Very nice boat to finish here...

[benjenbav]

It looks lovely but will need an owner who is happy to sink a lot of money and/or time into it.

Best hope might be as a project for a wooden-boat building school. If someone would pay for the hull and materials to finish that might be a way of getting the labour for next to nothing. I think that’s similar to the model the school in Lyme Regis operates?

 

[Blueboatman]

The boat for sale is described as a "Wanderer" but is not the same design as Hiscock's boat, being shorter overall and on the waterline and wider beam. So probably more accurately described as Wanderer type. Hiscock wanted to maximise space within the 30'overall so the bow is bluff and waterline is 26' plus the bumpkin is there to extend the sailplan. The boat for sale has a 24' waterline so a finer bow with greater overhang and an inboard rig. Hopefully the drawings come with the boat so that it can be completed according to the original design and not messed about with a secondhand rig. The photos clearly show stanchions lying on the deck and bases already installed - as are the chainplates. So clearly intended to have guard wires and pulpit/pushpit

It would be sacrilege not to complete the boat to the original plans and specification, although not sure there is anybody brave enough with the skills and money to do it justice. 10 years ago I might have considered it. It will make a superb boat of its type.

That is good research
Iirc you went to examine the actual boat?
Described as a 29ft Wanderer .

I wonder if the current owner or custodian is reading any of this?

It would surely help to generate wider interest and inform anyone considering what is at stake if the plans and the rig drawings as envisaged could be put up along with the ad.

I still think it is potentially a fantastic opportunity whether for the purist or the “splash, sail in summer and upgrade in winter mentality”,
as a side project for a professional boatbuilder with premises.

Edited to redact an irrelevant observation on old hatch used to cover the mast hole.

 

[Tranona]

It looks lovely but will need an owner who is happy to sink a lot of money and/or time into it.

Best hope might be as a project for a wooden-boat building school. If someone would pay for the hull and materials to finish that might be a way of getting the labour for next to nothing. I think that’s similar to the model the school in Lyme Regis operates?

That is how the boat in question started life. However those days are gone (like the Lowestoft school). The usual deal was that the School did the wood bits and the owner did the fitout. Typically it would take 5 years to get to the fitout stage. That is what it took for the Harrison Butler boat I referred to earlier and it was then moved to Chichester for fitout that took another 10 years - and then not actually finished. The rig was never stepped and the boat was used as a floating man cave.

This boat needs fitout not building so of little interest to somewhere like Lyme Regis which exists to teach skills from lofting to launch using small boat mostly less than 20'. The largest boat they have handled is another HB design of 23' built for HB's daughter and even then it was sold incomplete and fitted out elsewhere. Realistically it needs an owner with the practical skills and money to finish it properly.

I know the broker handling the sale and if I get a chance next week will call in and find out more about it and whether the plans are available for the rig. Rest of the fitout is straightforward - just time and money consuming.

 

[Supertramp]

This isn't about whether the boat is for you, its whether you are suitable for the boat. However you justify it, a wooden boat will need a lot of skill, time and money to sort and maintain. The reward when you have put the time in is a unique vessel that will turn heads and provide a classic sailing experience.

I totally get the appeal but I would only consider it if I had under cover indoor storage for the winter months.

That is good research
Iirc you went to examine the actual boat?
Described as a 29ft Wanderer .

I wonder if the current owner or custodian is reading any of this?

It would surely help to generate wider interest and inform anyone considering what is at stake if the plans and the rig drawings as envisaged could be put up along with the ad.

I still think it is potentially a fantastic opportunity whether for the purist or the “splash, sail in summer and upgrade in winter mentality”,
as a side project for a professional boatbuilder with premises.

Edit: Rereading the advertising blurb, given the stated pedigree, involvement of a local pro boatbuilder , surveyor etc I was a tad ‘eyebrows up’ to see in one of the presentation photos that the laid decking on the companionway hatch Is lifting. Not a biggie, perhaps the ends were not fastened before the school shut up shop, and yet..? Where’s the proper glueing and thus, better have a closer informed look at everything and never take just the words of a third party or agent.

I think the hatch is ok - is it a cover over the mast step hole that looks like a hatch?

 

[Wansworth]

My late father had his freeward hull and deck craned into the garden to fit out ,probably the best option

 

[Blueboatman]

This isn't about whether the boat is for you, its whether you are suitable for the boat. However you justify it, a wooden boat will need a lot of skill, time and money to sort and maintain. The reward when you have put the time in is a unique vessel that will turn heads and provide a classic sailing experience.

I totally get the appeal but I would only consider it if I had under cover indoor storage for the winter months.

I think the hatch is ok - is it a cover over the mast step hole that looks like a hatch?

You are right! My bad, that was sloppy of me looking at the photo on a small screen. In fact I have re-edited my comment to remove my ‘ observation’. Thank you
It would be great to see the rig plans if as and when.

 

[Tranona]

This isn't about whether the boat is for you, its whether you are suitable for the boat. However you justify it, a wooden boat will need a lot of skill, time and money to sort and maintain. The reward when you have put the time in is a unique vessel that will turn heads and provide a classic sailing experience.

I totally get the appeal but I would only consider it if I had under cover indoor storage for the winter months.

I think the hatch is ok - is it a cover over the mast step hole that looks like a hatch?

Not sure about the need for undercover storage. In my experience of owning wooden boats the best place is in the water with a good overall cover, well ventilated. The hull is happier in water rather than propped up and dry. The big problem with wood boats, particularly with lots of brightwork on deck like this one is fresh water and damp. The photos are of my old Eventide which was laid up outside under cover for 8 years before I sold it and all thaat was needed was a good wash down of the teak deck and a rub down and recoat of the Woodskin. the photos were taken in 2019. The current owner has just sent a recent photo and she still looks the same. Mast was refinished then with Cetol and still looks good. The hull is sheathed ply so less susceptible to being out of the water. The Toplac was then about 10 years old and needed only a bit of local touching up.

Once you get on top of the finishing using modern products and protect the boat over the winter keeping it up to scratch is not difficult or time consuming. Pity I am 80 on Sunday and not 70 as I would be sorely tempted by this LG design. A year's hard graft and £50k to get a boat that would cost 4 times that to build . If done properly and kept in the way I described it would give as good service as a new GRP boat.

 

[potentillaCO32]

Wood is clearly one of the worst materials to build a boat from. As soon as it is completed you are fighting the materials natural desire to return itself to a composted state.
All the wooden boat owners in the yard next to my refit spend vastly more time sawing and banging, sistering and scarfing than they ever do sailing.

 

[Tranona]

Wood is clearly one of the worst materials to build a boat from. As soon as it is completed you are fighting the materials natural desire to return itself to a composted state.
All the wooden boat owners in the yard next to my refit spend vastly more time sawing and banging, sistering and scarfing than they ever do sailing.

There are also plenty of wood boats still in use that are cared for. As I explained the problems start when they are let go for a year or 2 particularly if fresh water has got into them. Unfortunately values are so low now that there is little incentive for people to buy them as inevitably most that are for sale are suffering from neglect. What is attractive about this boat is that it seems to be at the start of its life rather than near the end.

 

[doug748]

here

So what does it need before being able to sail?

Spars: Find pre-owned alloy ones or make from timber

Sails: Buy them, new or used. Unless like the owner of the Wanderer class 'Walrus', you can make your own.

Standing rigging: DIY

Running rigging: DIY

Upholstery: DIY

Guardrails: I wouldn't bother with any, apart from maybe a pulpit

Tiller: a nice DIY job

Deck fittings: from boat jumbles, eBay, or Foulkes Chandlery Barge

Instruments: NASA Clipper log and echo sounder, and a cheap VHF, needn't cost much, especially if they could be found second-hand.

Electrics: DIY

Some judicious bargain hunting, and a willingness to travel around the country with a van in pusuit of what you need, and the whole thing could be ready to go in under a year. All the hard work has already been done.

If you're not the sort of person willing to make a bit of an effort to get what you want then this is not the boat for you.

Were I twenty years younger I would be going to have a look at this boat.

Here's the original Wanderer III, built for Eric & Susan Hiscock, launched in 1952 and, I think still in commission.

"Wanderer III": A cruising yacht classic and the 96th degree of longitude

Indeed here is a mast for it:

Pardon our interruption...

Sailing boat's requirements are bottomless but you would struggle to have to spend over 10k on finishing the boat,

.

 

[Wandering Star]

here


Indeed here is a mast for it:

Pardon our interruption...

Sailing boat's requirements are bottomless but you would struggle to have to spend over 10k on finishing the boat,

.

Tea o a has mentioned he’s spoken with the broker and it comes with the mast.

 

[Tranona]

here


Indeed here is a mast for it:

Pardon our interruption...

Sailing boat's requirements are bottomless but you would struggle to have to spend over 10k on finishing the boat,

.

How do you know that mast is suitable for the rig as designed? For example that mast is deck stepped and the boat was designed with a keel stepped mast, it is fractional rig and the boat is masthead. The mast does look nice, though - for the right boat which is probably a day boat.. Suspect you are in a different world with regard to the cost of completing that boat to even a very basic standard.

 

[Poignard]

The easiest solution would be to purchase the drawings of the Wanderer III sailplan and rig from the Laurent Giles Archive*; which sells copies of all the plans for this design. Or the current owner may have obtained them when he acquired the boat from the college.

From those plans, whoever took on this project would know what he was looking for when trying to source his spars.

* Wanderer III – Laurent Giles Archive​

 

[Tranona]

Except as I explained it is not a Wanderer !!! although there are similarities. Pretty sure there is more information available from the broker and I will pop in to see him next week.

 

[doug748]

How do you know that mast is suitable for the rig as designed? For example that mast is deck stepped and the boat was designed with a keel stepped mast, it is fractional rig and the boat is masthead. The mast does look nice, though - for the right boat which is probably a day boat.. Suspect you are in a different world with regard to the cost of completing that boat to even a very basic standard.

Would it really matter if the thing was 10 foot short and came off a Morecambe Bay prawn boat? Perfectionists in house slippers are fine but the point is getting the thing sailing rather than sitting in a boatyard in the hands of dreamers.

You would be doing nothing that could not be undone at a later date and it seems academic anyway as the rig is said to come with it - makes it an even bigger bargain.

.

 

[Blueboatman]

And here it starts to get interesting:

Just to wet the appetite, here are a couple of other Wanderer class for sale/ sold

The first, all teak and with a solid teak deck, shows how lovely theses boats can be, it is also to my mind surprisingly affordable. And ready to go.
Laurent Giles Wanderer Sloop | Classic Wooden Yacht For Sale

And here is a ( sold) example, but built in 1985 by the Lowestoft school too.
For reference only, this one had a deck stepped mast.
Laurent Giles Wanderer wooden sailing yacht For Sale

It would be great if the combined comments and enthusiasm of this thread can ‘ get this one away’ . No boat deserves to sit ashore and suffer when it is as new.

Uncertain economic and political times seem to bring wonderful and rare opportunities like this to market.

 

[Tamar]

It has a nice new? powerful engine. Unfortunately I suspect that the boat will be sold off cheaply in the next year or two for the engine alone.

 

[Poignard]

Would it really matter if the thing was 10 foot short and came off a Morecambe Bay prawn boat? Perfectionists in house slippers are fine but the point is getting the thing sailing rather than sitting in a boatyard in the hands of dreamers.

You would be doing nothing that could not be undone at a later date and it seems academic anyway as the rig is said to come with it - makes it an even bigger bargain.

.

.
It's that 'can't do' attitude that annoys me.

It won't work, it's too risky, it might go wrong, it isn't worth it, I've not been trained, there might be problems, I'm not allowed, we might get sued, &c.

Is it a uniquely British thing?

 

[Blueboatman]

.
It's that 'can't do' attitude that annoys me.

It won't work, it's too risky, it might go wrong, it isn't worth it, I've not been trained, there might be problems, I'm not allowed, we might get sued, &c.

Is it a uniquely British thing?

E X A C T L Y
Don’t forget ‘ it’s out of my comfort zone’ too.
Regrets, there have been a few.
But so what?
Just look at all the wooden boats that have been quietly successfully turned around and go on giving joy

As that old hard adage says . If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re both right!
I think this one is gonna have a happy ending

 

[potentillaCO32]

For all the people on here extolling the virtues of completing this lovely looking wooden boat and talking up can do nonsense, I will wager that not one on here will get their wallet out and take the leap.

I will also, metaphorically, wager that whatever dreamer does end up buying it never gets it to the sea again and it ends up being cut up for the nice new engine.

The boatyard i am in has probably half a dozen wooden yachts that could be refitted but will be cut up jn the next year or so.