Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

[mars bar]

Re: Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

I've had this hull in my driveway for 2 years. It was a 17' cuddy cabin. I loved the hull design and thought it would be a good Boston whaler design. I chopped off the cabin, pulled the windshield, and rotten floor. when replacing the floor I realized I needed to make a step 7 1/2 " to meet the front. Without a motor on the back I dropped the project... till now. Have motor ,controls (no keys) note post) and weather permitting work on it a few hours a day. I will see water this year!!!

 

[kaferhaus]

Re: Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

I never gave up on one, but I didn't finish it either.

I bought a 39ft Alden Ketch (built in the early 40s) from an old man down in Florida. Obviously it was a wood boat. He told me there was nothing wrong with the boat that a little paint and some chinking wouldn't cure... the boat didn't look bad at all, had a large cabin and a perkins 4cly desiel.

Now I had never even been on a sailboat.... much less sailed one. I motored it up the ICW and got it home in 2 days. While the boat had been "dry" at his dock once underway it developed a few minor leaks one of which was the stuffing box which got worse as the trip progressed... no tools! LOL

anyway it never got really bad and the bilge pump took care of it until I got it to Mobile.

I tightened up the packing on the stuffing box and that was fixed.... the other little leaks were coming from the bottom in the engine compartment. I started poking around in there and found lot's of soft wood....

Saved my money for several months, had the boat hauled and inspected the hull. The bottom of the transom and about 3 feet of the bottom from the transom forward was rotten... and it was all 4/4 Mahogany... and of course it was all cut in a complex curve and beveled for the caulk. Met a old guy at the boat yard who told me he had a steamer he'd haul over to the yard to help me bend the planks... I learned a ton from that old timer on how to repair old wooden boats over the next 6 months.

Sometimes I'd show up at the yard and see he'd been working on the boat (I never asked him to do anything)... he sistered in a couple of ribs and replaced some of the inner hull planks (boat was double hulled).

Anyway I get the boat back in the water and Stan (the old guy) and I take it out in the bay to hoist some sail. Now is when I discover that the boat has no winches! Never had any.. everything was done with block and tackle and the previous owner had changed the rig to a gaff rig from the original marconi rig (I didn't know one from the other when I bought the boat but had studied the months the boat was on the hard).. seems he'd cut 10ft off the main mast and about 6 off the mizzen to be able to clear a bridge on the river he lived on (he lived in carabelle fl.)...

Anyway the boat sailed like a pig unless you were on a broad reach and then it hauled butt due to the rig design.

Well I was severely disappointed.... Stan saw it in my face and tried to console me by saying that you just don't see these gaff rigged boats anymore this thing is really special.... etc. etc. But the moment was gone. I lost all interest in the boat.

The boat still needed little things done and desparately needed winches installed.... trying to handle that amount of sail with blocks and tackle was a nightmare and physically draining. Plus it took 6ft of water to float the boat and 11ft with the center board down.... not many places I could sail the boat except offshore or up and down the ship channel in the bay..

As we returned to the marina a middle aged guy driving a Pantera asked me about the boat.... said he'd never seen one like it.... well within a month he owned it. I got a lot more money for it than I had in it (cash wise) and gave half the money to Stan. He didn't want it but I made him take it.

Maybe 2 years later I went by that marina to look at a boat I'd seen in the paper and the old Ketch was still there..... but man did it look different... the masts had been replaced, the bright work looked new... the boat looked like it had just been launced for the first time ever! And there were 6 shiney stainless steel winches on the boat!

After meeting with the guy about the boat I came to see I headed back to the parking lot only to see Stan standing by my truck with a big shi*** eating grin on his face....

I'm sure you figured it out now. The guy I sold the boat too got frustrated with it within a couple of months and Stan bought it from him for about a third of what the guy paid me for it... Stan hauled it back out, went through it from stem to stern, returned the rig to the way it was built and installed the modern conveniences of winches etc.

Stan had sold his home to finance the rebuild and had moved onto the boat. (he was a widower) Some months later he left headed for the keys to "retire" and I don't know if anyone ever heard from him again... and that was 22yrs ago.

 

[dh2009]

Re: Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

I never "gave up" persay... but I did buy a Bayliner that needed extensive work. Well, the guy that towed the boat for me told me he was looking for a boat. Guess who got the Bayliner

I started another project though that I am still currently working on. It's a 1979 Monark 150.

 

[dh2009]

Re: Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

kaferhaus,

That was a very nice story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Starcraftguy1]

Re: Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

I have a 1972 StarCraft Cuddy cabin that I have been dealing with for the last 5 years.22 footer.The floor is out.The motor is out,and dissasembled,new parts are all bought,have been for years.I lost my legs,got some prostetic ones,but it is so hard for me to walk around inside the boat with these,thats why I might have to give up.I always think that I will get it done,so when people come by to buy it,or for me to give it to them,I have passed.I got another boat for my guns that I could'nt use anymore,all hunting guns,but I fish every weekend.lol.So,now the the economy is so bad,I can't give it away.Brain damage,yes I guess,but that makes us be us.

 

[myoung84]

Re: Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

I voted for "Give up!" I had an 85 thundercraft 17' that I got for free. It had a rotten floor that I replaced and I rebuilt the seats. That was all at the end of last summer. I pulled it back home a couple months ago to finish her up before boating season and discovered the transom was completely rotted. I don't know if I never noticed this before or if it just got worse over the winter. I decided then and there I had enough. I sold it to a retired couple that was looking for something to do. I informed them of all the problems and what I had done, so they were not getting ripped off.

I am now the proud owner of a 2005 Tahoe Q4. I am happier with this boat than I would have ever been with the old one.

 

[fishingman220]

Re: Has anybody started a project boat and gave up on the job?

i bought a 24ft fourwinns bowrider and it had been sitting outside with no cover with the bow down. well i bought it and knew the interior had to be done and the 460 king cobra omc had popped a freeze plug. well the trailer was bad, so we bought a new nextrail for it. then we decided to rebuild the floor, then found out the stringers were bad, then the transom was bad. and on top of that we got the motor running and then checked the motor oil and it was grey, the block had cracked above the cam. so we took it to a shop and they scraped everything they could and took it to the landfill and gave us the trailer back. big waste of time and money, but the best way to learn i guess.