Campion

[silkie]

Hi,

New to this forum and I'm glad I found it. Lots of info here.

I was wondering if anyone has opinions on a Campion boat? We are looking at buying a 1996 Victoria 627. Looks clean. Has about 1000 hours on the inboard/outboard. We took her for a test run and she handled well and sounded good....she is 20.5 feet, bus heater, galley and Alaskan bulkhead (I think they call 'em). This boat has fibreglas stringers but with all the new info on delamination I wonder if this is a good thing. Anybody got a Campion they like?

 

[Last Chance]

My 1990 Fishing Machine was a complete turd structurally, with as little fiberglass tabbing as possible, however, I hear they have gotten better since then. A simple survey will speak volumes.

 

[Kisinana]

I have a 1997 Campion 552 with the outboard. Great boat in all weather. Used mainly for fishing and running around, but I'm sure it would be a great boat for tubing or skiing.

 

[AlK]

One of the things that I look for in a boat, is the built-in gas tank accessable without having to cut the floor open. If the answer is no, then I look for a different boat. I am sure glad that's what I have on my current boat - yes, I had to replace the tank in my boat. It was a simple job.

 

[daddystoy]

It's always interesting when you ask for opinions on a particular boat. The answers will be all over the map. This only makes the decision more confusing.
My opinion on them is in the past (90's and earlier ???? somewhere there is an improvement in quality) they don't have a very good reputation. Try and find when the improvements where made and to what models and this might help in your decision.
Personally, I wouldn't buy one.

 

[Last Chance]

I would be happy to post some of the pictures of what Campion rolled over and farted out in the 90's for a boat. This boat was hardly 12 years old at this point, it was not some 30 year old scow. How about two SPRUCE stringers, (the crap you are not allowed to put around windows in your house because it rots) that were tabbed in with a single piece of 6" of matt on both sides. THAT IS IT, except at the transom where you can see it. They both broke up front under the pedestal seats, and I don't have to describe the condition that they were in without being encapsulated in fiberglass. The reason a lot of boat companies don't rove right over the top of the stringers is it makes it hard to line up things like decks, it's easier to blop the stringers in and run a planer over them to get them to the right height. My old H23 and H26 both had it done this way, but after planing, they were glassed in such a way on such a way that water wasnt going to get at them, and they appear to be clear fir, or yellow cedar, stuff that won't go to ruin fast if it gets wet.

They (Campion Stringers) were "sort of" fiberglassed at the transom, ONLY where you, Mr Boat Buyer, could see them. Looked like a blind guy with a chopper gun flew at it. The outboard stringers were notched down to within 1" of the floor to clear the outboard fish wells. Any carpenter will tell you that the strength of any beam is in it's outside edges, it would have probably been better to not have any outboard stringer at all as this just created a hinge point for them to break, and the sorrounding hull to crack a little.

When we lifted the deck off, I was able to TEAR THE STRINGERS OUT with my bare hands and a couple of kicks. I'm not Hercules. Bill Lloyd from Shawnigan Marine supervised the rebuild, he agreed this was one of THE worst built boats he had ever seen. The hull layup seemed okay where you could see it, except for the 8" split in the chine under the mini cabin.. The transom was PAINTED, not fiberglassed on the inside.

However, maybe mine was built on a Monday, because there are plenty of Campions around living productive lives, so survey survey survey. Otherwise, it had a darn good layout for the size of boat.

Here are some pictures to inspire you to get a GOOD survey. Wish I had a good survey, instead of the survey I got.


My deck sitting on a trailer:

Mmmmm, beauty transom (I should add the bulk of the water intrusion was on the inside, as we got out towards the hull it got a bit better:

Here is where you can see the "sort of" nice glass work that extends only as far back as you can see it (The grey area). Then, you get crap. TO the top, you can see the 2x6 stringer notched right down to the hull, there were stress cracks at the front and back of it. It looked glassed, but it wasn't.. Someone did drool a little bit of resin over the outboard stringers, and I mean St. Bernard style drool.. Fiberglass resin is useless unless it has glass fibers in it, it doesn't stick well to anything to start with.

This is the point where I decided that I will personally go over every inch of any rig I buy, and spent countless hours of reading, and getting dirty learning about, and working on glass boats.


Before buying a boat, go to www.yachtsurvey.com and www.docksidereports.com . Read everything he has to say.

 

[daddystoy]

Your point about getting a survey LC always make me wonder about inspections in general. I know they are required usually more for insurance reasons so that the insurance company has an indepedant value for the boat. And they are also done to have an ``expert` opinion on the condition of the boat. BUT, here it comes.. (from a carpenters point of view), you can only inspect what you can TRULY see. Otherwise it is only a guess (as you found out). Same thing with a house. I don`t do house inspections. I just tell people that if it is an old house it`s gonna need work, plain and simple. How much depends how it was made in the first place and how it might have been butchered over the years.

So like you said, the best answer is educate yourself. Nobody is going to look out for your own interests better than you.

 

[marula]

Silkie, I bought a 21 campion explorer, 1995 one year ago sight unseen from Prince Rupert. It was an ex guide boat with no power and was a project boat for me. Basically i could not find a boat and power I wanted so i elected this route so I could put a modern outboard and kicker on it. I did hire a survyour and expected a boat with character scars but clearly instructed him to check the transom / stringers and floor. I have replaced stringers and a floor before and know what it takes to do them which is a lot!

I spent the summer going over every square inch of this boat replacing wiring, new hoses, fibreglass and gelcoat repairs, newer outboard, new kicker etc and am basically happy with it however now that i know the boat well Campion of this vintage is an ok but not great boat, definitely not high end with fit and finish and fiber glass detail like the newer stripers and such but just ok. It was a vast improvement in construction then what LC's mentions and im sure the newer ones are better yet. The stringers were well glassed and solid, only true test is a drill bit and drill. They were dry right back to the transom fortunatley. The transom was another matter and my surveyur totally failed me here.

Campion did a poor job of matching the top deck of the splash well to the transom and the large caulking joint failed over time allowing the transom to soak in water, flex and crack the fiber glass which allowed more water in. I ended up cutting out the top lip of the fiber glass transom out, drilling a series of 1/4" holes down the transom top to bottom and a series of 1 1/2" shallow holes from inside the bilge area to dry. I poured the heat to it for a couple of months to dry. I then soaked the transom with penetrating epoxy, filled the holes with wood dowels and epoxy, rebuilt the portion i cut out, added extra layers of epoxy and fiber to the inside to beef it up and sprayed the fibre glass repairs with gelcoat in a hvlp gun, sanded and polished it out to a new like finish. End result is the repair is better and stronger then new, you would not see it but it took a lot of time, money and effort to learn the steps and do it right.

Don't trust just a visual survey, If your going to lay out the $$ , get them to drill some holes in the transom and stringers which can be easily filled with epoxy. Had i known what I know now I would have either passed on the deal or offered less. I ended up with a solid boat now , updated sytems and a wealth of information on fiberglass and gelcoat repair and am generally happy as it is a great fishing platform.

If the price is right i would not hesitate on that boat but dont expect the quality of a seaswirl striper or boston whaler, just get a thorough inspection of the transom and stringers.

good luck

 

[wolf]

WOW is all I have to say didnt thinnk it was that bad as you know I did the same thing and was pleasantlly surprised to find my boat with fiberglass all the way up and down the stringers.

Buyer beware I guess still dumbfounded by those pics kelly thats downright scarey I look and theose boats now totally different thanks

Wolf

 

[Tailspin]

Yikes! Did that boat let go on you at swiftsure kelly? Sort of like WGs old Glass Ply.

 

[codfish]

Tailspin do you ever get any work done.
Cheers!

 

[salmon9]

You really need to closely examine any 10-15 year old boat whether it's a Campion, Whaler, Seaswirl, etc. I agree that quality of workmanship, design and materials make a difference; however, how the boat is stored, how the hull is maintained, how components are added, and how hard it's used all impact on longevity. It would be great to be able to examine water penetration and rot by drilling holes but the seller may not be willing to do this. One reason why older boats depreciate so much.

I had a tour of the Campion outlet in Kelowna a few years ago. They seem to have made some changes to materials for the good, but spend less time on things that I would rather they paid more attention to. They seem to sell a lot of boats.

I have been looking at a boat sitting on Victoria dealer lot and have noticed that the power mounted on it was removed and now has been sitting for the past 8 months with the engine bolts out and the holes bare with no sealant sitting in the rain. Here's a beautiful boat with it's transom soaking up water one day going to let the owner down.

 

[Last Chance]

quote:Originally posted by Tailspin

Yikes! Did that boat let go on you at swiftsure kelly? Sort of like WGs old Glass Ply.

It busted open along the front chine right about at the Northeast Corner. I thought the thing was feelign a little heaving, looked in the bilge, and saw water to the decks.. I got up, put out a mayday, and put the hammer down. When the boat took off, the wiring back there went under water, and I lost my electronics. I just kept the compass at 60 degrees untill I saw rocks, then went west. Once I got the thing going, I was feeling better, was a smooth ride with a few tons of water in the hull. Got to the marine, got it on Rex's trailer, threw a bubble gum patch over the hole and was back in the water in a week. I have a regular pic, not digital, of water gushing out of the hole when we dragged it out with Jan's truck.