New Project - Advice needed

Hi

I'm new to boat restoring and new to this forum, and am thinking of starting a new project. Having not had much experience in boat reparing, I would be very glad of some advice from people that know what they are doing:

I am thinking of buying a 28' whaler. It needs new gunwales, flooring and rudder, but apart from that needs a good bit of cleaning up and painting. It has a working (Lister) inboard and transmission, and a sound fibreglass hull.

The boat is on the market for ?1500 (about $2500), and I would be prepared to spend up to $2000. I would love any advice about how doable people think this project should be (I'm planning for about 2-3 months solid work).

Many thanks,

James

Re: New Project - Advice needed

Are you sure you posted the right pic's? If so then I would stay far away from that restore. Not trying to be rude but I think you can find something a lot better for that price.

Re: New Project - Advice needed

That looks like a classic hull in the pics... probably would look right vintage if you fixed it up nicely.

For an oceangoing boat it doesn't look too bad. I'd say 28' is a big first restore project, but they don't come a lot smaller than that for real ocean use.

Given what you've listed as needing repair, the odds are good that the entire internal structure of the boat will need work or replacement. That's not unusual in any boat that's not relatively new. For a boat that size you're probably going to need about $3000 in materials and tools to do it properly.

Make sure you see the inboard demonstrated as running, run a compression test on the engine if you can, listen to the transmission to see if it's got any funny noises indicating bearing or gear problems.

2-3 months of full time, morning to night work would probably be about right. If you're planning a few hours each evening, this could easily stretch out to a full 6 months. Sometimes you have to take breaks to let things harden or cure, or to buy more supplies, etc. Everything takes longer than you think, and unless you're full time on it, sometimes you just don't feel like boat work. Don't put yourself on a hard deadline if you can avoid it, just enjoy restoring it.

Whether this is the right boat for you depends on what you're going to use it for. This one would look very interesting, would probably sail the ocean in moderate waves, and would likely be fuel efficient. But it won't be terribly easy to steer having only a single prop and rudder, nor will it have a backup drive mechanism, so don't go out too far. Are you planning on fishing from it, short trips to ports, ???

Erik

Re: New Project - Advice needed

I would lean towards what keepNitreel said..

Your going to find alot more to fix then you first think m8 ( like the keel for instance ).

YD.

Re: New Project - Advice needed

Poke around beneath the floor with a screwdriver, look for soft wood.
I'd love a project like that, if the motor checks out ok.
Needs a a big harpoon on the bow.

Re: New Project - Advice needed

Thanks for all the constructive advice. I think this may just be a project too far for me - I'll look for something more manageable!
James