SO39i survey reports some voids in deck. Red Alert?

[dbostrom]

[BTW, as mentioned on another thread "hello" and thank you all very much for such an excellent resource as JONF.]

Have seached JONF for this general topic without results so hopefully am not creating a duplicate thread.

We're on track to purchase a 2010 SO39i. In general the surveyor's report is quite positive and generally cause for optimism. However, as I read many depressing stories of dreadful situations to do with decayed deck cores there's one note in the survey that causes me special concern:

12. The decks and cabin tops are of fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) “sandwich” construction, with a

FRP laminate above and below a core material. Acoustic sounding (hammer tapping) of these

surfaces located a number of localized void areas under the upper laminate, as are commonly found.

A larger one about five inches by five inches in extent was found on the foredeck, located about eight

inches to starboard of the centerline bail as marked in pencil at the time of survey.

This boat appears to have been scrupulously maintained by the present owner and there are no mentions in the survey of cracking around stanchions or other deck fittings, or notes of leakage through the deck down below. 

Has anybody else noted similar symptoms in other Jeanneau "i" boats of the same general vintage? Given that these voids are apparently not connected with penetrations through the upper skin of the boat I'm wondering if they're manufacturing warts, possibly common and congenital to Jeanneau's "i" process. 

I'll shortly be visiting the boat to crawl over it and do a sea trial so if anybody on JONF has tips on what to look for other than normal ingress into cores via leaks or cracks or the like I'd much appreciate it. 

[so36idavid]

I have an '07 36i, I haven't noticed any delaminations, but I haven't looked for them either. I don't think that my surveyor tapped the deck although he did the hull. So there might well be some small deck voids. If I were you I'd take a look at the area that he alludes to and try to get a sense of what happened there, look for water intrusion etc. If you're really concerned you can always seal the void. Drill two small holes, squirt epoxy into one of them until it runs out the other. Let it cure and then seal the holes with gelcoat

Honestly if that's the worst thing your surveyor found you're in great shape. I'd file this under "meh" and move on with life. The 39i is a great boat, enjoy!

David

[dbostrom]

Thank you so36idavid. My hypothesis was that with such a large area of deck it's unlikely the factory can ever economically achieve complete perfection. Visited the boat today and a fiberglass technician pretty much confirmed my thoughts and what you say; part of an acceptable defect level as-built, super easy to fix. The void of actual concern is not near any deck penetration* and is completely isolated in the middle of a core area. We'll fill it and be happy. 

Very hard to remain coldly dispassionate about this boat during the visit today. She's immaculately maintained, loaded with extra electronic and other systems goodies, completely dry inside despite sitting in week after week of typical saturation PNW rain. I'm amazed with the efficient and comfortable layout below decks, particularly the humane and comfortable stern cabins.

I'm sure you're right and I'll be happy. Itching to sail her but today featured hard rain and zero wind; we'll take it up in better conditions, shortly. At this point it's pretty much academic; I'm not a demanding sailor, while the commissioning and present owner is (reluctantly selling it due to personal circumstances). W/ a deep and successful offshore racing CV I suspect his expectations were a good bit higher than mine (this is the "performance" version w/deep keel etc.).  

*Very pleased to see that stanchions, pad eyes etc. all own their own solid fiberglass real estate. The whole core business bothers me, especially cores made of food.

[Trevor]

I'm with so36idavid,

We were fortunate enough to purchase a new so36i in 2007 and what a great boat that was. The deck is made using some fancy injection moulding technique that apparently reduces the weight of the finished product and provides greater strength. I would be concerned if something was found really wrong but as so36idavid says, with those survey comments just move on with life.

I think the so39i is a beautiful boat and unless you are very picky I will bet you will be a very pleased owner.

Regards,

[reverie]

I understand Jeanneau refers to their technique as the "Prisma injection moulding process".

I've drilled holes in my deck to install a second winch on the coach roof, and also a pad eye on the deck. Both times the drilled material that came out of the deck appeared to be white powder (rather than wood), so I suspect these decks are foam cored rather than balsa cored.

When I purchased my boat in 2009 (second hand - it was built in 2004), the dealer mentioned that, due to the construction process, the decks would not soak up water from any leaks (i.e. a crack in the deck, leaking stanchion base or fitting, etc). I'm hopeful that he was right - but I'm certainly not counting on it. I carefully bed the winch and pad eye when I installed them.

Given that water logged decks have haunted sailboat owners for decades, I am hoping that advances in technology will eventually end this problem - assuming that Jeanneau hasn't ended it already with their Prisma process!

Has anyone with a Jeanneau built after ~2003 (when the Prisma process was introduced) suffered from a wet deck core?

John
2004 SO35

[On y va]

I deal on average with about 15 surveyors a year and in my opinion only 20% of them actually know what they are tallking about or what they are doing.
I wouldn't be too concerned here. And if you are: drill a hole, inject some epoxy and close again. Make sure u make a positive print of the waver pattern first, so you can make a perfect repair of where u drilled the hole.

It is most likely a lesser or non bonding of deck and core. Constructionally not really a biggie.

[dbostrom]

Thanks folks. I'm sure all's well given the general congruence in opinion here and the fiberglass person's "well, I'll fix it if you really want" attitude. Surveyor's delivering facts as found so that's good too.

Hanging fire on making a mention of "our" boat on the "Welcome to forum" thread until closing. Deposit is in escrow so there's not much of hope of escape at this point-- call me superstitious for not starting to dance around.  

Stepping off the boat yesterday I was completely stoked, still am this morning. Boosted rig and keel will help a sailing dunce like myself make way in famous PNW light airs. A lot to be happy about.

[Trevor]

Hey dbostrom,

You have made me feel happy simply because I know what that feeling is like!!! Whooohooo!!!!

Close the deal, exchange the funds, get on that boat and sail!

[bikerwookie]

I have a 33i 2012 with the same deck and never had even a stress crack on it. Never tapped it with a hammer either. Not come across anyone with issues with the injection decks.

If the boat you are looking at held up this long whilst being walked on I doubt its a problem.