Sitting idle for 5 years what could go wrong.

[Ralsy]

Ahoy there all skippers I hope that all are coping well with boating restrictions.
Question - if a usually very well maintained boat were to sit idle for 5 years (3 On the hard and last 2 in water with very little to no use), would you likely expect any potential issues with certain equipment?

 

[GregBrannon]

Rubber seals, like those in hydraulic steering cylinders, heads, water pumps, etc., are all suspect. What engine(s) does the boat have? Type of steering? Depending on how it was put away, engine/sanitation hoses all need to be checked. Engine belts? All pump impellers. Most of those items (not all) failed on my boat that had been sitting or lightly used for 6 years.

Greg.

 

[Bacchus]

Gas or diesel? Either way fuel might the suspect... has for sure unless PO can document treatment etc I'd think hard about drain, clean tank. If access allows a "dipstick" check there is moisture indicating material that could be helpful.
Batteries, cooling water impellers, replace!
Generator? Corrosion in critical gen parts?
Head rebuild kit?
Any leak evidence? Windows, spotlights, hatches?

 

[O C Diver]

If the boat has a freshwater system, probably would want to treat the water tanks, etc with a light bleach treatment to kill and organisms.

Check seacocks functionality.

Batteries should be checked.

Anodes need to be checked.

Probably want to change fuel filters and have spares in case anything is growing in the tank.

Test all bilge pumps and switches.

Check all above water through hulls to make sure a pest hasn't built a nest.

I would change engine and transmission oil.
Check belts.
Change impellers.

Check flares date and fire extinguishers along with all other safety equipment.

Check functionality of anchoring system

Make sure you have towing insurance.

Ted

 

[caltexflanc]

I would have a surveyor and mechanic check it out thoroughly. I'd be even more paranoid about a boat like that than one getting regular use and maintenance. Particularly if in a salt water environment.

 

[SoWhat]

As mentioned, anything rubber needs to be replaced. Then all 500/1000 hour maintenance need to be done. Other than that, I don't see a problem providing it was stored under cover or at least shrink wrapped. If not, I would be looking closely for moisture intrusion. If it was run periodically in the last 2 years then mechanical parts are probably good.

I had a similar situation. 1 transmission was a block of rust due to a failed cooler, and 1 starter was rusted solid. I simply replaced it. Other than that, nothing major, just a lot of minor maintenance items.

 

[tiltrider1]

Most pleasure boats get used 5 times a year. This means what they do most is sit. If the boat was shut and left you will know the minute you step on. If the boat was properly vented and maintained then I see it having no more issues than a normally used boat. The issues will be different. Things that wear out will have more life than expected. Other things won’t work because something got stuck from sitting. A sea trial will be very annoying for the seller as this is when things that didn’t leak will and things that were working last time won’t be.

My biggest concern with a boat that hasn’t been used for 5 years is mold, mildew and water damage. Seals and stuck parts will present themselves in survey and become the seller’s issue.

 

[oscar]

Are you a tool guy? If "YES".... and the boat is basically in good shape offer them 60 cents on the dollar. You could have a nice boat with some time and effort and be right side up in it.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Australia Hey? The sun is probably doing more damage than the sitting.

For sure the water and fuel are suspect. Heat will ruin both of them. Drain the water and probably polish the fuel if it is diesel. If it is a gasser, get rid of the gasoline and have the carbs rebuilt or cleaned. Then address all the rubber.

pete

 

[mvweebles]

I could have posed this question, except my Willard 36 was sitting for over 10-years. I don't know how many of these were result of sitting or just failed. I needed to get boat prepped to head from San Francisco to Ensenada MX, a trek of 500 nms. Here's some items.

1. Diesel fuel. It didn't really smell like diesel anymore, more like linseed oil. But my old Perkins 4.236 75hp ran it just fine anyway. I would have liked to yank the old fuel but was too expensive in California.
2. Engine. I had a trusted mechanic spend some quality time replacing all hoses and belts, adjusting valves, replacing raw/fresh pumps, oil coolers, fuel filters, and heat exchanger. He found a couple hoses were nearly shot, including a hydraulic hose for my stabilizers that was within hours of blowing.
3. Pumps. Macerator was froze, as was wash-down and AC pumps. Whale Gulper on shower sump was fine as was freshwater pump/
4. Shaft packing. This starting leaking and I couldn't get it to really stop without stuffing box heating up. Needed replacing.
5. As others have mentioned, all safety gear was out of date. Older orange PFDs were rotted as they had some minor water intrusion.
6. Minor termite damage to a small section of caprail.
7. Ancient Ideal windlass worked fine. Check the chain too - if stowed wet, it could rust into a ball.
8. Ancient Yanmar single cylinder generator would not start. Was junk anyway. Replaced with Northern Lights.
9. Thru-hulls were generally in good shape. One in the forward head was OEM from 1970 and was stiff years ago and had gotten worse. This was to be removed anyway.
10. Head. I have an manual Groco Model K. Needed to be rebuilt.
11. Rot. I had some rot at the base of my mast. This was okay as it was to be removed to install a hard top. But still, it supported the radar so it had to stay for the 500 nm trip. Wasn't pretty but I stayed the mast with blocks/tackles.
12. ELectronics. Well, I used to use a PC-based nav system. Windows 98 system would not boot-up. So A/P interface was no longer operable. Workaround was manual waypoints. Not a big deal - less than a dozen waypoints for the 500 nm trip.
13. GPS. Also an ancient Garmin. It took over an hour to find itself, but it finally did.
14. Other instruments. Paddlewheel on ancient knotmeter was hopelessly fouled. VHF antenna cable was cracked and needed replacing. Antenna itself was horribly fuzzy from 20-years in the sun.

You get the idea. Trip south went fine. Didn't miss a heartbeat.

Hope your story has a happy ending. Also hope it's a less expensive ending - wasn't cheap to get Weebles back into condition.

Peter

 

[Ralsy]

I would have a surveyor and mechanic check it out thoroughly. I'd be even more paranoid about a boat like that than one getting regular use and maintenance. Particularly if in a salt water environment.

Agreed ??

 

[Ralsy]

I could have posed this question, except my Willard 36 was sitting for over 10-years. I don't know how many of these were result of sitting or just failed. I needed to get boat prepped to head from San Francisco to Ensenada MX, a trek of 500 nms. Here's some items.

1. Diesel fuel. It didn't really smell like diesel anymore, more like linseed oil. But my old Perkins 4.236 75hp ran it just fine anyway. I would have liked to yank the old fuel but was too expensive in California.
2. Engine. I had a trusted mechanic spend some quality time replacing all hoses and belts, adjusting valves, replacing raw/fresh pumps, oil coolers, fuel filters, and heat exchanger. He found a couple hoses were nearly shot, including a hydraulic hose for my stabilizers that was within hours of blowing.
3. Pumps. Macerator was froze, as was wash-down and AC pumps. Whale Gulper on shower sump was fine as was freshwater pump/
4. Shaft packing. This starting leaking and I couldn't get it to really stop without stuffing box heating up. Needed replacing.
5. As others have mentioned, all safety gear was out of date. Older orange PFDs were rotted as they had some minor water intrusion.
6. Minor termite damage to a small section of caprail.
7. Ancient Ideal windlass worked fine. Check the chain too - if stowed wet, it could rust into a ball.
8. Ancient Yanmar single cylinder generator would not start. Was junk anyway. Replaced with Northern Lights.
9. Thru-hulls were generally in good shape. One in the forward head was OEM from 1970 and was stiff years ago and had gotten worse. This was to be removed anyway.
10. Head. I have an manual Groco Model K. Needed to be rebuilt.
11. Rot. I had some rot at the base of my mast. This was okay as it was to be removed to install a hard top. But still, it supported the radar so it had to stay for the 500 nm trip. Wasn't pretty but I stayed the mast with blocks/tackles.
12. ELectronics. Well, I used to use a PC-based nav system. Windows 98 system would not boot-up. So A/P interface was no longer operable. Workaround was manual waypoints. Not a big deal - less than a dozen waypoints for the 500 nm trip.
13. GPS. Also an ancient Garmin. It took over an hour to find itself, but it finally did.
14. Other instruments. Paddlewheel on ancient knotmeter was hopelessly fouled. VHF antenna cable was cracked and needed replacing. Antenna itself was horribly fuzzy from 20-years in the sun.

You get the idea. Trip south went fine. Didn't miss a heartbeat.

Hope your story has a happy ending. Also hope it's a less expensive ending - wasn't cheap to get Weebles back into condition.

Peter

Brilliant Peter much appreciated.

 

[SteveK]

Over the years I have used my various boats, I became aware of how many boats sit forever on the dock. I never see them move, some obviously never cleaned (until for sale sign).
This one is on the hard, so what, it has been sitting without any use for a determined time as compared to the many boats I have seen sit moored without use, maybe a few times per year, no difference.
You will not know if there are issues until you launch and do some basics prep work, then sea trials. Best wishes