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Humph, you're right, there doesn't seem to be any discussion of this.
Two books:
I don't recall the title exactly but something like 'Surveying Small Craft'
by Ian Nicholson is supposedly good. Another book is 'What Shape is She
In?' (or something similar) by Alan Vaitses.
How much time do you propose spending looking at each boat? A friend of
mine just bought a Bristol 35. The surveyor spent over nine hours
looking at the boat -- rather thorough. I'd guess that a casual hour or
so inspection would tell you much about the boat.
A very partial list:
Is the boat clean (including bilges, engine, lockers)?
Any visible structural damage, especially at the keel to hull joint and
the aft end of the keel? (Fin keel boats like C&Cs can be badly damaged by
a not too hard grounding -- I've seen two C&Cs with the hull cracked at
the aft end of the keel.)
Any visible signs of water leakage around the ports, stanchions,
hatches, deck fittings, toe rails, etc? (After 5 to 10 years everything
will need rebedding -- not fun or easy).
Any bent stanchions or pulpits?
If the deck is balsa cored, and if you can see the underside of the deck
around fittings, look for discolored balsa (eg, black). This indicates
rot and water in the balsa. If the deck is cored, is it deformed under
any fittings? This indicates that the core has been crushed. Any stress
cracking of the gelcoat, especially around stanchions, genoa tracks,
etc?
Does everything work? Lights, pumps, electronics, stove, etc.
Is everything on the inventory actually on the boat or actually exist?
Do all winches, blocks, cleats, etc, have substantial backing plates?
Any signs of corrosion in the wiring? Are there enough circuit breakers?
(I'd avoid fuses.) Is all the wiring neatly cabled and supported?
And so on.
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| I am not familiar with the C&C yachts but basically the survey would
be the same for all.
Here in Ireland professional survey's don't come cheap and before
engaging in one you would need to be pretty sure that you are close
to buying and really looking for confirmation that there are no
serious hidden defects which you may have overlooked yourself.
I have just bought a Comfort 30,Swedish design from 1974.So have
been through the survey route.
I looked at quite a number of boats,some of which gave themselves
away very readily symply from the way they had been looked after.
Look for any hull irregularities ,stress cracks or star crazing
particularly in the way of chain plates etc. If you are lucky shemay
have been cleaned off well below the waterline which will enable
you to at least pick up signs of wicking or osmosis.
When walking on balsa cored decks,evidence of creaking underfoot
is an indication of delamination from the balsa core.
Clean bilges and engine are the sign of a careful owner.
Check the free movement of seacocks and for signs of corrosion or
weakness in skin fittings.
check for excessive play in rudder bearings and propellor shaft.
look for rust streaking from an iron keel joint.There may be keel
bolt corrosion. You may be able to have them x-rayed rather than
drawn.
I would also suggest you inspect the internal chain plate fixings
for adequate bonding etc.
I have just skimmed the surface,but hopefully it is something for
you to proceed from.
Good luck,
Regards,
Tom
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