I’m thinking of taking on a new project but I have no experience with boats, I usually only restore wooden tables and the such. I have plenty of time to learn and work on it but I want to make sure I can afford it first.
The boat I’m looking at is weathered and completely stripped, no motor or anything mechanical or functional, basically just the bare wood.
=== My dad had a wooden boat and it was lots of fun and varnish ==== you should start with filling the bottom of the boat with water to se where it is going to leak . . . all wood hulls seep some water . . . then dry it out and start to work on those problem areas . . . if you are good at the woodworking hobby then you will do just fine with the boat works . . the motor rating of about 50hp will be a factor in the strength of the transom — you may consider a diamond-faced 1/4 aluminum plate that will add strength to the transom — something like that as I may not know the condition of the wood — it is a very nice looking pleasure craft and may work well with a light weight skier or a tube — all boater enjoy looking at a boat from the past and they were a thing of craftsmanship and beauty . . . you will have to add the price of the motor to about $2,500. 00 in wood paint seats and hardware . . . please start a search at “”Y!”" < Lyman 17 foot boat > and you can catch the results and some photos of other Lyman boats that are for sale . . It is a very stable boat and I actually rode in one when I was a kid — ahhh ! memories — you will be proud when finished . . . some dealers have older boat mechanics that never throw away the old hardware and some may be available on ebay. The original hardware was brass and had a superior chrome plating and I suggest that you go to those older guys (( the boss wants you to buy new stuff )) and talk about your options and see if they have some stuff you can use for the boat . . . . happy boating . . take photos of now & progress.
Why worry about cost, just do it. Contact Edgecomb Boats in ME and they may be able to give you some idea of the potential cost.
how long is a ball of string?
It depends on so many things. For one, the intended (now or at a later date to be decided as you go) ‘restoration’ objective.
Restoration can mean many things. Usually at least, to restore it to the condition it was in as new, using the same materials as then. In furniture restoration, certainly antique furniture anyway, even this definition is too harsh: all you really do is ensure a piece is ‘whole’ and solid again – ‘tidy it up’. If it has scratches or stains and so forth, you leave them be.
In boat restoration this is almost always greatly exceeded because of the advances in materials used in the trade: Why restore a boat to a condition that will need heavy maintenance as it did when new, when you can greatly reduce this by upping the specification to a modern, low maintenance one?
And then there is the same consideration but with regard to the standard and the extent of work to be done.
At one end of the scale you might ‘restore’ a 17′ boat in four weeks at a cost of a couple of hundred pounds. Then do it again in a couple of years!
At the other end of the scale, maybe fifteen years of your spare time and many thousands of pounds.
If part of the intention for considering it in the first place is to learn some new skills, then I recommend you take the quickest option: Weeks not years, traditional materials more than anything more hi-tech. (Although things like adhesives and sealants can of course be modern).
Boatbuilding materials and resources are expensive and whatever anyone tells you to the contrary invariably require well organised, high standard working conditions involving dry, warm and insulated workshops to get the very best out of them. Large sums of money and expenditure of time can be involved in learning. And if you set long-term standards you will find that your specification keeps getting higher as your knowledge and skills progress – not altogether convenient during the same project – presenting problems where you change from one ’system’ to another.
Get it in the water. The same season you buy it. That’s best.
You will have a lot of fun and also get some early boating in!
And if the boat is riddled with rotten bits, particularly things like internal longitudinals, probably leave it alone. (Though everything’s restorable ultimately, given enough time, money and passion).
So tidy it up, get a coat of paint on it, inside and out and get it up on the slip!
And my sincere best wishes.
(I’ve restored lots of boats and antique furniture as well!)
But to answer the question! To restore something like the one shown here, which is a very classic craft indeed for which only total authentic restoration is appropriate really, involving individual restoration of every last fitting; integration of the most modern boatbuilding materials, and almost inevitably (restoration of) an authentic engine from the same period etc. at:
http://www. antiqueboat. com/boatdetails/delu17L. aspx
. . . I would estimate would take about 10 to 15 years of spare time and around £25,000 ($40,000).
(And note, for the record, this one is asking $11,500)
But very interesting and satisfying. (Get back to me in fifteen years and tell me I’m wrong!
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