Soft spot at anchor...what should I do?

[DaltonGang]

Yet another question for another issue on this boat I'm close to buying. (1995 370 sundancer)
The survey showed a soft area around the windless. He said to put a big plate under it when bolting it back up instead of the small circular washers there now.

I asked, well how serious is this? He said "you are getting the boat at the right price but the damage is done in this spot. You can leave it but you may take a hit when selling". And another odd thing is its a chainless windless! For a 37' boat! He seemed to think that was weird and to switch to a different one. But if that area is weak I wouldn't even want to use an anchor unless very calm water is under the boat.

So my question is this. Has anyone experienced this delamination or soft spot in this area? Is this a reason to walk away from this boat?

 

[Golfman25]

Extremely common. My opinion, is that, although structural, is a relatively easy area to fix. No no-skid. Just need to know how big of an area. The windless will cover most of any repair so it doesn't have to be perfect.

 

[DaltonGang]

Extremely common. My opinion, is that, although structural, is a relatively easy area to fix. No no-skid. Just need to know how big of an area. The windless will cover most of any repair so it doesn't have to be perfect.

ok so the question is, does it spread? Say if I took care of whatever got it wet to begin with, let it air out, scraped out the nasty stuff, etc maybe put epoxy filler in. If I didn't get it all, would it spread throughout the whole deck like cancer?

 

[Lazy Daze]

There's a good chance that the core in that area is separate from the rest of the deck. Get some eyes on the underside and you'll be able to tell.

While an all rope windlass is not as common on these boats as a rope/chain windlass, it's not unheard of, either. If it's original, it might be a Good windlass... which would be great since they make excellent windlasses... afterall, if it's original, it's a quarter century old and still kickin'!

 

[Golfman25]

ok so the question is, does it spread? Say if I took care of whatever got it wet to begin with, let it air out, scraped out the nasty stuff, etc maybe put epoxy filler in. If I didn't get it all, would it spread throughout the whole deck like cancer?

As long as you stop the leaking it won't spread significantly.

 

[DaltonGang]

As long as you stop the leaking it won't spread significantly.

Thats what I wasn't sure of. I didn't know once the balsa was wet (even though leak was fixed) if it would just keep going and going. I don't know how long its been like that so maybe it's already done spreading. The boat is 25 years old so for all I know this happened 15 years ago.

 

[Creekwood]

It is pretty serious but common. It affects the value of the boat significantly. Many, but not all boats of that type/vintage will have it. It should be fixed. It will spread and will get worse. If you are up for a major repair on your “new” boat, get a repair estimate from a reputable shop and deduct that from the market price of one without that repair needed.

 

[Motoguy2158]

Is it soft or just showing wet on the meter ? It can be wet but not rotted. If its not to bad it can be dried out, shot with Git Rot and then a backer plate bolted underneath to spread the load. You got to seal up that area to stop the water intrusion. It s tough spot because as you pull the anchor up it likes to move the windlass around, especially if you don't stop in time after its up. It worth getting it looked at before you buy so you know how bad the bad is.