Hi Pearce,
The chainplate issue you picked up on is probably the most serious, if left unaddressed for too long. The sealant under the little sealing plates dries out over the years so they start leaking. This let's water into the balsa deck core and the Marine ply part bulkhead to which the chainplate is bolted. In extremis, the marine ply goes soggy, letting the bolts tear through it. Use a straight edge on the deck around the chainplates - any bulge you find needs explaining and rectifying.
Other issues are rusty keel bolts (studs actually) which seem to concern young surveyors who have never seen any material other than stainless steel for this purpose, but rarely amount to a major problem and delaminating"teak" in the cockpit, which was originally teak faced ply. By now it's likely to have been replaced by solid teak or one of the modern teak substitutes such as Flexiteak.
Of course, these are old boats now, so if she has been well used many parts may be in need of replacement, are the hatches and portlights watertight, is the glazing crazed, how is the engine, the electronics? When was the standing rigging last replaced? None of these points is Moody specific. The key point is that the condition of a boat of this age has more to do with how she's been looked after than how she was built.
Peter.
