Advice on hull restoration

[Toddlesocks]

Hi Apologies for any lack of the proper terminology

Though we live on a barge in England, i am a novice to boat restoration . I was offered a little 30 x 7 ft wooden houseboat ( that i had long been an admirer of) on a dory type hull, and took it as apart from loving it so much it would be perfect for my studio.

It dates back to 1942, and its hull appears to be made of ply with what i am guessing is an epoxy coating? It has been taking on a little water, i have just pulled up some of the floorboards at the stern that were rotting, the hull is quite rotten in places ( soft and spongy) and some of the wooden ribs (bits that go across the base )have rotted away. She also has a slight curved up floor in the middle, i am unsure if this was how she was built or a result of age ?

She is currently in the water while i save to get her dry docked, any advice on how best to go about restoring her hull would be much appreciated.

I am wondering if i should be stopping work on her floor until she is in dry dock, or should i wrap her hull in a tarpaulin and risk carefully proceeding while she is on water ?

I would like to preserve what i can of her original materials, but if she needs a whole new hull would be up for doing that/getting it done eventually.

Some pics of her




Under floor at bow









under Stern



inside back deck



outside stern


bow

[PAR]

It's very unlikely epoxy was used originally on your boat. It may have received a coating since, but this is difficult to tell from your post.

She's likely suffering from a number of ills that befall craft that are afloat for a long time between haul outs.

After nearly 3/4's of a century of service, she's very probably done, in regard to the hull, I'm sorry to say. The type of life she's had and the care typical of this type of vessel, leaves me fairly surprised she's still afloat.

If you want to save her (which will cost considerably more then building a new one from scratch), she has to be moved to a shore based facility where she can be disassembled and dried out.

Since you're a novice at this sort of thing, I'd strongly recommend you avoid this project, as it can have untold horrors and expenses associated with it's repair, let alone it's restoration.

I'll let others ring in on this, but I see things that would chase me away from the old gal, and this wouldn't be my first picnic.

[keith66]

The hull looks like an old landing craft or similar, these were produced in huge numbers for the invasion of France. They were often built on steel frames or wooden framed versions as well & disposed as war surplus once the war was over. The plywood they were built from was not intended to last 50 years, As Par says it ain't viable to rebuild as it would be quicker, easier & far cheaper to build a new hull.

[peter radclyffe]

yup, its stuffed

[Toddlesocks]

Thanks all, i was guessing it may be wishful thinking that her hull would be salvageable, but do love her so much so cannot just let her go to the crusher(where she was heading before i took her on). Whoever built her had excellent carpentry skills, the cabin has withstood time very well.

I just want to use her on an inland river which is non tidal so am wondering if a raft type hull would be suitable to sit her on ?

[PAR]

Honestly, once you begin to tear into her structure, you'll have more and more issues to contend with, making restoration difficult and costly. Inland waters are the worst (sweet water). Sitting her on something, suggests you'll lift her up and place her onto a new floating something or other. I don't think she'll survive the lift, nor do I think it worth it.

Lets face it, you have a floating shack and it would be far easier and less costly to build a new one, even an exact copy, then solve what ills this old gal. Enjoy her while you can, document the construction details for future reference and get lots of pictures.

[Toddlesocks]

Thanks Par, you sound like my hubby, he has not had a good nights sleep since i got her.

I will take as many pics as i can and try going about gently replacing her bit by bit, i dont really want to give up on her without giving it my best shot, such a shame she obviously once was someones baby, wish others had taken better care of her.

[PAR]

We are all someone else's baby and probably should have had better care along the way to. If she has some historical significance (the queen's sister slept on it once), was owned by someone with notoriety or considerable sentimental value to you (or someone) then this is all she has going for her. It's a bit like a worn out dress. If it was your cleaning smock, you'll not be too upset if it lands in the can, but if it propped up the head of a sick child for a spell, then it may be worth saving. These are difficult decisions, but unfortunate realities of life.

One less costly way of preventing continued water ingress and degradation would be to "tarp" her bottom. Sounds like it could be fun right, maybe illegal in some muslim countries. What can be done is a heavy tarp is floated under the boat, then brought up around the hull, folded over at the corners, making "darts" as required, etc. then wrapped around the rail and fastened. What this does is create a waterproof membrane between the hull and the wet stuff. The hull is pumped dry and every effort made to keep it pumped dry. In time the planking and water soaked limbers will dry out and preservation techniques employed to save the structure. In all honesty, this treatment is usually the first course of action in shoring up the old gal, for transport (tow) to a place where she can be placed on a dry dock for repair. I do think she could tolerate a dry docking, but not a travel lift.

[Toddlesocks]

Very true, maybe if i manage to save her the Queen would consider a boat swap for a week

I know the boat may not be that special in the US ( her name is Louisiana) but in the UK she is quite unusual to the point many cannot resist coming over to look in her windows,so would be perfect as my arts and crafts studio/shop. She is also very much loved by the local boaters, many who have offered any help they can so i am hopeful that with a lot of luck and bit of support she will pull through.

I am going to go and get a strong waterproof tarp today to wrap her hull in, then i will get her moved to shallow waters just up river a bit where i will try doing a bit of work on her to strengthen her frame in the hopes she will survive a lift. I think there is a 4 month waiting list for dry dock at our local marina.

Thank you for the help i will keep you updated( no doubt with future questions )if she falls apart i will salvage what i can and use it to try and build something similar.

[PAR]

Talk to the travel lift operators, they've lifted delicate stuff before. You may be able to rig a platform, under the boat to spread the load. Without precautions, the straps will cut right through the hull.

Also be careful about shallow water. If she "takes to ground" repeatedly, in a tide, you could find a pile of sticks fairly quickly.

[souljour2000]

...I would dump her in a yard..cover her well and try to salvage what I could of her timbers You can then document and try to re-build her from scratch or sell the timbers ...some people love incorporating wood with history into their new house..or renovation. Either way your a brave soul..that thing looks pretty tired but as my old man was in WWII I hate to see stuff from that war destroyed...could have been one of Ike's "bunkhouse" retreats...lol

[peter radclyffe]

if its a case of, if you change the boat you lose the mooring, which is common on the thames, you can have a steel pontoon, open top,built, & float the boat into it, on a grid downstream, drain the water from the pontoon as the tide goes out, voila, you may also be able to put her on the national historic ships register, good luck

[SamSam]

Since the boat is (maybe) not going anywhere and you don't have much to lose, you might try putting a fiberglass hull over the wood one. Here's a book explaining how....
http://www.amazon.com/Covering-Woode.../dp/0877421374
Here's a review about the book....

I followed the procedures in the book and converted a 48 foot classic Consolidated 1931 wooden hull to fiberglass. I did this 20 years ago. the yacht is like new today!!

Basically you pull the boat out, let it dry a little and knock the bigger lumps off. A first layer of mat and woven roven is applied, and after that sets up enough to not be too gooey but not too hard, staples are driven in about every 6" with a pnuematic stapler. That generally affixes the glass to the hull, irrespective whether the glass actualy bonds to the hull itself. After that sets up, more layers of mat and wr are applied until the thickness is 1/8 - 1/4" or so.

Around here they re-do wood shrimp boats with a a variation of first grinding the hull fairly clean and then troweling on 5200 or its equivalent and then imbedding 24 oz. woven roven directly in that. Polyester resin is then applied to that and when the green stage of set-up occurs, it is stapled and the procedure proceeds as before.

Toddlesocks, I love the name Toddlesocks.