Is it difficult to sell a neglected fiberglass GB36?

Following on the heels of this thread: http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/difficult-sell-wood-grand-banks-23419.html we have a 1973 fiberglass GB36 that just came on the market in Seattle for....$22K - "priced to generate OFFERS!"

The exterior condition is horrific, but "The engine room is neat and orderly and the vessel runs quite well."

Someone will bite. If you have some money, the tools, the skill, and the time this could be a decent boat again. The teak deck has to come off NOW, there WILL be extensive delamination in the deck, and it WILL have leaked on the steel tanks below which are probably corroded to the point of having to be replaced. This is a PITA unless the engines come out. Then theres the shafts, bearings, struts, alignment, through hulls, rudders, steering. Electrical will need some, if not lots of love, as will water and waste. Lots of rehabbing the interior, fabrics, flooring, cushions. Windows ARE leaking, that'll need some looking at. Galley systems like stove and fridge will need some love too..... And there's more, there's ALWAYS more. But, like I said, someone will bite, and again, if they have the skill, tools, some money and time, and are REALLY good with E-bay and Craigslist they'll have a decent boat (a year or two or more from now) that they can enjoy and in the end probably get most of their money back. Don't even THINK about a yard doing ANY of this. In that case it's cheaper to buy one in cherry condition.

In reality most of these projects end poorly because the skills were over rated and the time under estimated, or there is just not enough money, which kills the schedule and with it the enthusiasm.

I saw a lot of these during my boat search. There's always a sad story there. In the pics, you can see lots of projects started but never finished. Someone's dream, but for whatever reason too much for the owner to keep up with. I hope he/she got a lot of good use out of it before it deteriorated to its current state.

As for the next owner, I hope they go into it with eyes open, and either lots of money, or lots of time and patience. Either way, they could end up with a good boat.

To answer the original question, I'd have to know a lot more to even guess what it would be worth to ME, never mind to anyone else. But I strongly suspect you'd never get back what you invested. The value would be in the satisfaction of bringing it back to life, and the enjoyment you'd get out of using it after that.

oscar said:

The teak deck has to come off NOW, there WILL be extensive delamination in the deck, and it WILL have leaked on the steel tanks below which are probably corroded to the point of having to be replaced..

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Not necessarily true at all. From the one photo showing the main deck it will definitely need to be re-seamed and possibly re-grooved first depending on the wear on the planks. But until someone who actually knows about Grand Banks subecks and teak decking examines it carefully, Oscar's assumption is no more than that: an assumption by a person who has not even seen the boat.

Our now-43 year old fiberglass GB 36 (1973) had very rough decking when we bought it ijn 1998. After being wet it looked very much like the deck in the photo Refugio posted. In some spots the planks were worn down to the bottom of the grooves. But a shipwright with a lot of experience in maintaining and repairing Grand Banks decks determined that enough plank thickness remained to be serviceable. So he reefed out all the old seam material, re-grooved the deck, and re-seamed it properly. That was 17 years ago.

Our deck needs some seam repair in places now but it's not rocket science to do this if one knows the technique and has the right tools. Also, the deck seam compounds available today, particularly TDS, are much superior to what was available even in 2000 when the work on our main deck was done.

So a potential buyer of the boat in Refugio's post should not make assumptions about the condition of the deck and subdeck until he/she has had it thoroughly checked out by someone with the experience to judge the condition accurately. Like ours from the same year of manufacture, the deck may be perfectly serviceable if repaired correctly.

Marin said:

So a potential buyer of the boat in Refugio's post should not make assumptions about the condition of the deck and subdeck until he/she has had it thoroughly checked out by someone with the experience to judge the condition accurately.

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I will yield to the gentleman with that statement, it is correct.

That said, I've dug out too much soggy balsa to be an optimist anymore....

oscar said:

I will yield to the gentleman with that statement, it is correct.

That said, I've dug out too much soggy balsa to be an optimist anymore....

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There's no balsa core on a GB.

Well it's been my experience as surveyor it's all about the condition of sub deck which is difficult to assess without removal of planking, core samples moisture profile and the like. A worthwhile project if stars aligned .

Marin said:

There's no balsa core on a GB.

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That is a VERY, VERY good thing. I have a very healthy HATE for balsa and previous owners and dealers that do not prep properly for attachments.

Mule said:

That is a VERY, VERY good thing. I have a very healthy HATE for balsa and previous owners and dealers that do not prep properly for attachments.

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Don't get me wrong. GBs have a wood core to their subdecks. It's just not balsa.

The subdeck of a fiberglass GB is a fiberglass-marine ply-fiberglass sandwich with a thicker layer of fiberglass on the top than on the bottom. From everything I have read in places like the GB owners forum, the subdeck is very hardy and resistant to conditions that can more rapidly deteriorate other brands.

But wood is wood and if moisture migration is left uncorrected and unrepaired a GB subdeck can suffer the same fate as any other make.

GBs are not your average Asian built boat. And can be brought back from a sorry state that would condemn many. So the decks might be saved. Or at the very least there is a less likelyhood of the sub-deck being soft.

Not saying it would be cheap or easy. But at least with a GB the bones are good so you should have a good solid base to build up from.

So how much work ($) will it take to bring this boat up to useable condition? It doesn't take much to add up quickly. OTOH, for only a few thousand more, you can get a 1973 GB36 that is in good condition throughout.
Grand Yachts Inc. (Vancouver, BC)
I know this boat. In fact I was the one that convinced its owner to be a two boat owner while selling, as otherwise he would have missed out on a very nice GB42.

This boat is in my marina (fresh water) and I know the owner. It's in good shape mechanically. He took it out for a run either last month or September. He was making good progress on it until a divorce happened. It was his pride and joy and I feel really sorry for him. Refugio, we will be at your club on Dec. 6th for the Seafair Holiday cruise.

porman said:

Refugio, we will be at your club on Dec. 6th for the Seafair Holiday cruise.

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Wonderful! I'm still trying to decide whether to go myself - thinking I will. I can always find room for another fridge magnet!


Keith

The question was "Is it difficult to sell a neglected fiberglass boat?" The answer to that is absolutely, definitely, very difficult. The market right now is actually quite sensible. The boats in the best condition, the best buys, the cream puffs are very much in demand and are moving quickly. Buyers who are hesitating are losing out on them. However, at the other end, the neglected boats and those generally in bad condition or looking to be are nearly impossible to move. At least this is what we're seeing on the East Coast and especially in South Florida. Brokers are very much looking for quality listings as the market is strong for them. However, the market is filled with bad listings.

Folks looking at a fixer up er have to be honest with themselves.

Do you have the skill set and time to repair the vessel, up, to what standard?

For a real solid GRP boat cosmetics can be ignored almost forever , prime it (flat paint shows defects less) and just GO !!! cruising.

Our Navy Utility will never win a "Concourse De Elegance" but it has cruised extensively , run the Loop and does well at local cruising.

But it could use a paint job since we got it decades ago.!

Marin said:

There's no balsa core on a GB.

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My bad, I knew that. Getting my GB's and Hatties mixed up.

porman said:

Refugio, we will be at your club on Dec. 6th for the Seafair Holiday cruise.

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Great to see you today! Go Hawks!



Keith

"Well it's been my experience as surveyor it's all about the condition of sub deck which is difficult to assess without removal of planking, core samples moisture profile and the like. A worthwhile project if stars aligned ".

True enough but anyone with normal smelling ability can smell rotten wood , even burred in the deck behind paint and under a GRP skin , it still smells!