Yeah, I'm crazy, what's your point?

I'm going to go down and take a look at this next week

http://www.boneyardboats.com/Archives/0050_Winter_2011/1925_HALIBUT_SCHOONER_60/

Doubtless way beyond what I can handle, but the greatest things in life don't come from being reasonable! From what I understand if they can't find someone to take her she's going to be cut up for scrap, so if I try and fail then the end result is no worse than doing nothing.

Anyone in the great Northwest want to join in on a crazy project?

 

cthippo, all you need is a fat wallet to keep her afloat. The disposal cost might be much higher that you think and that is why she is abandoned. She might even be loaded with asbestos. For certain she will not be cheap on fuel.

 

What are you going to do with her? Are you going to have it towed to Bellingham or going to dry dock it somewhere else? Like Port Townsen etc . I am on whidbey and could give you some help on now and again Saturdays. Engine etc, Let me know..Steve

 

I'll have to look around and see where is cheap, but probably Bellingham or LaConner. She's in Port Townsend right now.

Like I said, I don't know if there is any way I can pull this off, but if it does I would love the help. I'll post pictures when I get back.

 

What's sure you don't get bored with that.. lot of knockin and tapping to come. Looks like it has hawsepipe's ?

 

I love it when people find things like this, but haven't been aboard and are thinking, "I can save her". Well, I hope you really, really like the smell of fish. Not just plain old fish, but dead, dieing and rotting fish of every imaginable aroma. Yes, the lovely odor of former captives, who's bodily fluids have long since leached into the timbers of this old lass. I've seen many an old fisher, taken into custody for a splendid yacht conversion, just to find the horror and brutal discovery, that the smell doesn't go away. Nope, it literally is embedded into the planking, the floors, the frames, the ceilings, the lovely raised panels in the pilothouse, yep every wood pore on board. So, before you get to enamored with this old woman, lift her skirt and give a good whiff first.

 

Had hawsepipes by the look of it.

@PAR...

Given that the only designs I've seen that I've liked have been fishing boats, I think that's going to be an unavoidable issue unless I build new. Even steel boats get that smell into every crevice sooner or later. Prime case of do what you can and live with what you can't.

Besides, maybe it will keep the more noxious relatives from wanting rides

 

With a bit smelley it's better to liveaboard.. you get used to smell don't notice it anymore.. Thou other people'll know half a mile away where you are

 

Be really careful, CtHippo.

I've been down this road in my quest for an affordable liveaboard some years back. Pay very close attention to the numbers and do not fall in love with the lines or size. Do not fall in love with any prospective boat, for that matter!

What often will go wrong here is that it will cost you more to keep her afloat that it would cost to buy a smaller used boat in better condition.

Obviously, a lot of stuff will be rotten. You'll have to replace that. The fuel to move this boat will startle you. Try $35/per hour min at 9 knots or so. This assumes single engine.

Just watch out. It can be a lot more expensive to buy something like this than to buy a smaller boat in better condition. And when I say "buy" I mean even if you picked it up for free. The maintenance alone may cost you more than a different boat.

Do some calculations:

*Bottom Paint (square feet, coverage, gallons)
*Replanking (with haulout)
*Topsides paint
*Fish stink cleaning
*Engine parts (see how much oil filters and oil changes will be)
*Zinc anodes
*Systems - she's set up for fishing, no doubt you'll need all new house systems
*Living dockside - how much per foot is the dock you plan to live at?
*Living at anchor - ground tackle, generator fuel consumption, solar, wind, house batteries, etc...
*Heat - she's big. Does she have a wood stove? If not, plan on $400/mo min to heat her in addition to your dockage fees.

Just trying to be helpful. I found the numbers rarely added up on these deals.

I've gotten into some heated discussions with sellers of project boats because their prices were so unrealistic. I have looked at catamarans in a similar state of repair where the guy wanted $80K. I looked at a 57' Chris White pair of hulls that wasn't even faired and the guy wanted $200K. In both cases, with the work each needed, it would have been cheaper to buy a new boat. I made an offer of $10K on the catamaran and $20K on the Chris White hulls. Those were reasonable offers.

I never did find an old fishing boat that would work out.

My point is... do the math.

 

Like the song "the girls get prettier at closing time". She looks like a beautiful black hole for greenbacks, only solution I see, is to find a producer that loves old boats and build a movie around it, letting the project pay to fix her up.

 

After second thoughts, that kinda stuff generally only happens in the movies.

 

Interesting update today...

We were kicking around the idea of if it would be possible once she's in the water again to use her for charters as an OUPV. One of the agent's in Mom's office has a 100 ton license and when we asked him about it he said "Silver Wave? I used to own that boat"!?!

He said she's an absolute beast with 4' thick wood inner and outer hulls. He also said the fish hold is about 10 feet high and that when he had he hauled 110,000 pounds of fish down from Alaska each trip.

We're going down to Port Townsend to look at her Wednesday. Pics to follow.

 

I went down to Port Townsend to look at the boat today. As you can see in the first picture, she's well, HUGE! 60' in length, 18' beam, and about 110 tons according to the scale on the crane they used to lift her out of the water.

The good news is she's in much better shape than anyone would have guessed. I spent some time going around with a knife looking for rotten spots in the hull and the only ones I found were right along the waterline and none of the were very serious. According to the guy from the Dept of Ecology who met us there her engine died and was towed to Port Townsend and hauled out. From the look of things it may be the reducing gear and not the engine that is the problem, but without a mechanic it's impossible to tell. He claims she doesn't leak which is better news than first thought. The interior is a mess, but nothing that a dumpster and some cleaning couldn't fix. The same is true below decks.

And now the bad news. She can be had for next to nothing, but the boatyard wants a $17,000 deposit to cover their cost to dispose of the boat if the new owner abandons her. This is fully refundable, less space rent for however long it takes to get her moved, when she is gone.

Unfortunately, that is just a bridge too far for me and so I'm going to have to let this one go, I think. The sad part is that if DOE can't find someone to take her they will end up paying to have her cut up and hauled away. So far we're the only people who have come to look at her, so this seems a likely fate.

Fortunately, dreaming is still free and this one has been fun while it has lasted.

 

If coming up with 17k is a deal breaker then a boat like that definitely is not for you. No offense intended - just that 17k is probably pocket change compared to what it would take to take into good reliable and enjoyable shape and still it would keep sucking on major funds.

I understand that it's a terrible pity to see such pieces just get destroyed.

 

There are dreams , and there are nightmares......to each his own.....