1965 Boston Whaler 16' Rebuild

[fishingfrenzy]

Hello fellow Iboaters!

I recently began my restoration of my 1965 Boston Whaler 16'. It was originally a "Currituck" side console version, but will be made into a 16' Custom by the time I am through. This is my first boat restore, and I would appreciate any and all feedback!

I am located up in Northern Minnesota. I wanted something a little bit different from the Lund, Alumacraft, Ranger, Tuffy, etc type of boats we see up here. I wanted to find a classic Mako 17', or a Boston Whaler 15 or 17. Pickings are very slim. I did manage to find this Whaler a few hours away from my home at a dealership that was going out of business. She hasn't been splashed since at least 2008. I picked up the hull and trailer, no motor, for $800. The hull is void of any major water (can easily pick up any corner of the boat), but needs some light cosmetic work and a few areas of some good repair. I hope you enjoy looking, and comments are appreciated!

As she looked when I brought her home:

I got lucky that the boat isn't waterlogged, and the interior gelcoat is in VERY good condition. Hard to see behind the dirt on the hull, but no gelcoat crazing to be found on the interior:

 

[fishingfrenzy]

Re: 1965 Boston Whaler 16' Rebuild

I began the project by removing everything from the inside:

The woodwork was hidden behind some ugly gray paint:

When I began to pull off the old rub rail, places of gelcoat got completely ripped off with the rail. The fiberglass looked like it was laid very dry in those areas.

Those areas will be completely ground down to solid laminate, then built back up with some glass work:

I did discover a few old areas of repair. Do I completely remove the old repairs and start fresh?

 

[fishingfrenzy]

Re: 1965 Boston Whaler 16' Rebuild

The worst area of repair in my boat began as a small place where I could stick my screwdriver through the fiberglass easily:

Sanding it back, it then turned into this where you can see how thin the fiberglass was in this particular area:

Now, it looks like this:

I went deeper than I would have liked, but am now to solid laminate and foam. I will need a two part foam to gain back some depth, then will glass over with some 1708 biax to strengthen the area.


The second worst area of damage I have is on the bow.

The foam was pretty beat up, and I had to grind back a ways to get to solid fiberglass.

This area poses some difficulty as the lines and curves of the boat will be difficult to recreate. I plan on using foam to give me something to work with and shape. Then, use 1708 to get my strength back.

 

[fishingfrenzy]

Re: 1965 Boston Whaler 16' Rebuild

The beautiful white of the boat was hidden behind years of yellow/brown boat scum:

White white white!

I do have a slight dilemma with some gelcoat cracking on the very bottom of the hull. It doesn't run up the sides, but runs on the bottom 2/3's of the length of the boat.

The cracks do not go into the fiberglass, just completely through the gel. I am not quite sure of the best way to proceed here. Any thoughts?


That's it for now!

Any comments, suggestions, or tips would be much appreciated!

 

[Teamster]

Re: 1965 Boston Whaler 16' Rebuild

Tagging along,...................

 

[fishingfrenzy]

Re: 1965 Boston Whaler 16' Rebuild

Going to need a little push in the right direction here.

The day started really well; it was a cinch to get the boat off of the trailer. Flipping it was also easy peasy using the tractor to do most of the lifting. I didn't lift it off of the ground so I felt comfortable using the bow eye to give me a little leverage doing the flip. Getting it on to the hay trailer was a bit more of a challenge and required more tractor dexterity than I am usually used to. After a bit of head scratching, she got loaded safely on and was pushed back into her lair.

Now, I could get my first real good look at my cracking on the hull. I tried the dremel thing, and it took forever with the amount of cracks there are. The cracks also go just a smidge into the fiberglass. A quick buzz of the DA gets rid of them, but I'm not sure the dremel is the route to go here. I decided to get serious, and may have done some bad things.

Transom gel gone.

Starting on the hull:

It ends up being pretty smooth, and I would plan on starting my layup with two layers of 1.5 CSM, then a few layers of 1708 on the hull to get my strength back up.