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a friend of mine won a revenge off of ebay. it is not what the buyer said it was. let me tell you his concerns: the bow eye has rusted off! there was a crack around the bow light just behind the rub rail and water ran down the inside to the eye bolt. well it rusted off. it is just a rusty nub. dam! you think the seller would have taken a pic. of that. you are not going to like the next one: the thru drain tubes in the back are gone. the one in the floor, and three in the stern. what do you think about that?:( how bad is this? and the last concern that he has is the keel in the front under the missing bow eye. the seller would just run it up on a bad or broken roller and the front keel has worn very deep. WHAT SHOULD WE DO FOR AN INSPECTION? DRILL HOLES AND IF SO WHERE? any advise would be of help. thanks

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Sorry to hear your plight. Maybe you shouldn't have paid for the boat. I would rather be labeled a dead beat bidder than get stuck. Well now you have the boat so you have to make the best of it. Can you post some pictures of the damage, so we can help. Do you have any experience in fiberglass repair?

rich

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SOUNDS VERY BAD

How did he pay for the boat? If payal you my be able to file a dispute claim depending on how it was advertised.

Anyway. If you are going to drill holes I would drill them along the keel of the hull. Also at the base of the transom. I am going to bet from the sounds of it the floor will need to be rebuilt and maybe also the transom.

Have you weighed the hull yet? Floated the hull yet?

I hate to say it up times like these serve as an example of how a auction can go wrong. Small little low res images can hide a lot of sins. As a bidder you need to make sure that what you are bidding on really is as claimed.

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well, it is what it is but i can't tell what it is! because it is under the gell coat. we are not building a spaceship. i just want to know how much water is in the hull. there must be an ex ray machine. for somthing like this.
i'm going to drill some holes! STAND BY!!!!!!!:p

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Your X-Ray machine can be substituted with a scale.

Go weight the hull.

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the floor is solid. strong no soft spots. very clean on the inside cockpit area. dam! it is hard to drill into that keel. i used a 3/16 bit and drilled right into the hole in the front part of the keel. it seems like there is still some gell coat in there. if it leaks it is a small leak. no water came out of that hole but i drilled two more holes toward the stern and water is coming out. this is not good because i'm not half way down the keel and the boat is jacked up in the front. this tells me that we have standing water in the hull. these two drill holes have stoped leaking. if i keep drilling down the keel toward the stern they should drain and stop as i go.
i have a qestion???? it seems that there is a void of foam when i first drill through the gell coat. i find foam after i go in about 3 in. the gell coat is very thick on the keel.
should i drill one large hole on the keel near the stern and let it drain?????? thanks for any info. :@

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Anthony,

Check my personal page to see a minor repair; we drilled a couple of small holes in various locations like the ones you will seen on the transom. Fortunately nothing came out but that doesn't mean there isn't water in my hull. If you have problems beyond that you will need to grind the gelcoat down to see if the fiberglass is damaged. If the fiberglass is already damaged you will need to repair it to prevent any further water infusion.

Use this site's search feature to search for water in the hull; there is a lot of information here about that already. But the bottom line seems to be that if there is water in the hull it will probably stay there. Some will drip out any holes that you drill but you are better off sealing it up and enjoying it.

But do the search for the info on water in the hull first.

Jack

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I have to agree, at this point the scale is the best tool you have. My hull is pretty wet inside, and drilling holes along the keel (and transom) produced less than a quart of water over more than a weeks time. Plus, if it's really wet in there, the holes can be tricky to properly seal again...

Do you know the history of the boat in terms of location? If it's always been a warm weather boat, you're better off as the water hasn't had a chance to freeze, expand, and do structural damage to the glass.

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Anthony,
STOP!
You will never get all the water out by drilling holes, it just won't work. Your best bet is to take the hull to the local scale, a certified one is nice, but even one at the local dump will give you a guess at the hull weight. Once you have that, fill up all the holes you have drilled, plus anymore you find. Now for other questions, what shape are things like gas lines in, I would check and replace those and then assuming the engine works, go boating.

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good! in all i drilled 6 3/16 holes water came out of all of them but one.
the gas lines are fine. the 150 yamaha cranks right up and has 120 on all cyl.
the stern seems very solid with no spider cracks, the floor is solid and clean. the yamaha tac does not come on but the engine starts up. the power trim is shot leaks like a siff. the lower unit oil very bad dirty if not burnt. the engine does go into gear and i changed the lower unit oil.
i will use 1in. pvc with some good 3m for the tubes. i will marine tex the holes and put a new bow eye in her and go boating and put it on a scale. thanks:o

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You may consider sealing the plug drain holes with resin and some fiberglass cloth. then redrill slightly smaller.That way if the pvc or 5200 had an issue you would still have another barrier.

Todd

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Hey Buddy,
Just thought I'd put my 2 cents in. Please don't fall in love with this boat. This thing is going to break your heart. Just patch it up and ride it until it sinks. This is not a project boat. There are a bunch of waterworthy old Whalers that you would be rewarded by restoring. We'll all help you find one if you want. I know of a couple right now.
Ride her hard, put her away wet and don't worry about it! Restorations cost a lot of money and the work never seems to end. You gotta' have a good starting point.
Don't fall in love!
Grady

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well, this is it. we put it on the scale and it has 1000lbs of water in foam. we will see what ebay insurance is all about. 1600 boat/450 engine, trailer 450/=2500 and it is 3800lbs.

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Wow a thousand pounds of water?
I think that may be off.
Anthony last year I bought a 83 outrage.
and I was really worried about foam.
I learned from this website about whalers and foam issues.
What you have to know first is that whaler uses a closed cell foam.
This foam is made to repel water not soak it in.
A thousand pounds and I dont think you would plan or reach 20 knots.
Did you subtract for anchors, fuel, coolers and so on.
Kamie seemed to have alot of experience with this too.
You also said you had no soft spots too.
Good luck

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If it is all water, that's about 120 gallons worth.

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Blake,

Yes whaler used closed cell foam however through age, changing temps, and use of the boat these cells do open and will hold water. Not only do they hold water but they will let water migrate through it. Holding and absorbing are to different things. If you set a piece of foam on top of the water it will float and absorb nothing. However, put that foam under water a foot and through osmotic pressure water will be forced into those voids and hold there until the pressure is released and the foam is allowed to drain.


Also think of 1000lbs of water as 4 full sized guys. Through in a couple other guys and gear and any 20 - 25 hull with good power will still plane off and run well into the 30's.



1531665anthony,

You have never stated what size nor type of revenge your friend has. Your guess on the hull seems light for any of the revenges. Below are all of the factory dry weights of the hulls that could run a single 150hp motor as you stated it has. Also, Whaler opening admits that these weights are rough weights and any hull could be heavier than stated.

19' 1600#
v-20 1950#
20 2150#
21 1800#
22 2350#

Honestly, I bet there is maybe 10 - 15 gallons of water sitting around just in the foam lining the fuel tank cavity. My outrage was very dry however, I still pulled gallons and gallons (10 - 12) of water out of there when I did my rebuilding of the deck. Because of the design of the deck and the fuel tank cavity I still pulled about 2+ gallons of water out of there with the pump I installed every month after a couple good washes of the deck and some rain.

Take the water in the tank cavity into you weight figures as well.

I hate to say it but what is ebay insurance going to do? Your friend bid on and won a hull he obviously never saw in person. I do not even know if he talked to owner prior to bidding. Then did he make payment with out seeing the hull or did he pay when he picked it up? If he made payment without even seeing the boat and making sure it was to his expectations well, I got to say not, the best way to handle a large ebay purchase. If he showed up, saw the boat and still decided to pay... it sounds like a done deal. He could have walked at that point and if he was that displeased with the hull and filed a compliant to get a deposit back if, he made one.

I see auctions and sales all the time that say a boat is in great or good condition. Those descriptors mean different things to many people and are very subjective. I know what great condition means to me and most do not fit it. Unless the owner / lister stated the boat is in sound condition free of any water in the foam, and all OEM equipment is in place and in sound working condition I do not know if there could be a case.

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Grady.... great advice! I concur 100%

another 2 cents: 1000 lbs of water is not unheard of in boats that size or even smaller. Read the posts here and on the "other site."

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1531665anthony,

What boat are we talking about here? I can think of nine different Revenge models produced over a span of 20 years.

How did you arrive at your hull weight estimate?

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Well the closed cell theory made me feel better about the water in my boat Jeff.