Ok POST experts, lets hear some thoughts

Buy a handheld palm sized moisture meter at home depot, they are relatively cheap and work extremely well actually. Find an area of fiberglass on the boat you know to be dry to get a baseline. The moisture meter will spike and show moisture in the core/wood and they work pretty good. I forgot what brand I have but it's less than $50.

Sorry, I don't know.

I've used a Ryobi from Home Depot with very good results. Now you have to understand they may get false readings in areas like corners and such, BUT, I've found high moisture and then found rotted core.......

Between the moisture meter and a hammer you can tell the difference between wet/bad core and a simple void. A void can make a meter show moisture. The tapping with a hammer will help.
If it is still questionable, you may need to do small, test holes to confirm.
Where are your trouble spots ?

Sounds about right.

It's 30-40 years old it's going to be wet in places and those areas you listed don't seem too surprising. How were the hammer soundings? Are the areas solid or spongey?

Can you live with knowing parts of your boat are wetter than others as long as they aren't crumbling away and you do what you can to stop any further moisture ingress? That's the choice I made although I understand that doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

That's a bummer. There will be others! Keep us posted on your search.

May be you are better off.

I was driving up route 301 about two weeks ago and took a ride around the marina on Kent Island, but I did not see the boat along the bulkhead.

Sounds about right in those places with moisture depends how bad. With a bad tank and that with moisture the owner needs to smarten up on his price.

I have found brokers/sellers are usually unwilling to budge too much off an agreed upon price to accommodate survey findings. It's strange, almost as if they would rather move on, lower the price and sell to someone else - as if the survey is some sort of personal insult.

Comparison - my surveyor spent more than 8 hours on the boat and I had more than 20 findings but almost all of them I already had an idea of before making my offer.

The exhaust manifold on the generator busted during the survey and the owner had it replaced on his dime, and also had one of the engines worked on to deal with a low idle stall issue. The rest was pretty much take it or leave it.

It is inevitable that a competent surveyor will document a lengthy list of items on a boat of this size - one that can measure it's age in decades. if you made a priority list and the cost to repair makes the boat too expensive - you made the right choice to move on.

If the surveyor came in with a lower number than asking price and the owner would not move I would walk. The insurance company will want it fixed before they will wright the policy, and then they will only insure it for the survey price.

On the subject 1982 Post 42 - Asking price is $64,500. Agreed selling price is $55,000.
If one of you guys has, or knows of a (comparable) 1980, 1981, 1982 or 1983 Post 42 that doesn't have deck core moisture and can be bought for $55K or less - please let strongfinish know. He is a buyer.
BTW, this boat has not been fished hard, mostly cruised. Engines are 6-71ti 410's that cold start instantly (in November in Maryland) and don't smoke. Boat runs out well, makes proper RPM's and hits 23-24 knots at WOT. At 1900 she was making 19.6 knots. This before she was hauled and washed as the survey had ended prior to bottom inspection. We expect the
bottom to be in good condition as she had a blast and barrier coat 10 or so years ago and is hauled and shrink wrapped every Winter. Does she need some stuff? Yep. Don't they all?

I just ran a soldboats report for the 1980 to 1983 Post 42's that have sold from January 2011 until today. There were 15 boats in all different prices from $35,000 to $127,000. The average selling price in that time frame was $58,313.
BUCValu which means almost nothing says $68,100 to $74,900. So I find it tough to believe why a surveyor could not defend a $55,000 value.

Here is a link to the specs for this 1982 Post 42 (posted with mod's permission) http://bayportyacht.com/brokerage-b...n-kent-narrows-chester-united-states-5834470/
BTW after some discussion this afternoon, the Seller has agreed to sell the boat to strongfinish for $50,000.

Sounds to me like the surveyor believes the moisture in the toerail is a must fix due to the safety concerns of someone leaning heavily against the bow rail.

Which would make something that could be a "keep an eye on it, they all have it" kind of finding a "must address immediately" and forced him to consider that in the survey value.

In the end, a boat is worth what someone's willing to pay for it.

Last thought - with the amount of money a boat like this will consume each year in maintenance, upgrades, repairs, storage, fuel, etc.. is the actual purchase price up or down 10 or 20 grand going to mean much a few years from now? If the boat requires just too much $$ to make it safe and seaworthy .. walk away. If the repairs are not too astronomical and you otherwise like the boat, I would buy it.

I think you are going to be in the 70+ range at least for one that hasn't been fished to death that has two solid engines that doesn't have a multi-page findings list.

1500 hours is nothing for those engines either