Boat Restoration--The Ugly Truth

[commanderpete]

I've spent every spare minute of the last three months fixing up my boat. I think the work is awful.

Boat restoration is hard, nasty, time consuming, tedious and frustrating. The chemicals are foul. The materials are expensive.

Everybody knows it makes no economic sense anyway. If you sell the boat, you'll be lucky to get back the cost of the materials. Forget about the hours of labor. It's easy to blow half a day completing what seemed like a "ten minute job."

Let's face it. In order to get good results in a restoration project you have to be very handy and/or very anal. You expect perfect results after all that research and prep work. You don't get perfection. Not likely on your first effort. But if you don't try, you won't even get very good.

I wish I could hire a guy named "Sven" who would do the work properly and not rob me too much. I would probably put his kid through college. You don't find guys like that around here. Instead, you have boatyard workers who don't like or understand sailboats. You wan't something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Of course there are benefits. A sense of pride and accomplishment. You acquire skills. You know your boat. When you sail past some piece of crap production boat they can't help but gawk open-mouthed at a true American classic.

But, it doesn't come easy. The boat is surely a jealous mistress.

I'm sure I'll feel differently when I'm finally out there sailing and all this work is a distant memory.

Would I do it all again? Sure. In 5 or 10 years I'll probably have to.

[commanderpete]

Sorry for the rant.

Now that I can see how well the job came out I know that it was worth it.

What do you think?

[Bill]

Ah, not bad . . :>

[Janice Collins]

Trust me....Hire Sven!!

[Theis]

When you get done having spent doing all those neat things the fourth time because they did not work out as planned the first three times (or you have forgotten how many times it was you tried to correct the problem), and when the boat is ready to put in the water, then you'll face that terrible dilemna:

Will you enjoy sailing as much as you enjoyed restoration work?

[commanderpete]

This photo nicely shows the quality of my workmanship.

Can't argue with results.

[Bill]

No denying that  . . .;p

[Janice Collins]

Hopefully, the neuro damage from all those nasty chemicals will be reversible with time......

Now, let's see the real deal.  Aren't you in the water yet???

[commanderpete]

Yes, I'm back on the water.

I made a few structural modifications to the boat. I wanted some more interior volume, so I added a dormer.

Nice lines, huh?

[Theis]

Could you tell us about any problems you encountered putting in the twin diesels and the bow thruster?  Advice and comments would be appreciated.

[Mike Goodwin]

Looks like a Winnabago sloop to me!

[commanderpete]

Who needs diesels or bow thrusters? This baby will never leave the dock.

You have to admit, a classic design will never go out of style.

[Theis]

If all you are using the boat for is to dry togas and loin cloths, I guess a motor is unnecessary.  What about installing a washing machine and a dryer instead.

[S.Airing]

Relaunching Sirocco after adding 2 decks to try and keep up with Commander Pete.

[Theis]

I assume that thing with the wheels attached to the boat is so you could drive it over to the local bar if the weather turned bad.  right?  Neat idea.  Shouldn't you think about raising the boot top stripe a few feet.