1912 Huon Pine Timber Sail Motor Boat

[Kokonut]

Hello all, this is my first (of possibly many more) posts.

I have recently acquired a timber boat with inherent problems that obviously surface with age and some neglect from the previous owner.

Looking at the wood degradation, I believe it would cost a fortune to have the hull repaired. It looks like the anodes has caused parts of the timber to crumble into corn-flakes.The stern knee and shaft log either need filling or replacement. Some of the planking are not fastened to the frame.

This is my first timber boat.
I wanted to check in, and hear what peoples views are in fibre-glassing from the water line and below.

[Fore and Aft]

Start your chainsaw Kokonut, it sounds like she is hardly worth fixing. To fibreglass below the waterline you need to completely dry out the hull, strip all the paint off, then spline those seams and then finally glass her. Then fill and fair and put on the appropriate paint system. The fibreglass will do absolutely nothing to put structural strength into a hull that is so badly degraded. First you need to replace all the soft spots and replace all the hull fastenings by the sound of it. As for price just work out roughly your square meter area below the waterline and ring around for some quotes on epoxy, filler and fibreglass cloth. As for labour, how long is a piece of string not to mention handstand fees while you do the whole project. Not even knowing the size of your vessel I would guess $50,000 including labour might be a good starting point. I have seen this amount spent on Couta boats.
Where is GordMay?
Cheers

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, KoKonut, and I am sorry that the first reply rightfully is negative.

A local couple went the same route, and now their dream is sitting on blocks rotting away. It's very sad - they are really nice people, and worked really hard to restore it. Save your money and buy something that won't break you. Be sure the hull and drive train are sound, and put your effort into the top, not the bottom.

Best wishes,
--Tim.

[Sailmonkey]

Simply put, glass over rotten wood will typically cause the wood to rot faster and the glass to fall off.

[SteveSails]

So far what you have been told about fiberglassing a rotting boat is all too true. So now what? First more details on the boat please, and where in the world are you?

Not many boats left in any condition from 1912, is there a local maritime museum that would accept a donation?

[skipmac]

Paying a professional to repair or restore a wooden boat is only for the rich. Unless you have deep pockets you need to fix it yourself or get rid of it the best way you can and write it off to experience.

[tkeithlu]

KoKonut, you might consider another option. If you are interested in doing a renovation, and have invested in this boat only to be told that it's not a good bet:

Find a good hull, perhaps a fishing boat, that doesn't have what you want inside. Park it beside your present boat. Stip the parts you don't want. Start transferring, until you have one boat out of two.

Historians occasionally get tripped thinking a 1700's RN ship lasted 80 years. Nope. When it did what yours has done, they pulled it up beside an identical keel and started building. Everything sound from the old ship went into the new ship, including the name.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Kokonut

Hello all, this is my first (of possibly many more) posts.

I have recently acquired a timber boat with inherent problems that obviously surface with age and some neglect from the previous owner.

Looking at the wood degradation, I believe it would cost a fortune to have the hull repaired. It looks like the anodes has caused parts of the timber to crumble into corn-flakes.The stern knee and shaft log either need filling or replacement. Some of the planking are not fastened to the frame.

This is my first timber boat.
I wanted to check in, and hear what peoples views are in fibre-glassing from the water line and below.

Burn it!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

Simply put, glass over rotten wood will typically cause the wood to rot faster and the glass to fall off.

The only reason I could conceive for glassing over that hull, would be to flip it upside down and use it as a plug to be ripped out later. Not a project for a shoe string budget since it is basically building a boat.

[Frank 101]

Hi Coconut,
We’ve recently come back from Tassie where we learnt a lot about Huon Pine. One of the things is that it lasts for many hundreds of years. It lies in the forests forever (almost). I don’t know how it holds up in salt water though, but maybe it isn’t Huon Pine. I did a tour of the timber boat place on the Huon River and they had a couple of projects on the go. It may be worthwhile getting in touch (sorry, I can’t remember the name of the village but someone else on here will know the right name and location). Best of luck with it though.

[coastalexplorer]

Kokonut I write to respectfully suggest that from a stand point of personal education.
It could be helpful for you to look at the work of Leo Sampson Goolden from Falmouth, Devon, England.



Who has been working away for virtually two years in Sequim, Washington State, USA. Restoring/rebuilding an English yacht named Tally HO.

Desined by Albert Strange. and originally built at Shoreham-by-Sea, west Sussex, UK. in 1910.


Leo. Obviously had already acquired the trade skills necessary prior to starting, and I doubt He would be very offended IF I suggest that the process has caused him to improve on them.


Leo has documented his work with 56 Video's thus far, each one of approximately 20 minutes duration. these video's are available on U Tube.


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-_lYeV8hBnDSay7nmphUA


In theory a traditional wooden boat CAN be reconstructed forever as long as trees of sufficient dimension exist. men with the trade skills exist, and an owner with unlimited quantities of money is prepared to pay for the emotional decision.


Beyond this all other advice concerning low tech botch jobs does apply

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Frank 101

Hi Coconut,
We’ve recently come back from Tassie where we learnt a lot about Huon Pine. One of the things is that it lasts for many hundreds of years. It lies in the forests forever (almost). I don’t know how it holds up in salt water though, but maybe it isn’t Huon Pine. I did a tour of the timber boat place on the Huon River and they had a couple of projects on the go. It may be worthwhile getting in touch (sorry, I can’t remember the name of the village but someone else on here will know the right name and location). Best of luck with it though.

Franklin 43.05S 147.01E population ~330.

[Hardhead]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

KoKonut, you might consider another option. If you are interested in doing a renovation, and have invested in this boat only to be told that it's not a good bet:

Find a good hull, perhaps a fishing boat, that doesn't have what you want inside. Park it beside your present boat. Stip the parts you don't want. Start transferring, until you have one boat out of two.

Historians occasionally get tripped thinking a 1700's RN ship lasted 80 years. Nope. When it did what yours has done, they pulled it up beside an identical keel and started building. Everything sound from the old ship went into the new ship, including the name.

That's a neat idea. Depending upon the unique features of the timber boat - you might be able to transfer a lot of accent pieces, and pay homage to the old girl with some trim, etc. Any good wood left can be re-worked into some other projects.

As a matter of fact - I'd like to transfer to a younger body too.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Kokonut

Hello all, this is my first (of possibly many more) posts.

I have recently acquired a timber boat with inherent problems that obviously surface with age and some neglect from the previous owner.

Looking at the wood degradation, I believe it would cost a fortune to have the hull repaired. It looks like the anodes has caused parts of the timber to crumble into corn-flakes.The stern knee and shaft log either need filling or replacement. Some of the planking are not fastened to the frame.

This is my first timber boat.
I wanted to check in, and hear what peoples views are in fibre-glassing from the water line and below.

Welcome aboard CF, Kokonut.

To answer your question first, fibreglassing a traditional carvel hull doesn't so much extend the life of the hull, rather it extends the death of the hull. Sort of stretches out the dying process and allows for a few more moments of life but when the end comes, the fibreglass will ensure the death is final whereas as repairing it in the traditional way gives the boat essentially a never ending life.

You haven't given us much background so the following in based on some assumptions - you "acquired" the boat at little or no dollars, you are somewhere in southern Australia, the boat is around the 30' mark, you want to use the boat recreationally on inshore or nearby waters in settled weather, you don't want to venture far into the southern ocean or do a circumnavigation and you don't have a bottomless wallet.

If the above is reasonably close, then you might well be able to do enough repairs to keep it structurally sound enough to use the boat for your needs. Sure, it won't be off-shore cruiser but you could get a lot of pleasure from owning your first wooden boat.

And if it doesn't have a great historical value or interesting provenance, maybe glassing it will be a quick (and dirty) fix and give you some time on the water.

Or scrap it and recycle the Huon pine; I'm sure you know it's value as a recycled timber.

Whatever you do, I wish you the best in your endeavours - timber boats do get under your skin

BTW, as others have alluded to, there is nothing more expensive than a free boat

[Fore and Aft]

No word from Kokonut yet, I wonder if he has just realised that he has purchased someones nightmare and now he has to dispose of her?
Cheers