Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by Stephencal on 05/12/08 - 8:29 AM

I was the unlucky winner of an ebay auction for a 78 revenge. It was grossly misrepresented, as it turns out the seller was flipping it for someone else. The hull had been sunk. Ebay Motors insurance rep says I am entitled to a claim based on the water intrusion to the hull. Its 1000lbs heavy. It showed up with saltwater leaking out of a breach on the keel. Seller said fresh water only. Anyway Auction Ins agency needs bids for repair but a well known fiberglass guy in the New Orleans area says because of the high psi injection of the foam while its still in the mold, to remove it and try to replace it would compromise the integrity of the hull. No one wants to fool with it. The ins co will not process the claim until they have repair cost. Any suggestions??

Posted by Jeff on 05/12/08 - 9:22 AM

The hull had been sunk.

How could a Whaler sink?

Anyway Auction Ins agency needs bids for repair but a well known fiberglass guy in the New Orleans area says because of the high psi injection of the foam while its still in the mold, to remove it and try to replace it would compromise the integrity of the hull.

The foam in whalers is a low PSI foam only 2-3 pound if I remember correctly. There have been a lot of whalers repaired with success where the foam had been removed in large areas. Not a common process but not un heard of. Have a look at Tony Boy's 20 Outrage.

Your hull and purchase has been discussed here before. Did you bid on and pay for this boat with out ever going to view it in person or have someone survey it for you? Do you a link to the original add? Do you the original (not in your words) description given in the auction?

Do you have any images of the boat along with images of the problem areas that could be viewed online to help us to understand what you are dealing with. As discussed in the other thread 1000lbs heavy does not seem to be that much based calcs. used to get there. The calcs used in the other thread read per 1531665anthony:

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.

Here are the whaler spec'd weights for Revenges of that time. Though it was never stated what hull you have based on 1531665anthony stating it has a 150 here are the hulls that could run that power.

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

Now what size and model revenge are we dealing with here? What size in liters (150's are mostly around 2 or 2.5liters) and model motor do you have? What trailer is the boat sitting on? Single or dual axle? How much fuel can the tank hold and how much is in there now? What kind of gear is on the boat? Canvas? Have you checked to see if there is water around the fuel tank? Did you ever weigh just the trailer with out the hull as 450# seems light for any trailer that would haul a larger whaler.

Have you had a whaler dealer or professional surveyor who specializes in whalers look at the hull and give their opinions?

Edited by Jeff on 05/12/08 - 9:27 AM

Posted by Stephencal on 05/12/08 - 11:24 AM

Thanks for the prompt response. Your right, I should have said "awash" sunk was a bad term to use regarding whalers. The extent of my inspection was limited to asking the seller specific questions and speaking to the shipper while he was on scene. Having difficulties pasting the link, I'll try again later. The original description is on the link. The original images do not show any of the problem areas. There is one black roller mark on the keel where it was rubbing while on the trailer and as it turns out just aft of that there was exposed mat with water leaching out. Tony was little off in his calcs but the trailer was weighed separately and it weighed 500lbs, the boat had 25 gals of gas 50lb battery 5lbs oil, the hull is 1600lbs motor is 450lbs. No other gear on it. I pulled the tank out and found 60lbs of water and fuel soaked foam. There were approximately 6 pits on the bottom of the tank that were leaking when i water tested it. The 1978 revenge is listed as 19'4"
I have not had anyone who specializes in whalers look at the boat. Most people say to run it as it is. Here is the original description:
Vehicle Description

This Is a nice 19' whaler with 150 hp yamaha motor & trailer. The whaler is a rock solid boat with NO soft spots anywhere, The motor has 95 hours on it and runs great. The boat was run alot in fresh water lake ( Lake Parker Fl) Where I moved from. I have used it in the peace river the rest of the time which is brackish water (1/2 fresh 1/2 salt) and it has been flushed every time it was used. The motor has even compression no all cyl. and lower unit oil is clean with NO metal chips on plug.

The hull is solid and has never been left in the water, Gel coat is nice with very little spider cracks, If any. This hull by far the best boat built and will be ready for any thing you send its way.There is a live well in the back with a sprayer to keep bait alive when fishing. The seat just lifts off the back and you have a fishing boat. Also there is a great cabin in the front where you can get out of the weather or just stay the night while fishing or whatever?! The rope lights in the cabin give just enough light to make it nice to see while not too bright. You could also use the inverter to hook up a small fan or raido while on the water. The bench seat in the back can also be turned around to fish out the back of the boat. The boat is easy to handle with one or two people which is nice, It's not too big and hard to get on and off the trailer. I do it with my son's and they are 4 & 8. Whaler is The best boat and has been for years. The winner of this auction will have a great boat for years to come.

GOOD LUCK

There were barnacles on the hull with water leaking out of a breach in the keel. There weren't any thru tubes in either the bilge or transom. The entire fuse panel was corroded, nothing worked. The tachometer is broken. All windshield hardware is corroded beyond repair.The trailer eye bolt rotted off in transit. The main cylinder in the power trim was leaking, probably failed in transit also. It's fixed now. I should have used better judgement than to complete this purchase without surveying the boat. My buddy Tony has two good purchases of whalers off of Ebay that he made and the extent of his research was done by speaking to the seller. My seller was dishonest and I was naive. He made up stories about the tilte in his dads name, later found out it wasn't, he had the transfer done to him the day of the sale. I still havent recvd registration for the trailer. It is what it is and i would like to keep the boat and fix it right if thats possible. Thanks for you input.

Edited by Joe Kriz on 05/12/08 - 11:35 AM

Posted by kamie on 05/12/08 - 11:53 AM

Did you weight the hull before or after you took out the wet foam around the tank?
Also, since you removed the tank what is the weight of the hull without the tank? Unless you know the tank is 100% empty or 100% full it's hard to estimate weight of gas, especially when it might be mixed with water.

Here is one idea, drill holes along the keel until you reach dry foam. Forward and backward from the breach. Now get an estimate from a glass repair shop to remove that section of gelcoat & fiberglass, let the foam dry and reglass and regelcoat that area.
Go over every inch of the boat, especially topside looking for open screw holes or damage to gelcoat that could have allowed water to enter from the top. Take those area's into consideration when your getting repair estimates.

You can refoam whalers with 2 part foam, as Jeff's link shows. It's up to you how much you want to do on this boat and how long you want to wait to use it.

Posted by flippa on 05/12/08 - 4:41 PM

Have you had it out on the water yet? How does it run? Is it mechanically all there, or is it a turd in that department?

I have a 1978 Outrage 21. I knew my boat was at least several hundred pounds heavy. I purchased it knowing it was a 28 year old boat that had issues. The previous owner was not into preventative maintenance at all, however had recently spent a bunch of money repowering it.

Like others have said, almost all old whalers have some water in them (some more than others). I wanted this style Outrage, and the good stuff outweighed the bad. My boat still rides well & has plenty of power to offset the additional weight. I drill a few holes in my keel at the end of each season, cover it with a black tarp and park it on a hill to let the boat drain.

I have slowly been replacing items on the boat. The electrical panel was replaced last year. Rewiring all the lights & sorting out more maintenance issues prior to dropping it back in. I am far from being done with mine.

It stinks that you bought something site unseen that was far less than was advertised. If it is a real turkey, see if you can either return it or come to an agreement with the seller to make it right.

If it is mechanically sound, and you like the boat, I would patch up any penetrations in the deck and hull, square away the immediate items that need attention & run it.

Edited by flippa on 05/12/08 - 4:50 PM