My wooden boat - To restore or not to restore!

Hello,

I acquired this old 16 foot runabout and have been thinking about doing it up. Having absolutely no boat restoration experience (only vision!), I am looking for some advice.

After a recent rain and a tear that was made in the boat cover, it seems the floor has been damaged too so I think there will now be even more wood to be replaced.

Can anyone please give me some advice? Is it possible to fix this boat up? Any idea what type it is? I've found boats that look similar from the 60's era.

Where do I start?

We live near Geelong.


Thanks all!

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Welcome to the forum.

Anything can be fixed, though more often the questions are more along the lines of; should it be fixed, can I afford to fix it, am I capable of fixing it, do I have the tools and location to fix it . . .

These are difficult questions to answer and sometimes painful. Projects like this can get out of hand very quickly, ruining relationships with family and friends, destroying budgets and financing, require lots of time, potential injury, etc.

As to what she is, well who knows. It's very probable you'll never know unless you can back track her registration, for the little this might be worth. She's obviously a outboard powered, hard chine warped bottom, though not much else can be gathered from here. She could be a home built or a small production outfit offering.

The work looks significant. The transom has seen some shoddy repairs, likely because it was soft and flexing, so they scabbed on some boards, instead of fixing the real problem. She has what appears to be isolated pockets of rot and decay and it looks like the port deck stringer is broken. Someone has taken a grinder to her and ran out of perseverance. Personally, I'd just dip her in a chemical stripper and get rid of all her coatings the easy, if smelly way.

So, ask yourself, do you have a self starting work ethic? How about your wood working skill set? Are you a good problem solver? What kind of tools do you have and can you move this old lass indoors, to work on her? What about supplies and materials, do you have local sources for wood, goo's and paint, etc.? The internet can bail you out on some of this, but there's a lot of work there, so are you really ready?

Now, get to it . . . :)

Hi there and welcome to the forum.
Par is absolutely correct when he points out the difficulties, pitfalls and costs of restoring any wooden boat and ultimately the decision is up to you alone.
I have been restoring (on and off) a similar sized runabout for over 5 years and have experienced the full range of emotions whilst doing so - from the excitement if starting through to the frustration and exasperation of trying to finish. Along the way I have been pleased with my efforts, disapponted with my lack of skills, been mind numbed by some of the laborious processes (such as endless paint stripping, epoxy coating and sanding) and yet I have always been caught up and enjoyed the planning and problem solving issues that arise. Your family at times will be supportive and dismissive, proud and puzzled and confident and dubious.
So it's up to you to decide if you want to put yourself through hundreds of hours of sometimes lonely, dirty, smelly work to have the occasional person view your project and say " gee you are doing a great job - when will it be finished ? "
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Bagman

I'm certainly no expert, but looking at the pictures, I'd start from scratch and build my own boat. There really doesn't look like much can be salvaged here and it would entail a lot more work (and probably money) than just building a new one. If it was a classic boat, well built in the first place, then it might be a different story. May not what you want to hear(er, read) but it's just my opinion, not worth much.

If you just fix her, it'll be cheaper then building a new boat. If you restore her, it'll cost more then a new build, as it's more effort to remove parts, strip them, refinish them, eventually reinstalling them, compared to just cutting a new one and putting it on the boat. Most do something in between and produce a nicely finished old gal, retaining her good bones.

To paraphrase something I read on this forum years ago - some people restore wooden boats to restore a wooden boat and some people restore wooden boats to HAVE a boat. If your enjoyment is in the act of restoration then the cost and everything else is accepted as par (not PAR) for the course.

A quick search of Ebay and Gumtree will give you a good idea of what a complete boat can be purchased for. This may help in your decision making. Just tracking down and paying for all the fittings you will need is expensive. The rebuild process can be very rewarding though.

I am very biased.I could NEVER let a timber boat just rot away.I'd be fixing it.Yer,it may cost more but in the end i'd know that i'd saved another old boat.I'm restoring a1968Flying dutchman.

Looks like something that could be repaired or restored to me. I am not sure since I am still new in woodworking but if I do have funds to repair/restore it then I'll do it which could probably take some time to have it repaired. I think if you work on it with heart and mind, you'd be able to finish it and be proud of yourself.