Price Check/ Mad River ME...what would you do?

jatakasawa · Post by **jatakasawa** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:23 pm

I have a damaged Mad River ME that is in otherwise beautiful condition. I was in an auto accident this past January and unfortunately my boat received three cracks and a fist-sized puncture.

I was going to fix it myself but decided to just sell it as is and save for something smaller/more modern.

So...do I spend the money/time fixing it before I sell it and if so, will I recoup the cost...or should I sell her as is?

Sir Adam · Post by **Sir Adam** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 6:54 pm

If you have the knowledge to fix it right, the time, and materials it would be time well spent.

If not, it all depends on whether you are interested in fixing it, and how much you feel your time is worth on such a project.

I haven't seen the boat, but if it is pretty bad you'd likely pay someone to fix it about what someone would pay you for the boat fixed.

I'm assuming it is ABS / royalex and not glass?

jroneil · Post by **jroneil** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 8:38 pm

sell as is you will be lucky to get 100
fix it right you might get 300

jatakasawa · Post by **jatakasawa** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:55 pm

I'm starting to see a pattern here! A wise man once said that if I get the same advice from three separate sources, it's probably good stuff. I appreciate the feedback.

ezwater · Post by **ezwater** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 1:28 am

If I were buying it (and I'm not because I have a MR Synergy), I would be bothered not so much by the prospect of the repairs as by whether the boat has been kept out of the sun and weather most of the time. This would affect how brittle the Royalex is. If the cracks are not all the way through, and aren't very long, you might be able to open up the cracks a bit and then use West G-flex to repair them. The thickened variety would work better. But if the cracks go clear through the hull, or if they are longer than 6-8nches, you would need to chisel-skim off the vinyl and lay on a 2 or 3 layer Kevlar patch (for inside cracks), or a glass patch (for outside cracks). A hole could be filled with foam and covered with two or three layer patches inside and outside. Alternatively, if you can get some ABS sheet, you could glue it inside and outside with G-flex.

This would be easy and cheap for me because I have all the cloth and epoxies handy. In your case, it depends on how bad the damage is and what you can scarf up rather than purchase.

gumpy · Post by **gumpy** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 2:25 am

i have a bare, unoutfitted me hull you could have for free. pm me if interested.

ezwater · Post by **ezwater** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:32 pm

gumpy, that should go to the Smithsonian.