1987 Kanter Atlantic 45

[atlantic high]

Just bought a 1987 Kanter Atlantic 45 with a volvo penta TMD 30 A, I have read this builder is excellent, but I have no reference to this. This is a steel boat that is in excellent condition but has a few holes in the bottom where water dripped for years, (lack of maintence). The rest of the bottom looks excellent inside and out. I have been told to take out the floor inside the boat and cut out the 3/16 inch metal plate and remove rust holes and replace the plate, then sand blast and paint. Also when the floor is out should I cut out the water tanks and replace them with stainless steel tanks? Is this the best method or should I just patch it from the outside. To cut these bad spots out I have to pull out the hole floor inside the boat, big job. Also the deck is teak, it looks great and is not leaking, but I have been told this could be a big problem in the future becouse of a potential leak, can I lay two layers of 12 ounce cloth with west system over the teak and paint, I really don't want to pull this teak off the boat and I don't want hot steel decks, what do you think? This boat is going to be a big project but from what I hear about the builder (Kanter) it should be worth it. I also looked at the BUC book and its saying this boat is selling for around 185,000 to 200,000. If I can keep the cost of repairs under 100,000 will this be a high quality boat or becouse its steel will it be nothing in 10 yrs? Right now I'm just a little overwhelmed, any advice on restoring this vessel would be great. I need all the help I can get. I,m an 18 yr liveaboard, so I love the water and boats, I really want this to be my retirement home. I just hope its worth it. I'm a little concerned about the motor (TMD 30 A/90 hp) also, I've heard bad things about volvo penta, I can't find much info on this either. My main goal is to get the boat restored without spending more than its worth. I want to do 90% of the work myself. I need some good advice. thankyou... Atlantic High

[bob kingsland]

Atlantic, Kanter has a decent rep as a metal boat builder, although I think now almost all they do is aluminum. I have a friend locally who had a custom 50+' hull built in aluminum by them 3-4 years ago; he was so unhappy with the process that as soon as the hull was moveable he got it out of there and is finishing it himself... but he's pretty picky.

Definitely remove the floor and cut out the bad spots, welding new plate in from both sides, flush with the outside surface. Patching is not good practice, as the interface between the 2 layers will continue to rust... you can't paint it.

If the teak decks were fastened with screws from underneath, then best to remove them... the deck will rust eventually otherwise, since it's full of holes and you can't get paint on it. If the teak was fastened with epoxy, without screws through the steel deck, then probably leave it alone until you know you have problems. Likewise, a couple of coats of glass over the teak will just be covering up an eventual trouble spot. There's no reason why painted steel decks have to be hot... a light color reflects, and my painted decks are much cooler than my teak cockpit sole.

Water tanks depend on how they were built, and whether or not their interiors are accessible. But new stainless tanks placed in the existing space won't give you access to the steel beneath, and so might create more trouble than they're worth.

With the problems solved, you'll have a strong and rugged boat, but I doubt in this market you'd approach $200,000 in value, unless you do a complete refit from top to bottom, including mast, standing and running rigging, sails, winches, all systems, and of course the structural work. Even then $200,000 is probably pushing it. But at the same time there's no reason why the boat should be worth nothing in 10 years; steel will go indefinitely if you just keep paint on it. Hope this helps,

Best, Bob S/V Restless

[lambchop27]

Do you still have this boat? I was just wondering. We used to have the same make/model and same year. We had it on the Chesapeake Bay, but sold it to someone who was, I believe, taking it to the Great Lakes. We sold it back around the late 90's. That boat took me and my family to Ireland, the Med, the Caribbean and eventually back to Virginia.