Bottom paint condition, pre-purchase

[isophase]

Hi all, looking for some wisdom from the crowd here. My wife and I are looking to buy our first boat, a trawler. I've got lots of experience using and teaching on sailing and power boats but zero ownership experience. We have found one that looks good. Taking a second look on the hard, the bottom paint is in pretty rough shape though. It's layer upon layer, just flaking off from pressure washing or even with light scratch of a fingernail.

This boat was mostly freshwater for decades, but recently completed the Loop. We'd be keeping it in fresh water. Current location & where we'd keep it are in Canada so the boat is out of the water November-April. Earliest we could sea-trial is April-May.

I'm thinking options, in order of preference:
1) Make stripping and re-painting a condition of purchase. The hull will be nice and dry by April having been out of the water for months, plus it's already hauled out. Get a full season with the hull properly protected assuming sea-trial goes well.
2) Accept seller's offer of local sanding and touch-up, buy as-is at a lower price, short trip home (<200mi). Use it locally for a season (June-October), then do the job right (soda blast, epoxy barrier, antifouling) the next spring
3) Same as (2) but immediate haul and repaint on top of the old on arrival home. Not as nice because I lose a bunch of the season. Not sure if this would even work with the hull recently wet and the under layers flaking.

I get the seller's reluctance to sink more money in, but this seems like significant deferred maintenance. How much harm could I do if I used it as-is in fresh water for five months?

Thanks in advance!

Jeff

 

[Mainship Pilot]

Accept the offer, roll a coat on it, touch up the rough spots, and use and enjoy your new boat!

 

[isophase]

@Mainship Pilot - Sounds so simple! Maybe I am overthinking. Appreciate the input.

 

[Mainship Pilot]

@Mainship Pilot - Sounds so simple! Maybe I am overthinking. Appreciate the input.

From the small sample shot you sent, the bottom looks normal for a boat that is due for a every two year bottom service, which is what we do here in So Cal, as our boats live in the water year round. Unless there are egregious blisters, or thru hulls that are compromised, coat and go!

 

[SIBERNUT]

A blast job would give you several years of use. But more important would reveal hull damage or repaired blisters currently hidden. I think if'n it was me , id offer to split the blast/paint bill contingent on no prior hull damage revealed upon blast. Also resolves the issue of what type of paint is on there, ablative or not

 

[Jeff F]

A blast job would give you several years of use. But more important would reveal hull damage or repaired blisters currently hidden. I think if'n it was me , id offer to split the blast/paint bill contingent on no prior hull damage revealed upon blast. Also resolves the issue of what type of paint is on there, ablative or not

If I were the seller I'd reject that offer. There is no need to remove paint to check for blisters.

When I walk around the yard where I'm parked on the great lakes, half the bottoms look like that. I fully understand the reluctance of owners to pay five figures to have the bottoms stripped and refinished. For most there's no justification in doing so. I wouldn't label that deferred maintenance.

 

[SIBERNUT]

Really hard to see blisters that have been repaired & painted over. Like how big & how many.

 

[Portage_Bay]

If I were the seller I'd reject your offer based on full bottom work. If I were you and intended fresh water use only I'd touch it up and go boating.

 

[Jeff F]

Really hard to see blisters that have been repaired & painted over. Like how big & how many.

I guess everyone has different concerns. A good surveyor should be able to determine bottom condition without removing the paint. It's an extreme solution to address an uncommon concern, in my experience.

 

[Deckape]

Looks like it's drew for a paint job . If it had blisters ,they would show as the boat dried . Water would contimue to leak as the hull dried . I would not accept your offer as to blast bottom and repair and paint . You should be able to see ,feel any bristers and your surveyer could mark and show you . If that's the boat you want , buy it ,have bottom sanded and painted ,and any blisters repaired in the spring .

 

[Jeff F]

@Mainship Pilot - Sounds so simple! Maybe I am overthinking. Appreciate the input.

A broker friend advises all sellers to repaint the bottom lickety split after the boat is hauled. It improves overall presentability and largely avoids these sorts of concerns with first-time buyers.

It sounds like you're overthinking. Put a complete bottom job on your to-do list, don't make any planned big changes in the first year, and see how your list orders out after using the boat. I suspect this won't be near the top.

 

[Mac2]

Observations: looks like the black bottom paint wasn’t applied correctly to the blue bottom paint-maybe not sanded enough (or at all) to allow it to adhere.
Perspective: I am in fresh water year round. I just did a bottom job after six years (I did the previous bottom job). I was shocked at how well the bottom paint held up. I could have gone a couple more years. My neighbor, who has a floating home with fiberglass pontoons, does a bottom job every 10 years.
As people stated above, you could slap some bottom paint on and get by for quite awhile.
Make sure you have aluminum anodes!
You should be able to see blisters if they exist-who cares if they were repaired.
At some point you would want to get rid of all the bottom paint and barrier coat and bottom paint.