Removing the Interior?

[robwilk37]

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

So many wonderful and worthy old boats out there that still have many good sailing years left would end up in the chopper if everyone listened to you guys. There are boats that are good candidates for a simple interior refit, and there are people who are up to the task. Removing and refitting an interior doesn't necessarily mean a redesign. It's possible to just upgrade what is already there, restore to original but better.

I had only basic woodworking and fiberglassing skills and a modest inventory of tools when I did our Bristol interior. No barn or huge workshop. I did most of it by myself while my husband worked on the exterior replacing rotten decks, moving the chainplates outboard, redoing the hull/deck joint and on and on. We also removed the old fixed windows, glassed up the cabin sides and installed stainless steel opening ports. It took less than 2 years. We both worked full time. And we sold it for a good price to the first serious buyer that looked at it because it was beautiful. You can't assume that because it's something YOU wouldn't want to do that it can't or shouldn't be done.

I would caution this OP for one reason only, and that is because he felt the need to come here to the forum to ask whether or not he should do it. A person who is serious about it, who is committed to the idea (which you definitely need to be to undertake this type of project), and who is confident in his ability to do it wouldn't need to come ask you guys and wouldn't pay any attention to you if you told them they were crazy. They'd be too focused and busy working on their boat to give a rat what any of you think.

+1, and cheers to you...

[Terra Nova]

They rarely do think of resale--that's why I'm pointing it out. The dream is forever. And this is the one and only boat, never to be sold.

[oldragbaggers]

I should clarify on my earlier post. When I said we both worked full time I meant that we had full time jobs, not that we worked on the boat full time.

[crazyoldboatguy]

oldragbaggers,

+1 in spades

[Matt Johnson]

Here is the best blog I have seen on what it takes to rebuild a boat. These are the daily logs from a boat building professional rebuilding his own boat.

The Motorsailer Project | Project Logs