Rot in St Tropez

[Shear Delight]

Hi

I am in the process of buying a 1985 32'St Tropez. I have owned several other brands but this would be my first Wellcraft. On this forum I've read about the high possibility of rot in the stringers, under the fuel tanks etc. Is rot mainly a problem in humid areas or is it due to water in the bilge and less than good quality fiberglass methods? All my boating is in northern California.
One more question... Can I detect the rot myself (icepick, hammer etc) or is it only detectable by a professional surveyor?
I'm going for a sea trial tomorrow and if satisfactory I plan to haul and survey her next Wednesday. And in between I'll check for rot myself.

Thank very much for your time in reading this.

Sincerely, Jim Shear

 

[David M]

Jim,

You may want to post this in the ATC forum as well.

 

[PascalG]

stringer rot usually comes from bilge water and water going thru un sealed limber holes. It can also come from weak construction where the builder didn't use enough glass/resin and covered it up with gel coat. Gel coat is britle, cracks and lets water in.

when wood gets wet, it expands making the matter worst. Look for cracks in the stringer, near limber holes, where the stinger meets the hull etc... tap aroudn for a hammer and listen for dull sounds. if you find iffy stringers, you may want to reconsider and cancel the $urvey, it depends on the extent of the damage.

or maybe, ask the surveyor to start there and stop early, without hauling out to save on expenses if the rot is too extensive.

 

[petesl]

HiJim,
You are correct many of them have bad stringer. The wood platforms under the fuel tanks also rot. I would also check the decks they tend to get soft.

Pete Slawek, AMS