THE FORUM'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Skents

Skents

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www.theiguana.co.uk
THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

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A few weeks ago we found an old 13 foot Falmouth Oyster punt (approx 100 years old) which hadn't been used for several years. We've put a couple of planks in, some new timbers, put in a centre plate, made rig, rudder, etc (plus a few other bits). We've had a new set of sails made and now she's sailing (having been oar powered for the rest of her life). We're having a lot of fun with her.

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But here's the question for the forum to ponder - how much is she worth now? I know how many hours I put in and I know what the whole project cost (answers will be posted here later to satisfy your curiosity).

I just can't stop myself adopting old wooden boats but I wondered just how financially rash I am being? Tell me what you think she would fetch on the open market and I'll confess what she cost and how long it took!

PUNTALONGSIDE.jpg
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

A boat like that is very difficult to value and would have been done by you as a labour of love. It will be priceless to you if it was a true labour of love.
Good to see an old boat rescued and sailing again.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

I would say if you enjoyed doing the work and you obviously enjoy sailing it, it was worth it! If you did it for financial gain you bank manager will tell you if it is worth it. It is a lovely boat and is worth what ever someone is prepared to pay for it. IMHO
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Lovely job, (" a few weeks!!!), but not one to be done for profit. £1k tops perhaps?
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

It probably doesn't make you feel any better but I don't think anyone that's into wooden boats thinks they're going to make a profit by doing one up , that's why they end up in the state they get into in the first place . You've done a good job on her and she looks very nice , but I don't think I'd go as far as the 1K mark I'm afraid
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

I need another boat like I need a hole in the head but I'm off to see one tomorrow...

I reckon on hoping to recover from a boat what I paid, plus what I spent in screws and wood and glue and varnish, reckon my time is a write off, its my hobby, I love it and dont feel the need to get paid for it.

Nice boat you have there, reckon I'd have it insured for £3k, advertise for £2200 and hope to get min 1500 maybe nearer 2k.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

As stated above by others. It's a labour of love so in your eyes worth far more then any one in the market place is prepared to pay.
I have been "doing up an "old wooden boat".
"With a documented history" for some 18 years now and £xxxx.xxs of dosh if she was for sale I would not even realise the rent.
It is all in the eye of the beholder.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Very similar to my 13ft clinker dinghy, but that's only 50 years old.
Very very similar to Arthur Ransome's boat (Mavis, I think) which was the heavier of the Swallows and Amazon's boats.

The value is difficult to asses as you have made modifications.
I wonder if you had gone for a bigger balanced lugsail without the mizzen it may have been more saleable?

Looks good though and great fun. I reckon £1K is about as much as you would get. Maybe £1300 on a good day.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Thanks for all of your comments. I'd agree that with boats it's always a labour of love - hence the reason that (in my professional life as a boatbuilder) I have all too often had to set fire to a nice old boat which was taking up space in the yard while being uneconomic to repair and lacking a guardian angel to save her.

But it is interesting to establish just how economic or uneconomic these moments of madness are. (Having previously owned a 1914 Harrison Butler, a 1946 oak on oak double ender and a 46' Looe Lugger I'm under no illusions regarding the financial realities of living with old wooden boats)

So, here's the lowdown on the punt....

Original price paid £100
Sails £280
Various bits (timber, Sikaflex, paint, rollocks, etc)
£235

TOTAL COST £615

Out of habit, I kept a tally of the hours I spent on her and the
final figure was 55 hours.

I have no intention of selling her, as my new tender she'll save me a fortune in dinghy fuel, act as a floating gym when I row her and maybe even get round the course at a couple of Classic Boat Rallies later this year!
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Had a look at your website. Your certainly no dreamer,and one hell of a dooer! What a beautiful boat you have built, great journey and in such a short timescale. Hats of to you!

The work you have done to your dinghy is therefore probably a proper job, not a DIY bodge up. With a trailer and all over cover I would pitch her at the 2k mark. Best keep her though.

Which Lugger did you have?
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

We owned the I.R.I.S. (originally Irene Rosa Ida Susan after the first owner's sisters). We bought her in the late eighties and kept her for about five years. As I'm from Polperro and my wife is from Looe we were particularly proud to have an old Looe boat - the sister ship to the Our Daddy.

She was in a real state when we got her - she'd been a liveaboard in a Devon creek, gently going further and futher downhill. We took her on a lorry from Totnes to Falmouth (an adventure in itsefl) as the insurance for a tow was too pricey.

We did a lot of work on her including rigging her (gaff main/standing lug mizzen). Although only 44 foot on deck she was 79 foot over all with the bowsprit and bumpkin.

We lived on board with young daughter, parrot and two cats - kept warm by a full size Rayburn!

In the end though we had to face the fact that she was eating up all our time and all our money while being really hard work to sail with just us on board. We sold her and hear that now she is being restored in Devon by a Brixham fisherman.

We still remember her fondly and would love to own such a spacious boat again - only next time a more modern design which is rather easier to handle with just the two of us.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

This one's not for selling (he said)
It's sitting in the garden at the moment but I had a set-back after covering it in a nice new tarpaulin. It rained a great deal and the underside of the tarp sweated. The new varnish on the gunwhale didn't like it and some of it went milky. So, rub down again.
I'm leaving her in the open now and draining the collected water out every now and then.

(PM box cleared a bit)

Boat%20in%20Garden.jpg
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Sorry, slight diversion... Is it a dangerous thing to overinsure boats?

I know that commercially, insurance payouts are a funny thing. For example, if you insured your premises etc for £300k, but after a major fire the assessors valued the rebuild etc costs as £150k, then the insurers will only pay £75k. I don't know what this is called, but it's a strange thing.

Is it the same situation with boat insurance?
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

She looks in lovely condition! I have my eye on a 12.5' Mcnulty Longstone, but the trailer is knackered, Starts to get expensive, when you need to buy a new trailer to get it to spain, but may have a solution to that aswell. I'll kep you posted.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Am I correct in thinking that was the IRIS in Old Mill creek.
There used to be a bunch of old fishing boats lived on including at one time an apparent Colin Archer 'Svolvar' I think. There are still some bits down there buried in the mud.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

Yes, I.R.I.S. was in Old Mill Creek, Dartmouth when we bought her. It did seem to be a bit of a retirement home for old boats then. She was neaped and as time was pressing (lorry booked, police escort arranged, up river tow paid for) we ended up digging a trench and dragging her out through the mud. Fun!

I do remember a Colin Archer in Dartmouth (was it Solveig??) we looked at her as a potential purchase once but decided against it. If it is, I think her previous owners wrote a book about sailing her from the Indian Ocean back to UK. Maybe got my boats confused there but I think that was the same vessel.
 
Re: THE FORUM\'S VERDICT PLEASE.

The nice thing about your little wooden boat is that it will only go up in value, in it's present condition.

Unlike our large plastic ones.... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif


Nice job, as you have already been told /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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