Topic: Need advice on used CO26

Hello there, I am looking at a Contessa 26 and need advice from owners concerning a few issues I notice on the boat today. There is some damage on the bow which I thought might have been caused by a collision but the current owner says that never happened. It appears at the joint between the two halves of the hull and I wonder what the implications might be. The second thing is that some of the chainplates have had water coming from the deck for a while and I wonder if that would require replacing the chainplates with the associated glass work. Last is the presence of pop rivets visible all along the inside of the rub rail. Those are spaced about an inch apart and seem to go around the whole boat. Seems to me such a large amount of holes along the top of the hull is a pretty bad idea... Is that a feature seen in all Canadian Contessa 26?

Not sure how to post more than one picture since zip files are not permitted, the attachment shows the bow damage.

Thank you for your help

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Re: Need advice on used CO26

Michel,

The damage look superficial on the picture, if the damage was extensive, the gelcoat will had show more spiders cracks. It's like the boat had punch something. The Contessa don't have balsa  in the hull around that place, so the fiberglass could be repair easily.

For the chainplates, it's not so easy, the Co is surely delaminate around them because of the presence of balsa between the  layers of fiberglass. Do you have to repair or not  depend of you but for sure you can't lost the mast because of the failure of the  deck, the chainplates are fix inside the hull so the deck his not the risk.

And, yes the pops rivets are from factory.

Marc

Contessa 26 #158
Sun Wave
Montreal QC

Re: Need advice on used CO26

Thank you for your quick reply, I also think the bow damage is mostly cosmetic and could easily patched up. As for the chainplates, I will have the boat surveyed if my interest in her is sustained.

Thanks again.

Re: Need advice on used CO26

On the outside, the pop rivets are hidden under the aluminum rub rail. There is chaulking under it to seal all the holes. My bow has a small indentation in the gelcoat that seems to be where the two halves meet. It is not a structural problem since there is glass on the inside to re-enforce the joint. The chain plates need chaulking at the deck level on the outside every few years. The movement of the two parts and the heating/cooling of two different materials makes the chaulk break way from the chain plate. I have not had any delamination in that area of the deck.

Re: Need advice on used CO26

Thank you seealder, that is what I thought about the bow as I can see thick fg under the missing gel coat. My main worry about the boat is the chainplates, a few of them seems to be a bit swollen with the fasteners slightly countersunk into them. are there details about the particular way those were laminated and what type of core material is used?

I have attached a picture of one of them.

Thank you.

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Re: Need advice on used CO26

The photo of the chainplate mounting wizzie (buttress?) hints that the core became water saturated and then expanded and contracted in the old freeze/thaw cycle.  Not unusual at all.  The core (assumed to be plywood) is probably somewhat mushy and can't provide the compression strength to rigidly hold the chain plate in place.  I'm also assuming that the cross bolts are rusted due to their being in a wet environment with depleted dissolved oxygen.   A reasonable fix would be to saw or grind off the inside sloped edge of the buttress, dig out all of the deteriorated core, fill the void with a high compression epoxy filler, re-drill the bolt holes, replace the three bolts, and cosmetically restore the buttress edge.  Really not much of a job.  Probably will require a six-pack or two.

Re: Need advice on used CO26

I like Merrill's solution above -- it might take more beer though!

I found wet core in a couple of places on my boat and was fortunate to catch it before rot set in -- it meant that instead of replacing the core I just needed to dry out what remained strong. 

In this case the chainplate core might be OK and the bolts have just been over-tightened.  I would start by pulling the bolts and taking a pick to the exposed core.  If sound, then let everything dry out for a couple of weeks (a space heater can help this process) and then reinstall the chainplates with lots of caulking.  Be sure you have solved the leaks.  Based on the rusting here, there are probably other wet places throughout the boat so drying everything out will be worthwhile. 

My chainplates were leaking this spring.  I took two hours to scrape out the old caulk for all six chainplates, tape the area and recaulk from deck.  Voila!  my quarterberth lockers were bone dry again!  And I had thought it was the travellers!

Re: Need advice on used CO26

Thank you all for your replies, I am confident the boat is sound and know that I could do the work to fix the chainplates.

The boat is priced at $8000 and needs repowering, it is still equipped with the 7 hp Faryman and original sails. It does come with a yard trailer but since basically no work or upgrades were done, the boat seems overpriced.
We will either make an offer in the fall or wait for another boat to come by with more headroom.

Many thanks for your help.