I’m hoping that someone with experience could weigh in on this.
I’m looking for my next boat and I see that boats that contain wood usually are lighter and can handle more power. I also see a lot of wood boats done wrong, and end up rotten and needing major work.
For example, the old mako boats have wood coring, and many need an overhaul because of it, but they are awesome boats.
The old contenders and regulators have wood coring, and I never hear about problems with them.
What are your thoughts on the risk involved with buying an older (2000 ish) wood cored boat such as glacier bay or regulator? Is there reason to worry about getting another 10 years out of it?
Hopefully some of our master builders can give me some direction on what to look for or steer clear of. To be specific I may be looking at a 2000 or 2002 glacier bay 260.
quote:
What are your thoughts on the risk involved with buying an older (2000 ish) wood cored boat such as glacier bay or regulator? Is there reason to worry about getting another 10 years out of it?
The risk is high with most production boats that age, it’s already 16 years old, it probably won’t go 10 more without some major work unless it was built really well. Most were not. I’m not going to name any brands, but recommend you pay a good marine surveyor a few hundred dollars before you buy anything that age. There are some good ones that age out there for sure. And some real bad ones.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
BY THE 2000’S ALOT OF BUILDERS HAD MOVED AWAY FROM WOOD, BUT LIKE LARRY SAID
GET IT SURVEYED
www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.joinrfa.org
IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING
Obviously there are a lot of factors to consider when looking a wood-cored boat. The three biggest in my opinion would be the type of wood used, where the wood is used in the boat, and the builder reputation.
End grain balsa core is going to be a more effective material home depot plywood. And I’ve seen plenty of decks and bulkheads cored with this stuff. Stringers and transoms cored and/or reinforced with wood should be inspected with a fine tooth comb. If the coring goes bad here, you have a very expensive problem.
Almost all of the rotten wood-core I’ve seen is due to “backyard” DIY rigging and fitting work. Poor bedding, cutting holes when and where you shouldn’t, or worse, just screwing fasteners directly into the hull (transom-mounted transducers for example).
So while a wood-cored boat isn’t a red flag by itself, it certainly changes the lens you should look through before buying it. Like Larry said, a good surveyor with the right tools and experience is well worth the money in this case.
And regarding specific builders, try to find owners groups and forums dedicated to the specific manufacturers and models you’re considering. If there is a history of coring issues on a particular boat, it will be well discussed on these sites.