High Moisture Readings on a Survey

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AnchoredOut

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Hey C-Brats! I am new to C-Dorys and hope to find a good one to enjoy on the Great Loop next year. I love the simplicity of these boats. In particular I am looking at an 06 C25 that was professionally surveyed and the surveyor found high moisture readings in one of the hull stringers (the only one he could access) and around the windlass on the fore deck. However, he said there are no soft spots or blistering anywhere and his percussion test all over the boat were fine. He said overall he liked the boat and would not be worried about this. When I asked if he thought it had any core rot anywhere he immediately said he did not think so.

I am not very knowledgeable about boats in general (and C-Dory’s in particular) so I thought I’d ask here what I would be faced with if I bought this boat. Is it common to see this type of thing on boats this age? Is there something more that I or the surveyor could do? The surveyor said he would not be too concerned since he sees this a lot on older boats like this. Everything else on the survey was fine. Thoughts?
 
I also have a 25 Cruiser (2007) and we love it. We also have the Lewmar windlass on the bow. I couldn't venture a guess as to how the stringer got moisture in it other than rain water and water that comes in with the rode. If your surveyor said not to worry about it then I wouldn't. That's what you paid him for. If you're concerned about it there are ways to prevent it from getting worse. I won't go into it in detail but basically if its caused from screw mounting of cleats or in this case the windlass, the screw hole is drilled out oversized and the filled with resin and then redrilled for the screw mount. This method prevents any moisture from going anywhere. There are numerous well written articles on repairing these type of repair. Good luck with your purchase.
 
The stringer--which I assume is the wood encased "box" which surrounds the fuel tank--is not structural as it is in many boats. The cockpit deck leaks around the hatches. There are new hatches which do not leak and can be fitted easily. The surveyor is not able to easily access this structure. (I owned a 2006, CDory 25).

The deck around the windlass should be fixed. Not a terrible job. Remove the windlass, route out any affected core, and fill with thickened epxoy resin. Then regrill or smooth the edges of the hole where the chain goes through. I have also done the same with the forward cabin overhead hatch; routed out about a half to an inch of core, and fill with the thickeded epoxy, then redril and re-install the hatch.

These would not stop me from buying that boat if all else were good. At some point all of these older boats will need a new fuel tank, unless they are always stored under shelter. Also being subjected to freeze thaw cycles will increase any delamination.

Welcome aboard! Tell us a little about yourself.
 
Thank you for the replies. What a great community and resource this is for owners. I just watched a couple videos of drilling out the holes larger, inspecting the core for damage, then filling the larger holes with a 2 part thickened resin, curing, then drilling and remounting the hardware. That seems pretty straightforward and is something I can do. I also read through several posts here in regards to the 100 gal fuel tank corrosion issue so I suppose this will be a project I’ll have to tackle at some point in the future (hopefully after 2026). I’m gonna have to be diligent about opening and sniffing for fuel in the inspection hatch. If it begins leaking I would stop my GL trip, drain the gas, and return home to R&R the fuel tank. I’m recently retired in the IT field and look forward to doing this trip in the C-Dory. I chose this boat due to its simplicity, ease of maintenance, and the great fuel economy these boats are known for. I’ll spend the winter going through everything, tweaking the boat, and prepping for a March or April launch. All in all it should be an interesting adventure!
 
I was not aware that C-Dorys had stringers. Maybe the 25 has them, but I haven't found any in my 22.
 
There are no stringers--there are fiberglass covered vertical compartment dividers around the fue tank under the cockpit sole of the 25 (where the fuel tank lives). If these were stringers they would have been more robust and would have extended all of the way to the transom.

"Anchoredout", I see you are from Atlanta. Where are you starting the "loop". Many C Dory owners may not realize that many salt water boaters use Pensacola as their home port. It is a relatively quick drive from Atanta. Be sure and keep in touch--"Camp Thataway" (our home) has a dock, boat lift and welcomes "C Dory Loopers".
 
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