Top or Bottom

I am a Virgin! Virgin clinker restorer! I have bought this beautiful 22-ft clinker cabin and to be truthful I do not know where to start. You can buy as many books as your budget will allow, (I have). But where do I start, I have never been in a forum before so everything is new to me.
I am looking for help and advice on-
Do I start on the hull first or cabin and deck? I need to replace the whole cabin, boards and deck as it has either blown or rotted.
Should I take the engine out while restoring? and is there any tips on storing the engine while waiting for me do the work?
And please forgive my landlocked expressions like top and bottom,the nautical terms will come as I mature with the boat, books and advice I am hoping to get.

Any advice would be greatfull and if this works there will be a lot more questions to come!
Many thanks in advance and as I am a chef by trade I would be happy to give cooking tips in return!!

Cheers

Steve

 

Do only what is absolutely necessary first and leave the rest for later.

Remember, an hour of disassembly is equal to ten hours of reassembly!

What is your budget, time-frame and marital status?

All things to consider...

Good luck!

 

The first thing you need to do is support her well and that trailer doesn't look to be doing a very good job of it.

From the looks of her and your basic description, you should yank out the engine and get the boat on solid blocking. Removing the engine and trans will relieve her of a lot of burden and it'll make moving her to a cradle or more secure blocking easier.

She should be in the one ton (maybe a ton and a half) range, given a small motor, which isn't a lot of weight to handle. A chain fall or come-along will easily handle this much weight, with a suitable tree branch. Roll the trailer out from under her and place her at a reasonable working weight, with the keel well blocked on close spacing. You just need to support the bilges to keep her from rolling off her keel blocks.

With her stripped of the engine and sitting on firm blocking, you can have a real good look at what ills she has.

Fix the structural stuff first, like cracked and broken frames, bad planks, etc. She's not a boat without a sound hull structure. Then move onto the cabin and furniture. My usual order is the structure, the hull, then sealing the hull, which usually means the deck and cabin too, then onto things that make life more enjoyable, like electrical, plumbing, engines, furnishings.

Most of these things will become fairly obvious once you start.

Ignore the marital status remark above, Tom's just looking for another wife . . . (again)

 

Supporting the hull properly is something many amateurs forget to do. Because the projects take so long, the boat gets completely out of shape. Looking at the photo, it doesn't look like the whole cabin is rotted. It would be a good investment for you to have the boat inspected by a surveyor or marine carpenter and get an opinion and plan of actioin. Clinker is complicated to take apart.