Looking at a 38' steel Riviera Roamer, advice?

Why would you buy a steel one when you can have an aluminum one. The hold their value much better, are faster and far more valuable.

There is an awesome 38' one on Senaca Lake for sale with newly rebuilt 427's
and a near mint interior so I hear. It's a fresh water boat as well.

Contact Fran Barrett at Barrett Marine in Waterloo NY.
Phone:
315-789-6605 or 1-800-924-8940

E-mail:
bmarine@capital.net

I have seen this boat.... my Roamer is the Adjournment featured on the homepage of the Roamer website. This Roamer is 32k reduced to 27K... owned by the son of the original owner.

Its got the right hull material and engines.. 33 mph boat I beleive.


If you have any questions, you can reach me at 703-314-4314.. check it out it would be my fist pick based on what I know and saw. The marina is honest and Fran knows all about it. We kept our boat there too sometimes years ago.

Tell him Brian Kenning sent you.
703-314-4314

1969 38 Riviera - Aluminum

Opps sorry, I just checked and this boat sold a few monts ago... said it had three offers a that same time. It was a beauty, aluminum... rebuilt 427's, fresh water and no corrosion. I saw it and could not believe the condition.
It was a 1969 Regal, not a Riviera, son of original owner.

What few people realize is that Roamer used the most expensive grade of aluminum, 5086. As long as they have a good epoxy bottom, a working
isolation transformer and vinyl transmission shaft isolator couplers... should last forever... and of course, best to keep the bilge dry... highly recommend PSS shaft seals.

They are all money pits (what isn't?)... It's a disease not a sport, a sport you must enjoy tingkering with.

Steel is inhernetly stronger and a stiffer ride, 4,000 pounds heavier and sits two inches deeper at the water line. Steel is fine, a better one in some regards, but unless it was kept dry and preferably in fresh water, it often needs plating, also there is a resale differential if you check valuations.

I am an aluminum fan all the way, just my preference as it is the fneset grade of marine aluminum. If you want a nice Roamer, the cabintop needs to be sanded down in most cases, prepped accordingly and reshot. Most all Roamers are the same in this regard. Point is, the sleek classic lines are there.

The top is oldstyle woodstrips covered with epoxy and then glassed. The strongest part of the Romaer is the hull... pretty indestructable. With the same power, the 38 aluminum goes 2-3 mph faster and uses less fuel. aluminum than steel.. but if you found a great steel one, it will have a bit

Steel has more tendency to plow, but not really an issue on the 38 because of its perfect length to width ratio and PT style hard chine hull. She does not roll at all hardly. If anything, she may have a slight tendency to pound a hair at the pre-bow in the forward cabinwindow area. However the seas must be in the 3.5-4 foot range and you must be doing over 21 mph to get a slight pound.. she is not a deep vee, rather a semi... so she is fast, fuel efficient and goes... fine in big swells such as the great lakes, a bit rougher in small chop such as the Chesapeake Bay. (Nice strong bowflair!)

All 38 Roamers have a few, albeit repairable inhernet design flaws, regarding slight leaks where the cabin top meets the hull.. repairable so if anyone has this issue, be glad to discuss remedy as I have taken it all apart and rebuilt.



Homer1958

What he said.
Point is, this is a Roamer Club site (not Bayliner), eh?

All 38 Roamers have a few, albeit repairable inhernet design flaws, regarding slight leaks where the cabin top meets the hull.. repairable so if anyone has this issue, be glad to discuss remedy as I have taken it all apart and rebuilt.
Homer1958[/QUOTE]


Hello again, Homer,
I've been re-painting my 1969 38' al Regal and, yup, that cabin-to-hull seam is a bit troublesome. We had a fair leak in the head area and by the galley. I removed the old caulk (wasn't original, of course) and re-caulked it with 5200. It's held up for a couple years but I doubt it will be in any way permanent. My plan was to use the new synthetic (plastic?) quarter round molding as trim around that seam, caulking it as well as I put it on. I am curious... What did you do in that area?

Thanks for sharing,
Tim

If you write Captain Eric at Alloyed to Sea he has my photos after I ripped out the fornt bulkhead.

Here is the deal. There is a copper pipe on each side of your seat area that drains to the deck.. it may or may not be leaking but chances are its not the issue, could be, but not my first guess. Maybe run some thin Mas Epoxy in the drain holes and clear them before the epoxy dries so it seeps into any potential hair cracks in the pipe connection.. probably a good idea. I actally cut mine and made fiberglass tubes connected by marine plasitc tubing as it is impossible to do it again if it leaked here as well.

The quarter round at the base of the cabintop is screwed into 1 inch high wood strips on the inside of the salon behind where the tiny round brown airvents are near where you likely have a slight water issue wrecking your interior wood under your port and starboard seat windows.

These wood tied downs holding the screws through the external quarter round ROTS which makes it difficult to tie down your cabimtop that has these screws going through the quarterround into the wood strips. This happens predominantly because this is the part of the hull that pounds a bit and it beats on the part that connects the salontop to the deck via the wood strips the screws in the quaterround tie into.

If you look closely at the bow seat corners where the quaterround ties to the deck, you will see a hairline crack where the water comes in.

You may be able to stop the leak by 5200 in a small saringe you can buy at West Marine that West Systems sells to fill the quaterround cracks,.. but to do it right, chances are you need to pull the interior wood veneer on either side of the bown windsows, pull out the likely rotton wood strip tiedowns, put in new ones.. EPOXY THEM! Then replace the quarter round upfront deckside and rescrew back in through the capintop to the new tiedowns. This will also connect your cabintop to the deck better than it is now. Though it is connected in the front as well, the corner sides are weak due to the wood tie downs being rotten.

If your tiedowns are rotten (Which I believe they are) how can you tie down the bow part of the cabin orner top? You can't.. as you are screwing into rotten wood.

Hope this helps.

I am at 703-314-4314 if you want more info.

My Riviera was hull number 005.. the fifth of only 7 1969 Aluminum 38 Rivieras made for 69.. our boats may have been built at the same time. I was at the factory at 13 years old. It is very powerful with twin turbo 370 Yanmars.... even has 2 inch shafts... she can pull a ship i.e.
I knwo every inch of this boat.. every inch, so if you have more questiosn just ask. One can't know this unless they take one apart and I did.. CRAZY.