We are looking for a 48’-55’ boat; single or twin engines in the $400-500K range. Friday we viewed a 2000 Ocean Alexander 510 Pilothouse. Very nice interior (although fridge was oversized). Problem is, there are gelcoat spider cracks over the entire exterior. We wondered what repair would cost so did an internet search. Although we didn’t get the answer to that question, we found an old article (2013) on Lats & Atts magazine. The article focused on 2 OAs with questionable construction quality. I have not provided the link to that article to stay within this forum’s guidelines. Should we exclude Ocean Alexander altogether from our search? It’s a nice looking boat, but concerned about quality construction.
What were the construction issues the article revealed? If it is the "cracked" gelcoat problem that plagued boat builders and owners back in the early 2000's the gelcoat has to be sanded down and repainted and expensive to repair. It was a big cosmetic problem with many builders. We looked at a OA 510 in that time, thought it was a good design. If there are real issues with OA's you should be able to find them on the internet.
What is expensive in your mind? An offer could take that into account. A few excerpts from the article: -weight issues, and shortcuts they took (during design and construction). - as soon as we got out to sea the bulkhead started delaminating, and other things started happening - issues with the boat’s design and construction started with below-the-waterline leaks from the hull and keel, and the degrading of its lamination, and have widened to incorporate numerous other problems discovered following a detailed forensic survey of the yacht and its substructure. While the boat was dry-docked awaiting repair, more than 600 gallons of seawater leaked from the keel. - inadequate and inconsistent hull thickness; inadequately constructed hull; pervasive de-lamination of the hull; failure to attach bulkheads to keel; transom inadequately constructed; poorly constructed bow thruster tube; poorly constructed sonar tube; improperly affixed struts; poorly constructed support beams; lack of waterproof bulkheads and sub-compartments; and a lack of a reinforced collision bulkhead.
That would be a no brainer to look elsewhere. I heard cracked gelcoat repairs for topside at $1000 per foot and up. The other things you have mentioned are structural and may cost more than the boat is worth to correct.
As I typed the article excerpts, I wondered again why we would consider. However, I also thought like many other things, perhaps these were one or two off the norm. We appreciate your thoughts. Moving right along...
That's such an odd article. It's really about Parker's lawsuit (and some others but much less detail on the others). With Parker, the problems were on the FIFTH OA he purchased. So basically he was perfectly pleased with the prior four OAs, or at least I presume that since he kept going back to OA. I don't know, but I'd love to get the other side of that story. I'm looking seriously at OAs right now. No one's mentioned these issues and I feel like my broker would have mentioned something if their failure rate was higher than the norm. Remember they make a lot of boats. They do all seem to have crazing though, which I've been told up and down is cosmetic, not structural. Anyway, you should do some more digging. That article seems pretty one-sided. Also, if you're looking at boats in that $400-500 price range I would think you're looking at boats from the late-90s or early 2000s, maybe mid-2000s. So the boats are at least 15 years old. You'd think by now the kinks would have been identified. It is a bummer that their customer service seems to have declined with newer management. Understand the article is from 2013.
I would also take the source of the article into accounts. Someone corrects me if I wrong but now defunct Lats & Atts is hardly a quality source of technical info I wouldn’t touch a boat with major gelcoat cracking issues unless it s a bargain
Since the article referred to the Parker lawsuit, and judgement was rendered, maybe you'll find the judgement illuminating: https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20190415951
There is a Pama54 LX named Adesso for sale in Ft Myers you should look at that is in your zone/range. Not sure of the rules if I can link it here, but you can Google it. I have the same model/year and really have been impressed with my fit/finish, performance and layout. I’ve put over 300hrs on mine since 2018 and have really enjoyed it; multiple ICW cruises, taken over to Bimini, West End, Abacos, Chub, Keys, Fl mini loop across Okochobee... plan to do the loop with mine. Its a relatively unknown brand; I have hull 11 with Volvo D-9s that can get to 25kts, but cruise great at 20kts
Thanks for posting that. Very interesting. Punitive damages really says something. They picked the wrong guy to play chicken with.
I would like anyone’s thoughts on the Ocean Alexander 440 Sundeck. It has the Detroit’s 8.2 extremely well maintained. Just would like to hear any thoughts and/or concerns people may have of this boat.
I would be troubled by the 8.2 Detroits. They are not highly regarded and are getting old. Don’t know how hard it is to get parts. Boatdiesel would be a good resource to use to look into the 8.2s. Good luck
