Rebuilt From a Gutted Hull--and Voyaging.

[stone0302]

Some people argue gutting and rebuildinghttps://youtu.be/u7FdROltzPw a boat is a fools errand. Many times it is but sometimes not. Some ideas on how to be successful.


https://youtu.be/u7FdROltzPw

[tkeithlu]

Thank you for posting this.

[MicHughV]

I'm not sure about this.

Back in the late 70's I started building my own boat from scratch.
During this period, I got to know several other's also building a boat from scratch.
Additionally, I got to know several people that had bought an older boat, had gutted it and were intent on rebuilding it.

Those that started from scratch all managed to get their craft to the water, none of those in rebuilding a boat did.

My takeaway from this is that the hull and deck represent only about 10% of the effort in building your own boat, the other 90% is all the other stuff.

But when rebuilding an older boat, you will first have to undo, fix, patch and repair countless things before you can even start with the interior, etc.

Not to say it can't be done by a dedicated builder, but it is the more time consuming of the two options.

Just my 2c.....

[5BTM]

Inspiring.

[stone0302]

@MicHughV--True some of the time for some people. Wasn't for me or many of the people I know who have done it. Building a mold for a FG boat and deck and laying it up would take a lot more than 10 percent of the time. More like 30 to 50 percent.

There is no one way...just the way that works. You either succeed or you don't.

Those that don't make it quit. If you are a quitter, it doesn't matter how you attempt it. You'll fail. If it was easy anyone could do it. But this way worked well for me.

[MicHughV]

True...I chose to build my boat out of steel as it did not require a shed to build it under.

But at the time, I barely knew which end of a hammer to hold and had never welded in my life, but I plugged away at it. Got to know folks building wood, fiberglass, concrete, etc.

Youtube was not available in my day, but I did write a book about my building adventures.
PM me if you are interested in reading it and I'll direct you to where you can find it.

I have great respect and admiration for those that accomplish such a project. I had a blast building mine. Hope you get to enjoy yours as much as I did mine.

[stone0302]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

True...I chose to build my boat out of steel as it did not require a shed to build it under.

But at the time, I barely knew which end of a hammer to hold and had never welded in my life, but I plugged away at it. Got to know folks building wood, fiberglass, concrete, etc.

Youtube was not available in my day, but I did write a book about my building adventures.
PM me if you are interested in reading it and I'll direct you to where you can find it.

I have great respect and admiration for those that accomplish such a project. I had a blast building mine. Hope you get to enjoy yours as much as I did mine.

Outstanding. Same experience building as you. Have since sailed her about 11,000 offshore miles with many more to come.

[Chotu]

I think it depends on just how much you have to remove from the old boat before you consider it finished.

when we say gut a boat, that could mean a lot of different things.

that could mean replacing bulkheads. Rudder bearings. every bit of electrical and plumbing.

or it could mean just making the inside look nice again.

so I think it really depends on what you are replacing.

if you have to replace everything in a boat it’s much easier to just build one from scratch. Plus you end up with a nicer boat.

but if the idea of gutting a boat really is just refinishing the interior, then that’s of course much faster

[stone0302]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I think it depends on just how much you have to remove from the old boat before you consider it finished.

when we say gut a boat, that could mean a lot of different things.

that could mean replacing bulkheads. Rudder bearings. every bit of electrical and plumbing.

or it could mean just making the inside look nice again.

so I think it really depends on what you are replacing.

if you have to replace everything in a boat it’s much easier to just build one from scratch. Plus you end up with a nicer boat.

but if the idea of gutting a boat really is just refinishing the interior, then that’s of course much faster

Making it look nice is not gutting a boat. I gut my boat. Not a fastener left in it. Not a piece of wood or hardware left attached to it (except for about half the bulkheads since I would have only put those back where they were originally. So that's what I mean for my boat. It was rebuilt from an absolute bare hull and deck. Building it new from scratch meaning to build a hull and deck mold and layup a new hull and deck overs those molds would have taken far longer and cost far more due to the increased cost of the raw materials.

There are other ways to tackle a project and get the boat you want. A minor rebuild is more akin to a refit than a rebuild. This video was shared to show what my effort looked like. Yours can be different.

Completing a project like this from a newly laid up bare hull and deck that you bought then finished would be a bit faster but cost more.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by stone0302

Making it look nice is not gutting a boat. I gut my boat. Not a fastener left in it. Not a piece of wood or hardware left attached to it (except for about half the bulkheads since I would have only put those back where they were originally. So that's what I mean for my boat. It was rebuilt from an absolute bare hull and deck. Building it new from scratch meaning to build a hull and deck mold and layup a new hull and deck overs those molds would have taken far longer and cost far more due to the increased cost of the raw materials.

There are other ways to tackle a project and get the boat you want. A minor rebuild is more akin to a refit than a rebuild. This video was shared to show what my effort looked like. Yours can be different.

Completing a project like this from a newly laid up bare hull and deck that you bought then finished would be a bit faster but cost more.

I disagree.

it takes a long time to take everything out of the boat carefully.

and you don’t necessarily have to use a mold to build a boat. It’s not necessary.

you can do a kind of strip planking in whatever material you are using over the actual bulkheads as forms.

[stone0302]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I disagree.

it takes a long time to take everything out of the boat carefully.

and you don’t necessarily have to use a mold to build a boat. It’s not necessary.

you can do a kind of strip planking in whatever material you are using over the actual bulkheads as forms.

It took little time to gut. I saved nothing but the portlights and the rudder. We tossed everything worse. If you build a cold molded boat you don't have a solid glass hull or deck, which is what we wanted. Nothing wrong a cold molded hull. It's a different kind of build though.

Why don't you share your project. Would be interested to see how you did it and were you happen with the results. That's ultimately what is important.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by stone0302

It took little time to gut. I saved nothing but the portlights and the rudder. We tossed everything worse. If you build a cold molded boat you don't have a solid glass hull or deck, which is what we wanted. Nothing wrong a cold molded hull. It's a different kind of build though.

Why don't you share your project. Would be interested to see how you did it and were you happen with the results. That's ultimately what is important.

but exactly how much time did it take to gut? and what size boat is it?

Then we are talking apples to apples. Then we can make a true comparison about how long it takes to lay up a hull of the same size and complexity

Solid glass hull and deck. I guess each has their own list of Wants. That’s why we all build our own. Because they don’t exist otherwise. At least not for less than $1.5mil for my case.

So, in your case that does make more sense. But only now that you revealed that you have solid glass hull and deck as a criteria. that wasn’t part of the conversation up thread.

I would agree with you if you are building strictly from laminating layer after layer of fiberglass without a core that you certainly need a mold. And making that mold will take time.

For performance reasons, most modern boats are built cored. this lends itself to not building a mold if you don’t want to. You can strip plank the foam over your premade flat panel bulkheads and then glass it. And that would be faster than gutting a boat.

Plus you could end up with a modern design and a new boat.

my boat? It’s vacuum resin infused using a female form out of corecell and epoxy. The female form went up pretty quick because it’s just a bunch of stations cut out of plywood with 1 x 2s running between them to create the fore/aft curves. Bulkheads were made on a flat table and also infused. Then you tape things together using narrow strips of glass. You tape the bulkheads in place, etc.

if you are curious what it looks like just google a gunboat 48. It’s the same thing. I completely ripped off all the lines from that boat and mine weighs less. The thing about gunboats is they are for fancy people. So there’s a lot of weight in them due to all of the fancy looking stuff.

[MicHughV]

just for s**ts and giggles, I rumaged thru' some of my pics...
#12 making a hull template....I used thin pieces of wood to outline the shape of the hull to use in cutting the steel plate
#14, my homemade crane, I had to come up with all sorts of gadgets to assist in placing the steel plates on the hull
#11 flipping the hull....probably one of my favorite pics. Seeing the hull like this, making me think, oh lordy....this thing is big.
#15, the ladder....hull is upright now, I don't know how many times I went up and down that ladder....a million ??

It took me about 9 months to build the hull and deck, and a little over two years to finish it out and splash it, but I was continually doing something to it for a number of years..

[Chotu]

What ever happened to this boat??

It’s absolutely amazing that you have these pictures. So cool when you post these things.

I didn’t stop to take very many pictures.

I have about maybe two pictures? Lol

[stone0302]

Originally Posted by Chotu

but exactly how much time did it take to gut? and what size boat is it?

Then we are talking apples to apples. Then we can make a true comparison about how long it takes to lay up a hull of the same size and complexity

Solid glass hull and deck. I guess each has their own list of Wants. That’s why we all build our own. Because they don’t exist otherwise. At least not for less than $2mil for my case.

So, in your case that does make more sense. But only now that you revealed that you have solid glass hull and deck as a criteria. that wasn’t part of the conversation up thread.

most modern boats are built cored. this lends itself to not building a mold if you don’t want to. You can strip plank the foam over your premade flat panel bulkheads and then glass it. And that would be faster than gutting a boat.

Plus you could end up with a modern design and a new boat.

my boat? It’s vacuum resin infused using a female form out of corecell and epoxy. The female form went up pretty quick because it’s just a bunch of stations cut out of plywood with 1 x 2s running between them to create the fore/aft curves. Bulkheads were made on a flat table and also infused. Then you tape things together using narrow strips of glass. You tape the bulkheads in place, etc.

if you are curious what it looks like just google a gunboat 48. It’s the same thing. I completely ripped off all the lines from that boat and mine weighs less. The thing about gunboats is they are for fancy people. So there’s a lot of weight in them due to all of the fancy looking stuff.

Unless I am missing something this was a thread I started with a video I posted about my rebuild. Everything you need to know is there.

From your comments it looks like you started commenting without watching the video. So start there. Then let's have a discussion. Or start your own thread about your build.