I just bought Hull #278 and I looked at several boats before I finally settled on this one. I looked at one that had two feet of ice in the bottom, I saw one that had a hole in it fixed with Bondo, and I have saw one that had rusted running rigging. Every single one of them had moisture issues. The boat I bought has some moisture issues. The reality of a J boat from the 70's and 80's is they have moisture in them. The trick is to find out where on how much. Most boats have moisture at the Chainplates, around the stanchions, in the transom, and in the rudder. Many boats have some moisture in the bottom. The boat I bought has only minor amount of moisture in the usual spots. It does have some elevated moisture levels in the bottom. I actually had the boat "core" tested to make sure. My surveyor and yard guy both check the core while I was there. As long as the core is not rotten (black or falling out of the core) it is ok. What you want to avoid is core that is dripping, or again black or that you can pull out with your fingers. I had my boat check the core material analyzed. Long story short be prepared for some moisture be wary of dripping wet core or moisture meter reading over 70 or 80. By the way I just saw a powerpoint of Balsa cores that proved that Balsa cores will retain 95% of its integrity and load bearing capacity when it is 135% saturated. This of course is not ideal, but it goes to show how strong this boat design really is. They are great boats! But be wary of wavy hulls, spongy decks, depressions in the hull where the boat sits on the cradle. These are all telltale signs of serious structural issues.
HHSA
Velocity Girl
#278
