At what point is a wooden boat dead?

iangrant

iangrant

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There is a really pretty twin screw motor boat at Northney and topsides, insides look really lovely.

Sadly she has been sunk, dropped in the water sunk a day later, she is larch planks, all of which you could drive a bus between. Not sure what happened with the engines whether they were filled with oil/diesel after the sinking.

All the copper sheating has been stripped off.

I'm sure as a labour of love she could be brought back but replacing that lot is she firewood?

Ian
 
I am very glad when other people restore and maintain wooden boats so that I can enjoy looking at them.

It's madness when they're in good condition, and total insanity to start from something that isn't.

Having said that, a wooden boat only dies when the last restorer gives up!
 
Cost of the raw materials is very little.

Its the labour of course, in a general sense the sums dont add up to pay someone to do the work. So for wooden boats its down to numpties like me to do the work because we want to.

I only work around the corner, I might pop down and have a look.

If the structure is intrinsically sound then its relatively easy to bring them back. Construction method and materials make a big differnece.

If the centre line is rotten, frames cracked, beam shelf is rotten and so on, then she is best used as fire wood.
 
Can't miss her

If you do pop down she is in the main boat park, imediate right through the barrier, first row on the left.

I'd be interested to see what you think!

Ian
 
iangrant said:
There is a really pretty twin screw motor boat at Northney and topsides, insides look really lovely.

Sadly she has been sunk, dropped in the water sunk a day later, she is larch planks, all of which you could drive a bus between. Not sure what happened with the engines whether they were filled with oil/diesel after the sinking.

All the copper sheating has been stripped off.

I'm sure as a labour of love she could be brought back but replacing that lot is she firewood?

Ian
Click to expand...

Ian, just because you haven't got any leaks at the moment and things seem to be running OK, don't get carried away and take on a project. Something is bound to go wrong soon :D
 
I have had the pleasure of both surveying and restoring a number of wooden vessels that other yards have written off; the choice is purely down to the owner.
I agree with the earlier post in that if the hog,stem,keel and sternpost are fairly sound you at least have something to build off of, timbers and planks can be done easier/quicker and cheaper if the backbone is sound. Having said that I have worked on one or two resorations where the is literally nothing left of the original vessel, everything having been removed to use as patterns for a total new rebuild, often a vessel with historical providence is saved in this way and hang the cost.
As a huge fan of wooden boats I would say that a wooden boat is never dead, just in need of the right owner, however as an owner of a plastic boat I would suggest that Nov 5th is not far off......
 
iangrant said:
If you do pop down
Click to expand...

I have just done exactly that.

She does appear to need quite a bit of work, but nothing apparently impossible. I could see through some of the seems that there is a few cracked and split frames and at least one has been sistered round the turn of the bilge.

The problem is not her condition or the cost of repairs.

The problem is that she's pug ugly!
 
I'd like a wooden boat that I can care for and love. But there are two preconditions involving significant lottery wins and retirement, both of which must be fulfilled and I'm currently running zero on both.

I have taken the Viking funeral option on a wooden boat before now, frames gone around both bilge keels and rotting transom together with some oik nicking some of the gear. Beach in Langstone Harbour, asked HM and advised local bobby, nobody interested. That was a long time ago! I'd probably have tried a lot harder to repair her these days.
 
Ugly??

burgundyben said:
I have just done exactly that.

She does appear to need quite a bit of work, but nothing apparently impossible. I could see through some of the seems that there is a few cracked and split frames and at least one has been sistered round the turn of the bilge.

The problem is not her condition or the cost of repairs.

The problem is that she's pug ugly!
Click to expand...

Yes, sadly she is that, mind you I've danced with uglier women!

Ian
 
This is really a rhetorical question for many reasons, the point at which a wooden boat becomes firewood depends upon so many factors and the attitude of the person/s restoring a boat.

Boatyards have to make a living, cost is the largest factor governing where they see a viable restoration or a pile of firewood, it is also the financial value of the restoration of a vessel compared to its resale value. Many owners would not pay for professionals to restore a vessel when its restoration costs exceed its market value.

Private owners view things differently, the largest expense to a yard is labour, and yes the labour is by far the largest cost as it is time consuming restoring a boat of any kind, this is where the private owner scores. Most private owners are not basing a restoration cost where labour times enter the equation as these are essentially free to the private owner. This means private owners do them as a project and the costs are limited to materials only.

Several exceptions apply, the main one being a craft of national or local historical importance, usually a historical importance, often many charities or other organisations will come on board with funding. The historical value outweighs the financial costs of a full or partial restoration.

Project boats are simply that, a project for a private owner, there is often no time or cost considerations as they are simply a hobby which people enjoy, it can take several months, or several years of work. This gives the hobby restorer a distinct advantage, the cost is insignificant as it is flexible and can be distributed through several months or years, or as financial and time constraints dictate, this is why some of the best restorations are those done by the hobbyist restorer.

Ultimately it comes down to your personal opinion, is it worth doing it as a commercial venture, or as a hobby.
 
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