My Chinese Nightmare

[prcmike]

Hi Folks,

I bit the bullet and bought the boat. Now I am the owner of a 23 meter nightmare which I wish to convert to my dream boat. But where to start. As there is no pleasure boating industry herein China there really is no support. I will probably start by pulling her out of the water again and removing the paint. Allow timber underneath to dry and then I was wanting to sheath in fibreglass. The entire supersructure will require redesign and demolition back to hull and rebuild to new designs. I found a layout for a DeFreeze 70 which I quite like as a basis however I need someone to do calculations for me as I am not qualified in that respect. Any suggestions? Should I leave the exterior hull work till last? I really do not know where to start and think I have jumped into a slightly too deep deep end. All help and ideas appreciated. Any wooden boat builders looking for an extended fully paid vacation in China? Have attached some pics.

[MarkC]

You wanted to 'let the hull dry out and sheath it in fiberglass'. This could be the nightmare - if the boat has lasted till now without a sheathing, is it really a good idea?

Why not just factor in a annual or bi-annual hull-paint and antifoul and spend the money on a 'spring clean' ... and a cook! The boat is intended for charter isn't it? Do you have to do everything right-now?

It doesn't sound like your plan is quite there yet. Motor around awhile and see how it feels? Why don't you motor on over to East Timor, take out some dive/surf charters - after some imput you may have a better idea.

Your boat does have a certain 'rugged adventurous charm' and too much mucking about might spoil that.

Can you find a surveyor?

I'm not a boat designer/mechanic but there is lots of info about against fiberglass sheathing a used wooden boat - new wooden boat is a different proposition.


Cheers
Mark

PS. I don't think it is a nightmare! Clean it up, paint it, change what you absolutely must and go have some fun. Of course this is just my opinion- meant humbly. I wish you all the best with your boat.

[jusembo]

Hello Mike,
I would be happy to help you but i'm based a little bit far (Zhongshan)
I agree with Marc it's high risky operation to cover a solide wood hull with polyester
Anyway if you need any advises please send your specific questions

I hope you control the 3 main requirements of any boad project:

1-Finances
2-Time
3-Knowledge

David@morosof.com

[jusembo]

Sorry i don't know how to add pictures

[Jeff]

To add pictures, either click on the big blue post reply button (instead of the quick reply) or after you type the message using the quick reply box, hit go advanced. This will take you to the full reply screen where you'll see "manage attachments" halfway down which lets you upload pictures with your post. You can also attach photos after the fact using the edit button next to your post itself.

[jusembo]

Ok here is the picture

[jusembo]

Pardon!??

Sheathing in fiberglass is probably a really bad, expensive idea. Recauking and refastening, if necessary, would probably be better. Many years ago I saw a planked hull covered with fiberglass. They had routed out the seams and inserted glued pine "feathers"to make the hull rigid and prevent working of the planking under the glass. Seemed like a good way to go.

Where is Quingdao? I will be in Wuhan for three weeks, starting September 5.

[prcmike]

Hi Mort,

Thanks for the response I hope I am not too late. OK qingdao is on the shandong peninsula. Look on a map up the east coast you will find what appears to be an arm sticking out at about 1 o'clock opposite seoul korea. thats where you will find qingdao. At the top of the arm. Write a message to my email address prcmike@yahoo.com and I will forward you my phone number. Call me when you arrive and we can take it from there. I don't know your shedule but would like to discuss with you.

Mike

[pungolee]

You are correct that there is no pleasure boat network for the populace,but there is a growing pleasure boat/megayacht industry in China,its all in the news here in the States.The quality has been improved by bringing in a contingent of marine industry experts,and the labor rate is low compared to the rest of the world.Translated,you may be able to get your boat overhauled for a song,in your own neighborhood.China will soon take over this business,in my opinion.

[poetprince]

hey prcmike
it's hard to tell from the pictures
but from your description
i may be able to help

if you plan to remove the planks and re-fair them
that would be a good place to start
if you wish to follow the suggestion put forth by Mort Caplan
regarding routing out the seams and inserting wedges along the length of the strakes
it is a wonderful method and i could direct you to the expert in that field
mr. bent jespersen is in sydney, bc, canada
his website is: http://www.jespersenboats.com

i notice it is a hard chined fairly flat bottomed boat
with some similar characteristics to a chinese junk (no pun intended)
and what some folks might call a 'false keel' built up with deadwood
(the area between the base of the hull and the bottom surface of the keel)
you'll want to make sure that the keel bolts themselves are secure
and also made of good quality steel and embedded in some form of sealant
like most fasteners 'made in china' i have trepidations concerning there quality
and ultimately their longevity
in regards to chinese junks
there was a famous old boatbuilder who was also from canada
Allen Farrell built amazing boats all by hand throughout the 20th century
his last one being a 54' chinese junk called the China Cloud
although he passed away a few years ago
i believe he bequethed his boat to the silva bay boatbuilding school on gabriola island
if not, they will be able to help you with requests for info
http://www.boatschool.com

if you need any more help
don't hesitate to ask

good luck and kind regards

~poetprince