JohnO
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2020
- Messages
- 77
- Vessel Name
- Tsula
- Vessel Make
- Kadey-Krogen 42
Just had our survey yesterday on a 43’ OA Tri-cabin (1980). Waiting to see the written report, but spent most of the day with the surveyor. Lots of miscellaneous items noted, which seem fairly manageable, and the hull is in good shape overall (a few paint blisters) … Great … but a couple of more significant items that were unexpected (by us and the Seller).
First Issue - Both exterior sides of the flybridge (port and stbd) are wet and soft. The affected area runs from top to bottom (flybridge wall only, not salon wall), and runs most of the length from fore to aft, but only on the exterior sides ... I’ve attached a diagram showing the approximate wet/soft area in blue highlight (which is basically the same are on each side of the flybridge.)
The cause is a bit of a mystery. We’re going to investigate further next week, but my guess at possible causes:
Also – does anyone have any idea of the core design and materials this vintage/make/model? I’ve been told that the flybridge wall design is plywood planks on each side of the wall (interior and exterior), with a small cavity between. We’re planning to core drill from the interior side to see what things look like inside so we preserve the exterior wall glass/gel if possible. Assuming the core design is dual plywood with an interior cavity, I’m thinking the fix could be to approach the rot from the interior side to preserve exterior glass/gel and build back from there.
Second issue – The stringers are wet from the aft, running forward, starting in the lazarette, under the aft cabin, to just aft of the engine room. This starts right at the lazarette hatches, which are leaking (and need to be replaced). Again, we’re investigating further (drilling into the stringers to see extent of saturation), but think this is caused by water that has leaked through the hatches and run forward.
Question – are the stringers on this make/model considered structural, and what would be the fix for the stringers? Assuming good accessibility, is it possible to just cut out the saturated areas, secure them to the dry areas (perhaps with some stainless supports or something similar) and then reglass them in?
Third issue – The interior blocking for swim step strut bolt connections through the transom (3 out of 5 of the blocks) are wet. Transom is dry, just the blockings are wet. The swim step needs replacement, and we were already intending to have a new one fabbed up and install a seawise davit as well, so if the wetness is just limited to the blocking, I’m thinking this is not really that big of an issue since we’d be reworking the blocking anyway (which I presume is cutting the blocking out, reinforcing the transom as necessary for the new step/davit, and possibly glassing/epoxy once we get the wet blocking out, either before or after the reinforcement, depending on the reinforcement design). Would love to hear thoughts.
I know there’s a lot to digest here, so thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for any thoughts/suggestions on any of the issues above.
I’d also appreciate hearing whether the more experienced TF folks would feel any of these are dealbreaker issues assuming the causes could be reasonably identified and fixed, along with an appropriate accommodation in the pricing. Thanks again!
First Issue - Both exterior sides of the flybridge (port and stbd) are wet and soft. The affected area runs from top to bottom (flybridge wall only, not salon wall), and runs most of the length from fore to aft, but only on the exterior sides ... I’ve attached a diagram showing the approximate wet/soft area in blue highlight (which is basically the same are on each side of the flybridge.)
The cause is a bit of a mystery. We’re going to investigate further next week, but my guess at possible causes:
- Teak trim on the top … the outline of the wet area starts where the teak trim rail starts and runs most of the way. However, it dries out before the rail ends, and is only impacting the exterior side of the wall. Interior side is completely dry.
- Weep hole channel that runs from fore to aft through the wall cavity on both port and stbd sides … it may have been clogged up at one time. The length of the wet area matches up (+/-) with the run of this weep hole channel. However, while we don’t know the exact location of the channel within the wall cavity, in general it seems odd that it would create identical soft areas on each side of the flybridge (unless both sides got clogged) and that the wet areas would form only on the exterior side of the wall.
- Canvas snaps for the flybridge cover. Since the snaps are only on the exterior side of the wall and start and stop at about the same locations as the water intrusion, I might normally think this was the cause. This would be further supported by the fact that the canvas was added by the Seller (who has owned it for a few years) and that this issue was not noted by the Seller’s surveyor (who is notoriously thorough) when he bought the boat. However, the Seller has not used the boat extensively and has moored it under cover the entire time.
Also – does anyone have any idea of the core design and materials this vintage/make/model? I’ve been told that the flybridge wall design is plywood planks on each side of the wall (interior and exterior), with a small cavity between. We’re planning to core drill from the interior side to see what things look like inside so we preserve the exterior wall glass/gel if possible. Assuming the core design is dual plywood with an interior cavity, I’m thinking the fix could be to approach the rot from the interior side to preserve exterior glass/gel and build back from there.
Second issue – The stringers are wet from the aft, running forward, starting in the lazarette, under the aft cabin, to just aft of the engine room. This starts right at the lazarette hatches, which are leaking (and need to be replaced). Again, we’re investigating further (drilling into the stringers to see extent of saturation), but think this is caused by water that has leaked through the hatches and run forward.
Question – are the stringers on this make/model considered structural, and what would be the fix for the stringers? Assuming good accessibility, is it possible to just cut out the saturated areas, secure them to the dry areas (perhaps with some stainless supports or something similar) and then reglass them in?
Third issue – The interior blocking for swim step strut bolt connections through the transom (3 out of 5 of the blocks) are wet. Transom is dry, just the blockings are wet. The swim step needs replacement, and we were already intending to have a new one fabbed up and install a seawise davit as well, so if the wetness is just limited to the blocking, I’m thinking this is not really that big of an issue since we’d be reworking the blocking anyway (which I presume is cutting the blocking out, reinforcing the transom as necessary for the new step/davit, and possibly glassing/epoxy once we get the wet blocking out, either before or after the reinforcement, depending on the reinforcement design). Would love to hear thoughts.
I know there’s a lot to digest here, so thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for any thoughts/suggestions on any of the issues above.
I’d also appreciate hearing whether the more experienced TF folks would feel any of these are dealbreaker issues assuming the causes could be reasonably identified and fixed, along with an appropriate accommodation in the pricing. Thanks again!
