I'm [considering the purchase of] a 1988 Temptation with twin Suzuki 140-HP four-stroke-cycle engines to replace my Outrage 20. The surveyor tells me that the Temptation has increased moisture readings across the cockpit sole and at some stress cracks in the engine brackets. Are these signficant problems?
If so, what is the estimated cost to fix?
Thanks.
1988 TEMPTATION 25: High Moisture Significant or Not
Re: 1988 TEMPTATION 25: High Moisture Significant or Not
Boston Whaler boats with internal fuel tanks typically have a molded fuel tank cavity in the cockpit. This area is covered by a laminated cover that has reinforcement with plywood. It is fairly commonly seen, unfortunately, that the plywood was not very well sealed in the original manufacture of the hull, that water has gotten into the plywood, and the plywood is weakened or even rotting.
Accounts of a remedy to the decay of the plywood reinforcement of the central fuel tank cavity cover are frequent. There is an excellent article that illustrates the process of removing this cover and replacing the plywood in the REFERENCE section of the website. Reading the complete two-part, well written, excellently illustrated will give you a good idea of the amount of work needed to perform this repair.
I have no idea what a artisan in your location--actually I have no idea where you are located either--would charge for performing this service, but I think you could estimate such a repair as costing several thousand dollars.
A soft or spongy deck is a defect. I certainly would reduce my offer on a boat I was considering to purchase based on it having a spongy deck. That the deck read a little differently on a moisture meter--well I really don't know what that means.
I mention this repair because it is common. However, I have no idea and no way to know if your boat requires this. The notion that some surveyor used a moisture meter on a Boston Whaler boat is something of a controversial concept. I don't know of any particular standards for comparison of readings on a moisture meter, how they are calibrated, what is a good reading, what is a bad reading, and so on. I suppose about all you could say is that the surveyor's meter read more moisture in one area than it did in another. How much more? What does it mean? I don't know.
The "engine bracket" is called a Whaler Drive. A Whaler Drive is constructed in the same manner as the hull. All TEMPTATION models have them, unless they are sterndrive models.
In my opinion it is unusual to find that a Whaler Drive has allowed water to get into its foam interior. The only points of ingress would be the engine mounting holes drilled through the transom, the splash well drains, and the very large bolts that fasten the Whaler Drive to the hull. The engine mounting is the most likely place, as all the other points were sealed at the factory. If a dealer installed the engines and did not properly seal the holes, water could get into the transom.
The appearance of a few stress cracks on a Whaler Drive is common. They usually occur in areas where the gel coat layer has been built up to a greater thickness than the usual 0.020-inch. These areas are in parts of the mold in corners with concave curves. I have a Boston Whaler boat with a Whaler Drive. There are a few small hairline stress cracks in the gelcoat in these areas, but I do not give these a moment of thought nor do I consider them in any way a structural defect; they are just a bit of a cosmetic flaw.
Accounts of a remedy to the decay of the plywood reinforcement of the central fuel tank cavity cover are frequent. There is an excellent article that illustrates the process of removing this cover and replacing the plywood in the REFERENCE section of the website. Reading the complete two-part, well written, excellently illustrated will give you a good idea of the amount of work needed to perform this repair.
I have no idea what a artisan in your location--actually I have no idea where you are located either--would charge for performing this service, but I think you could estimate such a repair as costing several thousand dollars.
A soft or spongy deck is a defect. I certainly would reduce my offer on a boat I was considering to purchase based on it having a spongy deck. That the deck read a little differently on a moisture meter--well I really don't know what that means.
I mention this repair because it is common. However, I have no idea and no way to know if your boat requires this. The notion that some surveyor used a moisture meter on a Boston Whaler boat is something of a controversial concept. I don't know of any particular standards for comparison of readings on a moisture meter, how they are calibrated, what is a good reading, what is a bad reading, and so on. I suppose about all you could say is that the surveyor's meter read more moisture in one area than it did in another. How much more? What does it mean? I don't know.
The "engine bracket" is called a Whaler Drive. A Whaler Drive is constructed in the same manner as the hull. All TEMPTATION models have them, unless they are sterndrive models.
In my opinion it is unusual to find that a Whaler Drive has allowed water to get into its foam interior. The only points of ingress would be the engine mounting holes drilled through the transom, the splash well drains, and the very large bolts that fasten the Whaler Drive to the hull. The engine mounting is the most likely place, as all the other points were sealed at the factory. If a dealer installed the engines and did not properly seal the holes, water could get into the transom.
The appearance of a few stress cracks on a Whaler Drive is common. They usually occur in areas where the gel coat layer has been built up to a greater thickness than the usual 0.020-inch. These areas are in parts of the mold in corners with concave curves. I have a Boston Whaler boat with a Whaler Drive. There are a few small hairline stress cracks in the gelcoat in these areas, but I do not give these a moment of thought nor do I consider them in any way a structural defect; they are just a bit of a cosmetic flaw.