Boat restoration advice

[Reel Time]

Another point worth mentioning is that a project boat on a trailer can be worked on at home. No mooring fees, access to all your tools and you can do the odd hour when you feel like it.

Here's a link to a restoration thread. £1000 project blog

 

[fredrussell]

Another point worth mentioning is that a project boat on a trailer can be worked on at home. No mooring fees, access to all your tools and you can do the odd hour when you feel like it.

Good point this, I did the same with my first boat and saved a fortune. I would say to the OP, if it’s local and you’re happy to shell out between £1000 and £2000 to finish her off, go for it. Life is short, who knows when the virus movement restrictions will end, and if you can get that boat to your house (can you?) it’ll give you a welcome distraction from all the madness.

 

[Reel Time]

Good point this, I did the same with my first boat and saved a fortune. I would say to the OP, if it’s local and you’re happy to shell out between £1000 and £2000 to finish her off, go for it. Life is short, who knows when the virus movement restrictions will end, and if you can get that boat to your house (can you?) it’ll give you a welcome distraction from all the madness.

Boats can take a long time to restore, part of the reason people get fed up is that they have to pack the car and drive to the boat yard. That time can be better spent if boat is at home. Then there is the five minute break between other DIY / Garden jobs when you can sit on the boat and dream - works wonders for enthusiasm and motivation.

 

[Iliade]

I spent quite a while with my old 24'er with no engine and a large sweep - worked surprisingly well and a lot cheaper to run/maintain/replace than any engine.
I also bought, for next to nothing, a pretty immaculate sail from a Starlight forty something (IIRC) which I cut down and used to make a genoa and a variety of other canvas work. I think I still have some of the cloth in my pile some twenty years later.

 

[ghostlymoron]

My first boat was a leisure 17 which was scruffy but complete. She was given to me by a friend of a friend complete with mast, trailer and sails. I painted it, fitted a battery, lights, radio and an outboard which came to £1k and we had several years of fun on it before upgrading to a larger one.
I'd look for something more complete if I were you preferably free!

 

[Davy_S]

My advice would be to buy something that was complete with all the fittings like the mast. Outboards can be a better bet for spares and moving to other boats. Finding suitable mast and rigging won’t be cheap and you have no pattern to work from. That said, welcome to forum and it looks like it could be a nice boat with the right budget and skills.


Did you actually read the OPpost? he clearly stated that it came with a mast!

 

[doug748]

Another point worth mentioning is that a project boat on a trailer can be worked on at home. No mooring fees, access to all your tools and you can do the odd hour when you feel like it.

Here's a link to a restoration thread. £1000 project blog

Very good point.

That was my thought as well. Throw in a working trailer and it is worth investigation. Without, it is just another potential liability, rotting where it stands.

.

 

[Reel Time]

@Davy_S Did you actually read the OPpost? he clearly stated that it came with a mast!

Yes , but obviously missed / misread that bit. So, what do you think, should he purchase the boat?

 

[Jim@sea]

This boat/project reminds me of a project a mechanic friend started in the 1970's (same age as this boat) He had a Ford Corsair (UK Rubbish) and decided to fit a Jaguar E Type engine in it, So after the garage had shut for the day he worked on the Corsair. He spent many hours working on the car and when the engine was in it would not drive as the suspension would not take the weight.
The point is that all those hours he worked on it, had he worked on customers cars and charged out the normal hourly rate he could have bought an EType. (In the 1970's you could get one for £2000.
With this boat you are looking at a long project. If you could get a job which paid £10 an hour after 200 hours you would have £2000 and could buy a boat which you could go sailing in straight away.
(Says he who spent hundreds of hours doing up a 24ft Colvic Watson only to lose £1000 on it as I paid too much for it in the first place)

 

[Davy_S]

@Davy_S Did you actually read the OPpost? he clearly stated that it came with a mast!

Yes , but obviously missed / misread that bit. So, what do you think, should he purchase the boat?

It would really depend on what finances the OP had available, if he simply wanted a project that would fit in his driveway, and he was prepared to spend a long time fixing it up whilst saving up for the parts, he may learn and enjoy the experience, Me personally, it would be a firm NO, when you add in the cost of sails, a trailer, fixing the engine, plus other bits and pieces, the cost will mount up more than you think, there are boats that are ready for use that could be bought with the same amount that it would cost to fix the project, that would be my choice.

 

[Gixer]

Before I had a family I bought a Snapdragon 23 project which pretty much needed completely stripping and rebuilding. At the time I was a bit to inexperienced to skipper my own yacht so used to split my time between crewing on weekend races and fixing up the Snapdragon.
While working on the boat I met loads of really interesting people in the yard and they were more than happy to talk me though rigging, electrics, woodwork, fiberglass repairs, inboard engines and any number of boat related jobs.
I have since found this experience invaluable and saved me a fortune on my current yacht by giving me the confidence to attempt jobs myself rather than paying someone.
I didn't make any money on the Snapdragon when I sold it but look back at it to being a worthwhile experience and did manage to get it in the water!

 

[Benmarsh]

Hi everyone & again many thanks for all the advice & help.

I have found a Pandora that looks like the project I'm looking for.
£300 & I'm keen to get this.
I can see the work involved but, this cruiser is 15 mins walk from my home.
What are the key things I should check with the owner before I buy?

Many thanks in advance,

Ben

 

[doug748]

Make sure you get the headsails, Seafarer sounder and any other stuff which has been taken ashore, before you front up with the cash. Any ole stuff is more useful in your garage than his. Good luck.

 

[peteK]

The same things as the last boat,the mainsail is probably rotten left on the boom without a cover for a start,pay more for a well looked after boat.

 

[superheat6k]

I have done this and would suggest you either walk or do a degree course in Man Maths. e.g. so you can mathematically explain, or simply be happy with (and convince SWMBO of course !) ...

Boat purchase (£350) + Restoration spend (£1,500 ???) + at least 500 man hours = £350 sale value

I have now learnt cynicism and value boats without Man Maths. Many older boats, sans man maths, sadly generate a negative value. I would expect this is one of those. But if you want a great time burning your money then enjoy.

 

[Tam Lin]

Are you married?

Sorry but I am with most of the others on this and as the oil price has gone negative I think that the same should apply to boats like this, they should be paying you to take it away!
Find a boat that is all there but needs TLC not big ticket items. You will still have plenty to do!

 

[C08]

Sorry to say this but unless this has a GOOD engine to go on the outboard bracket AND there is a headsail AND the main sail is servicable you should run, not walk away. There are far better boats at not much more money on e bay gumtree etc.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Sorry to say this but unless this has a GOOD engine to go on the outboard bracket AND there is a headsail AND the main sail is servicable you should run, not walk away. There are far better boats at not much more money on e bay gumtree etc.

The Trotter (a version of the Pandora built by Grimsby Marine Plastics) had a Briggs and Stratton air-cooled engine under the wooden box that is shown under the companionway. It worked, but as it was pretty much the same engine as a lawn-mower, I'd be surprised if it still worked. However, replacing it might not be that big an expense, though still more than the boat's worth! However, quite possibly less than an outboard if the shaft and exhaust fittings are there and useable.

 

[zoidberg]

I'm going to be encouraging! The Pandora looks a far better bet than the first option, and the muck will clean off ( for a little while! ).

"If you can keep the ocean on the outside, sail the thing along, and steer it.... other problems are fixable."

Search for evidence of water getting in - salt or rain. Window leaks are easily fixable - hull leaks, not so. Look very hard at 'through-hull fittings and hoses'. Be hyper-critical over rusty keel fastenings. Dings and scrapes on the fibreglass can be sealed and sorted, but look hard inside and out for any signs of delamination.

Examine the sails. Dirt doesn't matter. Spiders don't matter. Frayed stitching doesn't matter. Rot and weakness, loose tack and clew rings pulling out, do matter.
Examine the standing rigging you can access for wire stranding, signs of cracks, sharp bends, rust staining/corrosion..... potential points of abrupt failure.

Examine the tiller and rudder structure for signs of slop and weakness. Fix the one end and waggle the other hard. Swop over and repeat - despite the mud!


A few years ago I bought a slightly larger boat in a similar state, for similar money. I was tempted to call it 'Dismay', but I cleaned it up, stripped out the flapping, dangling, unwanted stuff inside, took on board some bits and bobs I'd scraped together, and that wee Hurley 24 took me to Baltimore/Cork and back - no dramas.
You can, too, if you want to.

I'd recommend, whatever you get, to gift yourself a copy of Paul Stevens' 'Surveying Yachts and Small Craft'. You won't want to transmute into a surveyor, or do a formal survey, but the explanations and pics will certainly help you understand what you're looking at and its significance. Or send me a PM with an e-address and I'll forward some detailed guidance a top surveyor gave me in my 'project'.

Edit: And get yourself several of cartoonist Mike Peyton's illustrated paperbacks. You'll glean more real-life East Coast Seamanship from those than from a whole catalogue of RYA Courses.

Best wishes!

 

[Simonpk]

But that aint a Pandora, more like a Gallion 22.