Folkboat for rescue

[diapason]

Just spotted this on Ebay. I don't have the skills or space to save her - surely somebody can - and for only 99p!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151299328457?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

(Not mine, but I'd love to see her saved from the scrapheap)

 

[sarabande]

chainsaw job; honestly. Even my optimistic eye sees hopelessly uneconomic and emotional repair costs.

 

[diapason]

I know, but still hope - a boat is a living, breathing being. She deserves to be saved.

 

[Athene V30]

There is a reson they used to burn old wooden boats and then rake up the metal fittings for salvage. At end of day sentiment is nice but if uneconomic to repair why not?

Shame cannot do the same with old GRP hulls.

 

[Kukri]

Sadly, even for a skilled amateur, not costing his labour, this boat is past economic repair.

I have seen boats in worse condition than this be completely rebuilt, but they were without exception "significant" boats by well known designers, such as Albert Strange, and they were often built using rather superior materials in the first place. This is a nice original Folkboat, but there are plenty of nice original Folkboats.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It looks to me as if you'd have to do the same thing as Joshua Slocum did for Spray - and that is, totally rebuild her from the keel up. Practically every photo shows signs of rot. It would cost a fortune and/or take a lifetime, and she wouldn't be the same boat at the end of it, just as Spray after Slocum's rebuild wasn't the same as the boat he started with.

 

[diapason]

Whilst you guys are undoubtedly right, sentiment still hopes that someone will take her on.

 

[Tranona]

Whilst you guys are undoubtedly right, sentiment still hopes that someone will take her on.

Why are you wishing all that pain and financial grief on somebody else?

 

[diapason]

For someone who enjoys a major project, it need not be grief - or, if they have the skills, a bank breaker. Perhaps that person is out there and will read this thread........

 

[BlackPig]

For someone who enjoys a major project, it need not be grief - or, if they have the skills, a bank breaker. Perhaps that person is out there and will read this thread........

Have you put in a bid?

 

[chinita]

For someone who enjoys a major project, it need not be grief - or, if they have the skills, a bank breaker. Perhaps that person is out there and will read this thread........

Would you mind enlightening us with your experience of restoring wooden boats to justify your statement. Because, if you do not have the experience, then frankly you are talking tosh.

 

[diapason]

Sadly, I haven't put in a bid as I don't have the woodworking skills not the space to work as I live in a flat with no garden. Chinita - no need to be sarcastic - I clearly said I'm not a skilled woodworker although I have just finished restoring my GRP Wayfarer including some nasty hull damage. However, my late father was a skilled carpenter and I've seen him tackle jobs which looked equally daunting. If he was still alive, then we'd probably have had a go. I'm simply hoping that someone sees the ad who has skills and space - yes and a few bob too - and who thinks that this would be a worthwhile project.

 

[chinita]

It is not sarcasm.

Six people on this thread (excluding myself) - all with considerable experience and exposure to this sort of thing - have tried to persuade you that this is an absolute basket case and, distasteful though it may be, should be reduced to firewood.

Yet you keep coming back and saying 'yes, but.....'.

The point you seem to be missing is that 'somebody with skills, space and a few bob' is the very person who would not be the least bit interested in this sort of 'project'.

It is the person WITHOUT all the necessary attributes and assets who will be sucked into buying a boat like this.

The result will be the same reduction to firewood, except it will take a little longer.

 

[diapason]

OK - I accept (as I said earlier) that the experts who have said that it's not an economic job are right. The auction ended without any bids so I don't know what will happen to her. It's just that, as an incurable romantic, I hoped that she might live to see blue water again.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

OK - I accept (as I said earlier) that the experts who have said that it's not an economic job are right. The auction ended without any bids so I don't know what will happen to her. It's just that, as an incurable romantic, I hoped that she might live to see blue water again.

It isn't that it isn't economic - plenty of uneconomic repairs happen, and indeed you can argue that owning a boat is a pretty uneconomic activity. But if she was repaired, she wouldn't be the same boat - practically every bit of wood would have to be replaced, if she's as rotten as the pictures indicate. If you're doing that, it would probably be simpler to start with a pile of wood and some plans!

 

[Athene V30]

Trigger's broom comes to mind!

 

[Biggles Wader]

OK - I accept (as I said earlier) that the experts who have said that it's not an economic job are right. The auction ended without any bids so I don't know what will happen to her. It's just that, as an incurable romantic, I hoped that she might live to see blue water again.

Been relisted now so hope lives on.:encouragement:

 

[chinita]

I hoped that she might live to see blue water again.

Dunno about blue water but she has certainly seen plenty of rain water.

 

[Eyore]

Despite having a soft spot for Folkboats,it pains me to say its only good for firewood.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Been relisted now ...

... and withdrawn, it seems, as the relisting link gets a 404.