Thread: Possibly buying 39" cray boat, advice?

Yes I think every single boat i looked at was more trouble than its worth. I wasn't going to go anywhere near a traditional timber planked hull, i just don't have the facilities or know how or money to maintain a hull like that. All the ply hulls I looked at are all around the 70's vintage and in a bad way. And all the diesel engines (6354's) needed work, i don't think i could afford to buy a boat and then have to repower it etc. Well I have shown interest (made an offer) on a 23 foot caribbean crusader. I didn't realise its age as it has undergone a lot of work, but apparently these hulls were made from the mid 70's thru till the early 80's? This particular boat has had the hardtop professionally raised and custom glass fitted, the interior has been completely remodelled and trimmed at a presumably large expense. The hull and trailer are in great condition, but the mercruiser sterndrive could do with a little tidying up in my own opinion. It has (i think) an 888 leg and 302 windsor. Apparently this meant it was a 188hp combination, and 8 cylinders (8cyl188hp) = 888. It seems to be all original with full mercruiser marinising gear, the manifolds look tidy with new elbows (risers?) and the leg seems to be in good condition too. It has an electric head that is fully contained, i would like to remove one of the seats and make a varnished ply kitchenette with sink and gas stove though. Has had a custom fibreglass marlin board grafted into transom, large sun lounge across back of boat also. Its 24 thousand from a dealer, and will be trading in my 16ft glass runabout for a couple grand hopefully. Dealer will be taking me out on the boat this weekend and if i am satisfied, will go ahead with the sale.

bbbbbb...but it's all plastic

Richard

someone had to say it

Have fun with her mate, the material doesn't mean a lot, it's the overall package that has to work for you

Wavedancer.
I am sorry to hear of your sad experience with surveys.
Despite that, I would always advise to have survey done.
Good luck with your boat.

Paul.

Ricochet,
the boat you are looking at, was and still is a terrific old hull.
There has certainly been a lot of work done on this one.
Check carefully for soft spots in floor and transom. Also engine beds and any other structural area you can access.
It might be worth paying your local Merc dealer to go for the test run with you. The motor is getting pretty old now, so some expert advice is definately called for.

Good luck with this one mate.

Tupperware is great stuff.

Paul.

Hi Cris, nice looking bit of tupperware. That electric winch on the solid looking trailer could come in handy. Wood, steel ,plastic or what ever, any day on the water is a good day.
Good luck and fair winds.
Ian L

Originally Posted by HOOKED.UP

I would always advise to have survey done.

Paul.

Hi Paul, firstly I still can't get this quote thing to work properly.
I agree with your advice . Finding a good surveyer that is very experencied in the type of boat that is to be done is very important. The good survey I got was after a week or so of talking to some very wise men and waiting for the right bloke to be available.
I should have picked up a lot of the mechanical faults on the two boats that had the dodgey surveys and I am still kicking myself. Hindsight is 20/20 vision.
Ian L