98 OA in Washington

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
bshillam

bshillam

Guru
Joined
May 18, 2013
Messages
801
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Our Heaven
Vessel Make
1997 4800 Navigator
Looks very nice! Hope the survey goes well.
 
Nice looking boat. Where will you be moored?
 
Nice looking boat. Keep us posted on how the process goes.

We have the same engines. If they have been properly maintained and run at reasonable RPMs, no real issues with them. Pretty easy to maintain.

John
 
Hope all goes well on the purchase, enjoy!
 
More than likely close to Portland. As much as we love the San Juans we'll be up there at least every two years. Possibly every and enjoy a nice long vacation. So many places on the list to go and never enough time.
 
We are 6 years from retirement in Bellingham, live our Tolly 30 but as we look ahead for our next boat keep running into OAs. Do you know what kind of slow cruise efficiency she can do? Love the cockpit, good luck
 
I haven’t studied it enough to be 100% confident but at displacement speeds I would think about 1 gallon at 7 - 8. But it’s just a guess.
 
There are smarter guys on here that can break down the amount of HP needed and calculate it pretty accurately. Maybe one will chime in.
 
So we saw the boat yesterday. Spent quite a bit of time going over her just doing an initial once over and the minor/major things found
1. Front of the windshield to the bow of the boat the gel coat was thin. Thin enough you can see whatever they layered up under the gel.
2. Crack in cockpit floor about the size of a baseball where the gel coat is lifting. Broker used a moisture reader and says the core isn't wet.
3. Front windshield area interior where the glass meets the dash has some minor panel damage and they used cetol to cover it. Looks very poorly done as the rest of the interior is satin.
4. Salon floor is in poor condition, open gaps between the teak parquet flooring (minor but non the less its there).
5. Mechanical - water pumps leaking slightly have caused minor rusting to occur on that side of the motors. Various hoses/lines need to be replaced.
6. Swim float has crack right where you step and the tread is compromised.

Not sure why but the house has been painted at one point and time. (It wasn't done really well but it's livable)
 
Last edited:
OA had some gelcoat cracking issues in this time frame. This is probably why the house was repainted.
 
I am coming to terms even though I really like the OA and would love to own one this one might not be for me. The boat is telling me a story - it really hasn't been kept. Lots of features my family really would like but it says, I haven't been looked after. At least not to the level I would expect to see an OA.
 
Last edited:
bshillam said:
I am coming to terms even though I really like the OA and would love to own one this one might not be for me. The boat is telling me a story - it really hasn't been kept. Lots of features my family really would like but it says, I haven't been looked after. At least not to the level I would expect to see an OA.
Click to expand...

Tough dealing with such realities when you really wanted to like the boat. From the sounds of it, your assessment is probably spot-on and your decision to walk is a reasonable one. If you found those items in your walk through, imagine what still remains hidden.

On to the next one.

John
 
There will always be some cosmetic issues in a 20 year old boat. There may be a more perfect one out there but it will go for $100k more. If you like the boat and the boat overall is sound, make an offer that accounts for fixing some of the cosmetic issues. You might be surprised at the price you can get the boat for. OAs are not perfect, but they are generally quality boats. The best way to buy a boat is when you are not totally head over heels.
 
Last edited:
bshillam said:
So we saw the boat yesterday. Spent quite a bit of time going over her just doing an initial once over and the minor/major things found
1. Front of the windshield to the bow of the boat the gel coat was thin. Thin enough you can see whatever they layered up under the gel.
2. Crack in cockpit floor about the size of a baseball where the gel coat is lifting. Broker used a moisture reader and says the core isn't wet.
3. Front windshield area interior where the glass meets the dash has some minor panel damage and they used cetol to cover it. Looks very poorly done as the rest of the interior is satin.
4. Salon floor is in poor condition, open gaps between the teak parquet flooring (minor but non the less its there).
5. Mechanical - water pumps leaking slightly have caused minor rusting to occur on that side of the motors. Various hoses/lines need to be replaced.
6. Swim float has crack right where you step and the tread is compromised.

Not sure why but the house has been painted at one point and time. (It wasn't done really well but it's livable)
Click to expand...

We have a 440, which had two of your stated issues. Not a really big deal to fix them if you're handy and so inclined.

The non-skid on the bow was applied after the hull came out of the mold. It's a light blue in color. I think it was subsequently painted, not gelcoated. Took me a week to sand, mask and paint ours with Interlux perfection. About $300 in materials. Not a deal killer in my opinion.

Investigate what's under that crack in cockpit floor. Might be an obstruction and not all that big a deal to repair permanently.

The area beneath the windscreen is a recurring maintenance spot...especially in cool damp climates where moisture condenses on the aluminum window frames and drips onto the wood. If the boat isn't kept heated or air conditioned it's just a fact of life. I've redone ours twice. Re -varnish and then cover the area. Not a big deal. A big deal is leaking side windows which is a common problem on other brands of Taiwan boats.

Throw a carpet on the floor. I have't seen the parque gap problem on our boat...but not really a sign of neglect. Seems a so-what issue in the big scheme of things.

Look under the area of the crack in the swim platform. Probably a support bracket under it. Likely the platform was dinged backing into a slip and cracked around the bracket. Not uncommon. Easy enough to remove and have repaired. Grind off the raised non-skid if necessary and apply one of the generic products.

You could have a diamond in the rough staring you in the face. I wouldn't dismiss this boat.
 
Last edited:
gsholz said:
There will always be some cosmetic issues in a 20 year old boat. There may be a more perfect one out there but it will go for $100k more. If you like the boat and the boat overall is sound, make an offer that accounts for fixing some of the cosmetic issues. You might be surprised at the price you can get the boat for. OAs are not perfect, but they are generally quality boats. The best way to buy a boat is when you are not totally head over heels.
Click to expand...



Sounds advice. I am not looking for perfect. Non of my previous boats or homes have been. Just looking for one that has been looked after. These engines have needs and are very expensive to replace or rebuild. If the outside tells and story the inside is probably the same.
 
Think more like 3-4 GPH at 8 knots.

I hear you about "coming to terms." I am an engine perfectionist and would walk from ANY boat with leaking water pumps rusting the engine.
 
Rufus said:
We have a 440, which had two of your stated issues. Not a really big deal to fix them if you're handy and so inclined.

The non-skid on the bow was applied after the hull came out of the mold. It's a light blue in color. I think it was subsequently painted, not gelcoated. Took me a week to sand, mask and paint ours with Interlux perfection. About $300 in materials. Not a deal killer in my opinion.

Investigate what's under that crack in cockpit floor. Might be an obstruction and not all that big a deal to repair permanently.

The area beneath the windscreen is a recurring maintenance spot...especially in cool damp climates where moisture condenses on the aluminum window frames and drips onto the wood. If the boat isn't kept heated or air conditioned it's just a fact of life. I've redone ours twice. Re -varnish and then cover the area. Not a big deal. A big deal is leaking side windows which is a common problem on other brands of Taiwan boats.

Throw a carpet on the floor. I have't seen the parque gap problem on our boat...but not really a sign of neglect. Seems a so-what issue in the big scheme of things.

Look under the area of the crack in the swim platform. Probably a support bracket under it. Likely the platform was dinged backing into a slip and cracked around the bracket. Not uncommon. Easy enough to remove and have repaired. Grind off the raised non-skid if necessary and apply one of the generic products.

You could have a diamond in the rough staring you in the face. I wouldn't dismiss this boat.
Click to expand...

Well put- especially the "diamond in the rough" statement. Downgripes are a great post survey negotiating tool...
 
Offer?

`What did you offer them that they accepted? Helpful for the rest of us to know selling realities for these older boats?
 
The issues you mentioned are really not that difficult to deal with. On our current boat I have done literally several hundred fiberglass repairs. President put the gel coat on way too thick so it had a ton of stress cracking. I sanded off the nonskid and painted with Kiwigrip. It covers stress crack really well. The PO apparently was a charter member of The Coalition of the Docking Impared as he managed to hit just about everywhere on the boat. We painted the while boat last year. I did all the repairs and prep work and had a painter come in and spray it. The parquet decking would be removed as I prefer teak and holly to parquet. The cracking damage should not be a big deal if the core is solid. Just grind, glass and paint with Kiwigrip. Anyway good luck hooe it works out the way you want it to.
 
At a time in the late 90's early 2000's OA did an experiment and opened a yard in mainland China. The Chinese labor force was pretty unskilled and produced some sh:t product. OA shut the yard down and brought some of their Taiwanese workers over to train the main land crew. Basically to change their mindset from quantity to quality. It took sometime but OA now builds most of their smaller boats in China. iirc the very first boats built in mainland maintained the OA badging....Then they switched the badging to Altus for a while now I believe all are marketed as OAs
 
Still working through the list and whether the boat is worth what they want and I am willing to pay. I love the OA 42 lines. Fit and finish of the OA speak to my family. I’d like to keep from making the emotional move and try to think about the practical first. There are several other either less money and better maintained or more and also better maintained. Different brands and layouts though.

One is a McKinna who’s space is very appealing.
 
Looking at post 1,did you make the offer before inspection? Maybe it needs revising. I`m get the impression you are becoming disappointed;could be the "strawberry punnet syndrome",the deeper you go,the worse it gets.
 
Bshillam
Are you wanting a project boat or one that the PO stayed on top of the issues? A few days ago I spent some time with the owner of a 30 year old OA. The boat looked great and had routinely strayed far from home. A PO with an open check book, care, attention and smarts will have a vessel that stands out.

If you are luke warm on the vessel now, you'll like it less in the future as the finds add up.
 
My preference would definitely be something the previous owner stayed on top of. Open check book that is not what I am expecting. Just regular maintenance and care.
 
bshillam said:
My preference would definitely be something the previous owner stayed on top of. Open check book that is not what I am expecting. Just regular maintenance and care.
Click to expand...

Regular care and maintenance to one person may well be something different to another. As example, some owners and buyers place little importance on gel coat care, grimy boat shoes, dirty bilges, rust stains or poor teak maintenance but are right on top of oil and filter changes, props and rudders.

Your expectations are what matter. Buying an older boat requires being a good detective. IMHO opinion visual and personally relevant things can be well checked and defined before calling in a surveyor, or walking away.
 
OA

We have a 52 pilothouse OA and love it. Things to watch for are leaking windows and/or portholes. We have re-bed three windows ourselves this past year and a half. Hose them down after the survey to see if there is leaking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Adopo
Stability and righting ability
Replies
19
Views
8K
Hippocampus
H
ReedStr
Lithium Switching Experience
Replies
9
Views
3K
ReedStr
ReedStr
O
Perkins service in Seabrook, TX area?
Replies
1
Views
808
chiropaul
chiropaul
P
Hit Me With A Dose Of Reality!
2 3
Replies
68
Views
7K
SkipperofEllen
S

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom