I would appreciates your thoughts on a Trojan I may purchase
Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 4:58 pm
The vessel in question is a 1975 26' Trojan witha hardtop. I am an expirienced boater, but only in smaller alluminum boats with outboard motors. Hull number is 261 something something yadda yadda yadda.
Cost of the boat is $5000, it would be alot higher but I am a close relative of the seller. I'll tell you everything I know about the boat.
This boat has not been in the water for about 6 years. It has been sitting outside in wisconsin for most of that time. It may or may not have been brought indoors durring the winters. Prior to this 6 year period, the boat was used routinely and performed very well, I spent alot of time on this boat in the early '90s.
The engine is a single 233hp 351 which I believe to be original to the boat. There are 1650 hours on it. Also included is a 10hp kicker motor on the transom. I am certain that both motors will need a bit of work prior to recomitioning, but I am not too concerned about them. The big motor was filled with antifreeze before parking.
Fiberglass looks good to my eye, but I don't know too much about glass boats. There are numorous small spiderweb like cracks in the vesal, though I presume these are mostly surface fractures that paint will fix? They are not at high stress areas like the transom corners or anything. The hardtop appears to be two layers of fiberglass with wood inbetween covered by stainless trim. The trim is displaced in several areas, if I had to guess I would say that the wood got wet and the water frooze, forcing the trim off. The wood that remains is not strong enough to hold the trim screws, this will need fixing. The bottom needs paint, the entire boat needs presure washing.
The cabin is clean but looks like 1975, no issues here. It doesn't seem like the windows leaked much if at all.
The deck is teak. It is apparent when you walk on it that there are two support beams under it that run fore and aft, between and outside of the beams you can detect perhaps 1/2" of sag when you walk. It is not disconcerting, but it is something I would likely replace in a few years unless someone here thinks its a big issue.
Now the worst part, or at least the part I fear....upon opening the rear hatch, engine hatch and cabin hatch, I was greeted by water, probably 2" of it. This water has probably been there for years and likely came in through the deck from rain. I poked about with my knife at the few areas were I could find wood that was not covered by glass. My knife would enter about 1/4" then stop. My gut says that things are plenty strong, but my gut doesn't know fiberglass boats. Is there a surefire, easy way of determining weather the wood is good? I'm sure the water would pump out if there was a battery in the boat.
I do not wish to pay several hundred dollars for a boat tech to look at it (I know, I know...)
My questions:
Does the hardtop come apart easily for wood replacement?
How critical to safety are the wood stringers on a boat like this? Have there been documented instances of vesels sinking due to rotton stringers?
Has anyone here rescued an old 'glass Trojan? What suprises did you find?
If you have replaced the wood in your boat, please tell me about the project, how you got to the wood out to remove and reinstall it, etc.
This boat seems to be 9 1/2' wide, I thought F26s were like 10 1/2, is this boat an F26? It doesn't mention a name in the manual or have any model name on it.
Any replies are appreciated, I'm sorry to make my first post so long. Thanks in advance!
Cost of the boat is $5000, it would be alot higher but I am a close relative of the seller. I'll tell you everything I know about the boat.
This boat has not been in the water for about 6 years. It has been sitting outside in wisconsin for most of that time. It may or may not have been brought indoors durring the winters. Prior to this 6 year period, the boat was used routinely and performed very well, I spent alot of time on this boat in the early '90s.
The engine is a single 233hp 351 which I believe to be original to the boat. There are 1650 hours on it. Also included is a 10hp kicker motor on the transom. I am certain that both motors will need a bit of work prior to recomitioning, but I am not too concerned about them. The big motor was filled with antifreeze before parking.
Fiberglass looks good to my eye, but I don't know too much about glass boats. There are numorous small spiderweb like cracks in the vesal, though I presume these are mostly surface fractures that paint will fix? They are not at high stress areas like the transom corners or anything. The hardtop appears to be two layers of fiberglass with wood inbetween covered by stainless trim. The trim is displaced in several areas, if I had to guess I would say that the wood got wet and the water frooze, forcing the trim off. The wood that remains is not strong enough to hold the trim screws, this will need fixing. The bottom needs paint, the entire boat needs presure washing.
The cabin is clean but looks like 1975, no issues here. It doesn't seem like the windows leaked much if at all.
The deck is teak. It is apparent when you walk on it that there are two support beams under it that run fore and aft, between and outside of the beams you can detect perhaps 1/2" of sag when you walk. It is not disconcerting, but it is something I would likely replace in a few years unless someone here thinks its a big issue.
Now the worst part, or at least the part I fear....upon opening the rear hatch, engine hatch and cabin hatch, I was greeted by water, probably 2" of it. This water has probably been there for years and likely came in through the deck from rain. I poked about with my knife at the few areas were I could find wood that was not covered by glass. My knife would enter about 1/4" then stop. My gut says that things are plenty strong, but my gut doesn't know fiberglass boats. Is there a surefire, easy way of determining weather the wood is good? I'm sure the water would pump out if there was a battery in the boat.
I do not wish to pay several hundred dollars for a boat tech to look at it (I know, I know...)
My questions:
Does the hardtop come apart easily for wood replacement?
How critical to safety are the wood stringers on a boat like this? Have there been documented instances of vesels sinking due to rotton stringers?
Has anyone here rescued an old 'glass Trojan? What suprises did you find?
If you have replaced the wood in your boat, please tell me about the project, how you got to the wood out to remove and reinstall it, etc.
This boat seems to be 9 1/2' wide, I thought F26s were like 10 1/2, is this boat an F26? It doesn't mention a name in the manual or have any model name on it.
Any replies are appreciated, I'm sorry to make my first post so long. Thanks in advance!