly. This boat has a nearly new magic tilt trailer, and a 4 stroke Yamaha 90 with less than 100 hours, I don't mind a bit of work to make it right but I do want something ready for the water right away. Having been around Whalers my whole life, I know the right boat can be a lifetime boat...I just don't want to get into something that will have significant issues down the road. Thanks for the help!
gfrutig1	posted 04-20-2008 03:58 PM ET (US) You can't see too well on the water line picture, looks like it's been repaired. The othe two pictures are rub rail damage. If no damage behinde these area no worries, just replace the rubrail.
DaveS	posted 04-20-2008 11:23 PM ET (US) I guess the main question is going to be, how handy are you? There's a lot of great information at your fingertips right here at the forum. The last image just looks like the channel for the rubrail is cracked, if that's the case, I wouldn't think it's no big deal...for the other repairs, check out this thread... http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/whalerRepair.html My main concern would be how much water was allowed to get into the hull...do you have any idea if the boat was used with that crack in it? I guess it's a good thing there's no water weeping out of it...but you really need to inspect the boat for your self. If it looks that its too much, walk away...in this market right now, there are a lot of good boats available, you just need to be patient. If things check out, weight the hull if it's possible and start low... Good luck... DaveS
Tohsgib	posted 04-21-2008 12:01 PM ET (US) Sloppy...I told you already that I know where a PERFECT 17 is with newer 4 stroke and trailer. You won't listen so keep wasting your time with the junk ;)
sloppyrudder	posted 04-21-2008 12:22 PM ET (US) Refresh my memory, as the boat you mentioned has sold, right?
Tohsgib	posted 04-21-2008 12:24 PM ET (US) No..it was my old 17 Newtauk I mentioned in Dave's post after you said you did not buy his boat. It is in Venice.
sloppyrudder	posted 04-21-2008 12:26 PM ET (US) Can you forward contact info? pushfull@bellsouth.net Thanks!
Tohsgib	posted 04-21-2008 12:26 PM ET (US) http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/015852.html
fisherman	posted 04-21-2008 04:27 PM ET (US) I agree with WYEISLAND and DAVES, water absorption into the hull could spell a lot of problems. From the looks of the crack in photo 61, there may have already been expansion or cracking from freezing??
sloppyrudder	posted 04-21-2008 04:51 PM ET (US) It's a Florida boat, so I don't think it too likely that it has been subject to much, if any freezing. Is it possible that it is a crack in the rub rail assembly? I haven't had a chance to look at the boat myself (6 hour drive), but a friend, who is not overly familiar with whalers said it looked like it was in 'plastic'. The photo of the port quarter shows that fairly well. Having to change the rub rail isn't a deal breaker for me, hull saturation is.
fisherman	posted 04-21-2008 08:38 PM ET (US) I assume the boat has always been in Florida, in which case I agree, freezing is highly unlikely. If it's just the rubrail and it's separate from the hull, then it may have been very difficult for water to enter the hull. Why don't you send an e-mail to Mr Bennet, at BW and ask if the rubrail is separate and / or can water enter the hull from the crack. Send a photo along with your e-mail. His e-mail address is ; cbennet@whaler.com Good luck whichever way you decide to go.
superdave_gv	posted 04-21-2008 10:44 PM ET (US) 60/61 look like the rubrail "lip" only, no water intrusion. 65 looks a little chunky but probably water tight. I would look for unkept screw holes in transom / stern from old installs of transducers, battery boxes, bilge etc. And the thru-hulls.
Erik 88Montauk	posted 04-23-2008 07:19 AM ET (US) When I looked at the pictures I immediately thought as Dave did, 60 and 61 are in the white plastic portion of the rub rail. There is no water intrusion there. 65 shouldn’t be an issue either. Those marks don’t look too bad, that said, if I bought this boat that would be one area in the top half of to do list (although I haven’t seen the rest of it). Good luck.
sloppyrudder	posted 04-24-2008 04:00 PM ET (US) Hello All, I made the drive to look at the boat today. Turns out the crack was indeed rubrail damage, apparently due to over tightening the tie down strap. On the bow, there is more than a little scraping and missing gel coat that has been repaired with marine tex or something like that. Lots of screw holes that have been filled with marine tex, all the 'repairs' were relatively half hearted, I don't think there was any water intrusion, but there is certainly some work to make it right. The biggest nasty I found was that the transom has been ground down, I think maybe some one was going to re-gelcoat at one point, but then decided against it. It looks like a likely trouble area to me, as roving was visible and there appeared to be the first indications of one are starting to de-lam. Super un-decided at this point. The motor and trailer are perfect, the boat not so much. I will probably keep hunting, as the owner and I are kind of far apart on what we think the boat's value is. I really appreciate everyone's help and advice. Thanks!