salvaging a 3-4 meter sailboat. need support.

Assumed it is from the era I guessed, almost all of them had a mast and sail, and all had oars.

Is there nobody around with some experience in boat building or restoration? Just to give you a idea if you are talking a pile of firewood or a boat with some damage.

Seaworthy these boats have been, there is no doubt.

Regards
Richard

 

apparently there is another one. in the warehouse just beside the boat.
this one has hull damage by the keel. the other one is said to be in a better condition.

there are several people here able to build wooden vessels.
but i have yet to approach them.

 

Building a new boat and properly repairing a very neglected one are two different skill sets. This vessel is a lifeboat, buoyant, slow, and will not go to windward at all well. Why would you restore it? Where would it be kept after? Who would be responsible for maintenance and storage? Just because it exists and is kind of cool is a poor reason to restore it. She's quite ripe and rotten and far beyond economical repair. Much easier to build new. Ask yourself, "If I never saw this boat, would my life be better?"

 

Lifeboats used to carry sailing gear way back, I believe.

If you have access to wood boat builders ask one for an opinion, you can tell a lot more from a sniff and a poke than you can from an image.

 

Not a bad rule for Life.

 

pls sir. i can't say i'm excited to read what u wrote but as gentlemen we should at least expect the best out of each other.

i've yet to approach the local wood/FRP specialist, but i need words to research on. do u sirs mind?
if not i won't be able to have a decent conversation with him.

 

Its mainly a question about the structural condition. Is the framng (the entire hull) still in shape, are the planks and frames still wood or already mulch?
Does he consider the restoration within reasonable effort?

The test how good the wood you can make yourself. Get a pocket knife and try to penetrate the wood. Does the knife go in without much effort or does it resist your force?
Well, you know how to interpret the result.

Regards
Richard

 

The visible damage to the seats is not important, it's what's beneath, however it's suggestive of what to expect. The further down the boat you have to go to restore integrity, the harder it will be. As well as looking at the wood, try to see what the fasteners are like: are they galvanized and heavily rusted or in good shape, are they bronze and good for another half-century, is the wood around the fasteners badly stained, a sign of corrosion within. If the planks are sprung off the frames because the fasteners have let go you may have a chance. How much weight of junk is there on the boat, enough to break it or just superficial? Pass this kind of information back to an expert so he can decide if it's worth taking a closer look. If he offers to inspect, please empty out the junk and clean it out as best you can before he arrives, that is only polite.

Bear in mind that, if it's a lifeboat, it was built to spend its life on a ship's deck, with maybe one trip on the water. On the ship it would have been kept covered and inspected routinely for water ingress and to ensure supplies were in good shape, but it would not have been used. That is the kind of duty that a lifeboat has to deal with, and still be strong enough to launch into a full gale and save its occupants. It will be strongly built but not necessarily have the materials needed to withstand years on the water. And a long stretch uncovered on land is bad for any boat.

 

Manpower may indeed be an issue. Even if you have hundreds of helpers, you need the skills of at least one experienced boat carpenter. This old girl will need a total reconstruction. That means the careful removal of the greater proportion of her parts and pieces while simultaneously retaining the original design for later reconstruction on paper, photos, and patterns.
Not much will survive! It would be a lot easier to build a new boat just like the old one, and then the question is, why not build a better design?
This boat has no obvious pedigree, though for (probably) a similar effort, you could build a known classic design with full knowedge in advance of what you're going to end up with.
But you may also love the looks of this boat, so do what you must (crosses self).

 

Sitting like that, sweet water has been collecting in her for who knows how long. This is a death nail for a boat like this. Survey and hope for the best.

 

OMG i worked on an old naval ship that had one of those as a captians tender it was powered by an atomic four cylinder engine, I agree with some other on here thou , you need some better detailed pics of the condition of the structrual members and hull before suggesting any real good info on wether its financially viable to over haul.

 

I am going to give you bad advice... But the most fun.
If the boat is free...
Find every board on boat that is lose. Drive a large stainless screw into something to attach it to something else. Make sure boat looks like everything is attach. Get yourself a 4 gallons of liquid epoxy resin, put little color in mix so you know where your pour it. Then after mix it all throughly pour on the inside of boat into crevice where main wood beams are. Idea is to use epoxy as glue. Use brush to push it into other locations. You get idea. We are making a disposal boat that will last a season. Ad a small outboard motor, plug the hole and go have some fun. Take life jackets for everyone, don't go too far. If she start to leak too bad run her aground. At the end of the season flip her around. Next year determine if it can be fixed again.

I have seen worst boat than this used all over the world. Just don't fall in love and want to restore her. This is cheap one night stand, don't marry her.

In the island they use tar or cement to water proof these boats and they use them for fishing daily.

 

- but do the poke test first, you can't fix mush, and also dry the boat, but not too much or the seams may open up. Of course, once you price out all that epoxy you may lose a bit of enthusiasm ...