I am considering buying a 1972 NautaLine. It 43' foot long & 14' wide. I was wondering if anyone knows of any particular problems this boat might have been know for in that year. It seems like it has been taken very good care of, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Also, I was going to have a marine survey done on it. Are they really worth the money? I have rented houseboats a few times, but this would be my first purchase. Any info on specific capabilities would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
gchristman

Go back to the bottom of last page and change to "from the beginning" in the box on the right that says " the last 90 days". There are several posts addressing rot in Nautilines that will open up.

You also might want to read the 30 or so pages of archived posts for more information.

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/7908

The search button is your friend...

http://www.houseboatingworld.com/forums/in...hlite=nautaline

There is a lot of info on our boards regarding Nautaline. Make sure you hire a certified surveyor, hopefully one that has worked with Nautalines before.

Nautalines aren't the best or worst houseboats. I'm sure OH and Pirate would agree when you are talking about boats 20+ years old there are no hard and fast rules - it is all in the care and service the boat has had, and thus the need for a KNOWLEDGEABLE surveyor for Nautalines - each boat has it's quirks. The I/O version of Nautalines did tend to have transom rot problems around the area the drive goes through the transom - usually due to no one checking the clamp bolts during a haul out. Another problem in Nautalines is that many of them in some years used plywood stringers - which isn't the worst thing, unless the boat habitually had water in the bilge. The bilge water would wick into the stringer wod through the limber holes and rot would start. Boats that sit out from under cover in the water get mold/algae/mud dobber plugs the hatch drains when it rains the water over flows into the hatch and then into the bilge. A lot of folks don't check their boats very often and the water just stays there to be wicked up, ANY boat will have rot problems in those conditions. One of the real areas of problems in Nautalines is the stringer area under the galley- it is pretty light duty and tends to bulge up. This is not necessarily due to rot- but can be. Most I have seen are due to the very thin in the top to bottom thickness of the stringer in that area - about 3 inches. This spans from the step down area to the back of the salon - anywhere from 12 to 20 feet depending on the model of boat. This is not a lot of support to keep the hull "pushed" down into the water. Over time due to the constant pressure of the hull pushing up the stringer bows up causing a buckle up in the galley area, this is aggravated by some extra large limber holes in the stringer in this area I have seen in some boats. Some nautalines I've been on have columns from the cabinet bottoms to the counter top. This simple support makes all the difference in the hull buckling up in the galley. So the best boat boat to look for is look for one that has been kept under cover all it's life for a start.

1972 was the change year from the old Gibson type hull to the last one they used to 1975, everyone is right in what they said. The smaller Nautalines had plywood stringers but most of the 43s and 48s had regular 2x8 stringers cut down in some areas. they also had the buckling under and by the sink in the galley but not as bad. If the boat did not sit with water in the hull this does not happen. The Outdrive Nautalines almost 90% had transom rot, probaly mostly from lack of maintaince as Joe said. A v-drive Nautaline in the sales arena is worth between $3,000 and $5,000 more than an IO. Handles much better and will take the salt. Actually as Old Houseboater and I have concluded in a regular fiberglass Houseboat not a Botel or Whitcraft the best built of the bunch was a Burnscraft. They are almost bullet proff and were laid up much heavier than the rest. A 1976 Nautaline by Nautacraft and later years were built better than the originals, they were heavier and the ones with the 454s that I ordered were really beefed up as to hull thickness and stringers. You find one of those you will have a very good boat. I told them we raced houseboats on the Cumberland as they only put 350s in at the time we got the 454s and they put out what was called a Super Nautaline, a 35 mph boat. Look for one you may get lucky.

1972 was the change year from the old Gibson type hull to the last one they used to 1975, everyone is right in what they said. The smaller Nautalines had plywood stringers but most of the 43s and 48s had regular 2x8 stringers cut down in some areas. they also had the buckling under and by the sink in the galley but not as bad. If the boat did not sit with water in the hull this does not happen. The Outdrive Nautalines almost 90% had transom rot, probaly mostly from lack of maintaince as Joe said. A v-drive Nautaline in the sales arena is worth between $3,000 and $5,000 more than an IO. Handles much better and will take the salt. Actually as Old Houseboater and I have concluded in a regular fiberglass Houseboat not a Botel or Whitcraft the best built of the bunch was a Burnscraft. They are almost bullet proff and were laid up much heavier than the rest. A 1976 Nautaline by Nautacraft and later years were built better than the originals, they were heavier and the ones with the 454s that I ordered were really beefed up as to hull thickness and stringers. You find one of those you will have a very good boat. I told them we raced houseboats on the Cumberland as they only put 350s in at the time we got the 454s and they put out what was called a Super Nautaline, a 35 mph boat. Look for one you may get lucky.