Thread: Slipping a 25' Halvo

The initial keys to success for you will be a well preformed survey. This will tell you the real condition of the boat, not what the current owners wants you to hear. It takes a fair bit of experience to reconize the signs of plank and fastener movement, so a boating buddy just will not get the job done as needed, though convincing them to bring the beer is always good skippering.

Really, REally good point from PAR.

You should get a proper survey before buying the boat. It might cost you a few hundred, but you end up with a list of essential and usually well diagnosed items that you have to work through.

There is a halverson owner's gourp too - they are possibly on the net and can guide you to a good surveyor who knows the boats well.

They are also involved with the Wooden boat association of nsw (I believe) and those people would know a good surveyor as well.
http://www.wbansw.org.au/

MIK

Par...I know I need a survey, and I know I don't need a buddy, not for this job anyway.

I was asking for opinions on the feasibilty of doing the strippin/caulking/putty and paint myself with little recent experience in working on boats...assisted by an experienced person I want to hire.
May be I should have said I will assist the experienced person?

As for the beer, I think I worked out a while ago the following equation
+Free beer -Free boating fuel = Large negative number.
Much cheaper to buy the beer myslef.

Are you available on weekends and willing to travel to Wisemans Ferry?
This is the location
By the way we have a local monster similar to Nessie.


Boatmick...I've got a couple of surveyors lined up depending on location.
As for the different clubs and association or societies they are all good places if they are sort of handy to pull your boat up their ramp and do the job there. My free time for this will be restricted to weekends so I will have to do this at my own place and try to find a boatbuilder willing to work with me so that the job does not take too long and so that I can learn something. Sydney Harbour, Tempie, Port Maquarie, Gladesville are all out of the question. However they would be a good source of info if I need data or ideas for restoration.At this stage I am not planning in buying anything that needs major work.

Does anyone have an idea of man/hour necessary to do a 25 footer considering the unknown eventuality of some fasteners that may need replacing?
Suggestions as to materials used in this century?
My experience is a tad out of date.

I must have miss understood your post.

You certainly can do the refinishing work yourself and possibly without professional assistance, it's very rewarding too. I would recommend the caulking be done professionally, as it takes a fair bit of skill to do a proper job of it, without hurting the boat.

Your fasteners could be a few different types of materials, some are construction method based. Copper is usually reserved for lapstrake or dory lapped construction types. This would include roves, clenches and nails. You might see clenches or roves used on batten seam construction too, but more often you'll see bronze or steel. Steel will be in two varieties, stainless (which would be quite rare on your boat) or hot dipped galvanized. Galvanized fasteners were usually employed on yachts that weren't intended to last very long. or would have planking replaced as regular intervals. Then of course there is bronze. Bronze can look like copper to the novice, but it's much stronger and is the preferred fastener material.

I own a 50 year old yacht that has it's original fasteners and planking, except for her garboards, so yes, the old fasteners can still be there after a half a century. Generally they're worn out at this point (mine are) and the boat should be refastened, but this should be a visual determination on site.

As far as time, who knows, really, this is the biggest part of the crap shoot. You may be able to refine the material costs down quite fine, but the effort can bite you in the butt. As an example, I've spent a few hours on more then one occasion attempting to remove a single screw.

Materials would be best left to those more familiar with the type and builder. I don't expect there will be many differences from what you are accustomed, you can't be that old.