Refitting a ohlson 38

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aristotle

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I am considering buying an Ohlson 38 shell and completely refitting her inside. including instruments and wireing.
To be suitable for living aboard. What estimate should I be looking at.
 
DIY or boatyard
What level of fit out is salvageable?
What level of fit out do want to end up with?
Log and sounder (£200)....or...log sounder, col.GPS plotter, radar, navtex, vhf, AIs etc , all integrated (£4000)?
Self build rewire could be done for £600 but you could easily spend a grand on the wiring alone.
Seat cushions...DIY a couple of hundred but will look like you did it yourself. Pro job 1500.

etc etc
 
Probably quite a lot more than finding one in good condition, that needs little work. Sounds a good idea, but is like building from scratch, bound to cost a lot more, and take a long time. OK if you enjoy the work, but the costs would vary hugely depending on your skills and what you consider necessary comfort or equipment.
A case: 21ft built and written up by a magazine. Budget £14K (not counting owner's work input, very little outside help) He did not state if he exceeded or not his budget, but the boat looked great.
Buying an older decent 21ft right now would cost £3/6K. And will be worth much the same in a few years.
 
aristotle said:
I am considering buying an Ohlson 38 shell and completely refitting her inside. including instruments and wireing.
To be suitable for living aboard. What estimate should I be looking at.
Click to expand...

With the greatest respect, it is almost impossible to estimate this. Run up a list of everything you can think of that would be needed, and that is everything. Price is up and then add 50%. That might give you an idea.
 
A lot of these boats were DIY'd at the outset, and I must agree with what the others have said. However there must be a point were it is worth doing, esp if the hull deck engine rig and sails are good. This assumes the boat is very cheap and you are enthusiastic, skilled and not skint.
There was a series in Sailing Today written by a chap who re-did an Ohlson. I think it was quite early, so some time ago. It was good and would be worth reading, if someone can recall the details...
 
We have an Ohlson 38 and over the years have done (from memory): mast, standing rig, sails, engine, battery system, radar and GPS, holding-tank, cooker, customised galley sinks, upholstery, windlass and chain stowage, cabin heater, winch plinths and of course a long list of minor things and running repairs. Virtually all DIY, done carefully and slowly. I have all the receipts if you are interested in any particular aspect. To be quite honest I daredn't add them up but I bet it will total £60K and it could be twice that.

You may already have a experience, but if not don't underestimate the enormous amount of time you will have to spend if you want to do it well. But on the other hand, there will be several on this forum who have completed similar projects to a very high standard and ended up with very high standard yachts.

The Ohlson 38 is small (narrow and low freeboard) compared with more modern 38 footers so you may find other baots easier to live aboard. The GRP version by Tylers is fantastically strong - like an outsize Contessa 32, but I don't know about "GRP on wood". The first 60 or so made as I understand it were wooden.

The keel is encapsualted but is it lead or iron keel? The lead keel gives a even better ultimate stability curve but perhaps more usefully for a liveaboard leaves room for approx' 300 litres of tankage under the cabin sole.

Good luck whatever you decide.
 
A rough rule of thumb is that the costs of a finished yacht are 1/3 hull, 1/3 deck-gear and spars and 1/3 internal fitting.

The Ohlson 38 is a very old design - result it has accomodation/stowage comparable with a modern 26' AWB, it's wet to windward and not very fast off the wind.

Assuming you're going to pay for someone else to gut & refit the boat I'd guess £12000, if you can do it entirely yourself £4000 - and that excludes any navigation gear or electronics.

Sounds as though it's one of the original carvel wood-construction with later (probably Cascamite) sheathing.

Not a project for the inexperienced or faint-hearted.
 
dovekie said:
We have an Ohlson 38 and over the years have done (from memory): mast, standing rig, sails, engine, battery system, radar and GPS, holding-tank, cooker, customised galley sinks, upholstery, windlass and chain stowage, cabin heater, winch plinths and of course a long list of minor things and running repairs. Virtually all DIY, done carefully and slowly. I have all the receipts if you are interested in any particular aspect. To be quite honest I daredn't add them up but I bet it will total £60K and it could be twice that.

You may already have a experience, but if not don't underestimate the enormous amount of time you will have to spend if you want to do it well. But on the other hand, there will be several on this forum who have completed similar projects to a very high standard and ended up with very high standard yachts.

The Ohlson 38 is small (narrow and low freeboard) compared with more modern 38 footers so you may find other baots easier to live aboard. The GRP version by Tylers is fantastically strong - like an outsize Contessa 32, but I don't know about "GRP on wood". The first 60 or so made as I understand it were wooden.

The keel is encapsualted but is it lead or iron keel? The lead keel gives a even better ultimate stability curve but perhaps more usefully for a liveaboard leaves room for approx' 300 litres of tankage under the cabin sole.

Good luck whatever you decide.
Click to expand...

Hello i have also being dreaming of the ohlson 38 to refit.
I have never heard the hulls being grp coverd wood.
the exellent site http://www.ohlson38.de/page3/page3.html
does not say anything about the matter.

Regards Riku
 
Apart from the cost which is larger than anyone will admit, there is the result - If you are a liveaboard couple are you going to turn a seven-berth IOR design into a two/three berth comfortable cruiser?
If so, you will be looking for another couple with almost exactly the same mindset as you, and lots of cash, to finally sell it to when the dream comes to an end- for whatever reason.
We did it with an Ericson 39 - it was great fun while it lasted but the cost was enormous.
 
Well, well, I just bought an old-and-tired Ohlson 38. But she is two-three berth comfortable cruiser already. The design WAS an IOR racer in 1968, but that was a very long time ago!

I spent thirty years rebuilding refitting and incidentally cruising in a pre-War teak gaff cutter of almost exactly the same size, so I am not that scared by the project. I will keep a tab on the numbers.
 
Just a little update. The Ohlson website and Facebook pages are wonderfully informative; ask a question and you will get half a dozen answers. This is an owners group with real enthusiasm. The quality of the Tylers' moulding is very very high. And its a beautiful boat - as has been said, a big Contessa 32.
 
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