Moody 31 MkII Proposed purchase of a Moody 31 Mk2

[Graham Castell]

Hi,
This is my first post on this forum as I am thinking of buying a 1987 Moody 31 Mk2. The boat is in overall excellent condition but I do have a few niggles over moisture levels. I am in possession of a survey dated March 2021 and seriously considering buying it, based on my 20 years of previous boat owning experience and the March survey - ie, without a current survey as I think this is recent enough.

As mentioned my main areas of concern are relating to moisture levels in three separate areas.
The rudder - Quote " Moisture meter readings on the rudder blade are very elevated indicating saturation of the core material" Surveyor does note that most GRP yachts over 10 years suffer from this issue and that it is rarely a problem. Would owners agree ?
The foredeck - Quote " high readings were found around the forward hatch possibly stemming from the baby stay chain plate - Could Be UFO vent ( I know what the UFO vent is but why is it called a UFO? ! ) Surveyor notes that the problem has probably been going on for 10 years and further investigation by way of removing the chain plate . Am I overly concerned here ?
The hull - Quote " A Tramex skipper plus meter was used revealing moisture levels at around 50% on the relative scale - deemed as acceptable " ( really?) and at the topsides levels from 30 to 40 % with no osmotic blistering in the laminate "
So my question here is-- this all ok and in line with normal expectations for a Moody of this age ?

I would appreciate some answers on these queries

Thanks Graham Castell

 

[Matthew Stibbs]

I can't comment on the foredeck and hull (although I do have mild osmosis in my M28 hull which I had ground out and epoxied this year with the aim of simply keeping it at bay).

Certainly when I bought my Moody 28 the rudder had moisture readings of "100", and the research I did on this suggested it's incredibly common.

Since owning the boat, I have drained the rudder (by drilling a couple of holes in it and letting it drip for a few weeks - more to be found on this elsewhere on the forum / internet). The rudder is solid and I have no concerns about it going forward, despite the 'very high' moisture readings. I had a small amount of glass repair and re-profiling done to seal up some cracks and smooth it over and it looks good as new.

 

[Pete Rowland]

Graham, our surveyor said the same thing about our M31 rudder 14 years ago, along with the comment "they are all like that" and he wasn't just talking about Moodys. I suspect it's the join were the shaft goes into the top of the rudder. Lift the boat out in the summer and the rudder expands in the heat. Put it back in the water and the sudden reduction in temperature causes a partial vacuum inside the rudder sucking in water. We had a dive boat that when launched on a hot day would hiss. Spent hours checking diving cylinders for one that was leaking only to find it was the rib hull sucking in air from a self tapper screw hole that wasn't air tight.

The baby stay on the M31 and M346 isn't great. Its a tang that sticks up through the deck and below is welded on to a stainless bar glassed to the underside of the deck for support. Seems to be a bit pot luck if there is a problem with them. However, I suspect the seal around the tang is your problem and normally needs doing about every 5 years. Simple DIY job, lift the stainless steel plate, scrape out any previous sealant, replace with butyl tape and screw down progressively. The same job applies to the other chain plates, but since the surveyor hasn't mentioned them they should be file for a while. He will have tested them btw. What to do about it? I would just seal the tang and watch and wait.

Now using a meter on a hull and trying it compare it to other meters even of the same make is fraught with difficulty. Also was the survey carried out with the boat just being lifted and therefore wet? or was it raining that day or the day before? I hope the surveyor scraped the antifouling off before taking meter readings but even so it can be a problem getting an accurate reading. The good news is that Marine Projects who built the M31 did a great job in a controlled environment. That initial build quality is still paying dividends 3 decades on. I can't remember any reports of osmosis in a M31 and the readings wouldn't concern me. Indeed, if that is all the majors the surveyor found in any 34 year old yacht then I would be quite happy.

 

[Graham Castell]

Thanks for that chaps, You've pretty much supported my own thoughts. I have now taken her out for a sea trial. All went well apart from one issue, which is the Autohelm 300. In my ignorance I just thought it would be the same type of Autohelm that I have been familiar with for years. But no, The A300 is a very elderly unit, long since made obsolete not just for its rather Heath Robinson appearance but also as being potentially dangerous. I am now aware that servicing and spares are no longer available. i am just wondering if anyone has had experience of this model and how long I could expect it to continue to function - safely !

 

[Pete Rowland]

Graham, I would remove it, put it in a box and sell it in the Spring on e bay. Someone will be grateful for it.

There are two options obvious options to replace it. Firstly is Raymarines below deck system which will be in the order of £2500. John Ranson did a great write up in the forum of how he did this, but you may need to be a full member to access it.

Raymarine Evolution Autopilot Packs

Raymarine Evolution Autopilot Packs

hudsonmarine.co.uk

The second option is a new Evolution wheel pilot at about £1300, which we did. I wrote about it here in posts 8 and 12.

Raymarine Evolution EV-100 Wheel Autopilot review - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

I am planning to get a better autopilot for our multihull . We have a Vetus hydraulic system with wheel steering . Used Autohelm ST3000 for years with moderate satisfaction ... Vetus does not make any

www.cruisersforum.com

Things have moved on since the days of Autohelm and a reliable autopilot is a great asset on a long trip.

 

[Peter Wright]

Hi Graham,

I'm old enough to have owned an Altohelm older than the A300, but I bought it in the 1970's and sold the yacht, with it still installed in the late 1980's. Electronics has come an awful long way since those days and, while I believe that yacht is still going strong, I don't suppose for a minute that it srill has the old wheel pilot.

I agree with others that you should plan on replacing the auto pilot as an early upgrade alyhkugh I'm less confident than Pete that anyone will offer you good money for the old one. There is actually a wide range of units available - the evolution seems tbe best choice from Raymarine, but there are other makers. In my view, it's worth researching the market as things change so fast. Buying Raymarine is generally an expensive oltion as they sell using the same tactics as Volvo Penta, cheap prices to boat builders zs original equipment to get the owners hooked then exorbitant to boat owners seeking to buy spsres or increase functionality. You should look to integrate the new pilot in a NMEA 2000 network, even if it's the only device as every future electronics upgrade will offer the same communications capability.

Short answer is don't assign any value to the autopilot and seek to replace with modern equivalent asap.

Peter.