Is there hope for this boat?

Hey everyone I am new to this site and new to wooden boat building.  I was planning on building a boat but found this boat for a few hundred and took a chance on restoring it.  I thought it was probably water tight but have only found this one spot that was all molded out.  Is there any hope for restoring this boat and making it float again?  This is my first rodeo with the wooden boats so I figured I would post here to see if this is even worth my time as I would like to put some time into this to get it fixed up but don't have any idea if it is possible.  Any thoughts from you seasoned pros?

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on March 28, 2012 at 5:31am

Jon:  While I am "seasoned"-but not a pro - it might be more of a task to overhaul/rebuild this boat.  Looks like you will need atleast a few frames, side and bottom,chines and whatever else you find when pulling it apart.  Before you start to tear it apart using a pocket knife or ice pick check for softness in all the frames and bottom .  There may be more "soft" spots covered with paint. Looks like it was stored outside and water accumulated in the lowest part of the boat causing the rot.

If you got the trailer along with the boat that might be the best value.   Others with more experience- D. Hanson, Randy, A.J. etc that have been down this road will have better advice.  Its like our 100 year old cottage.  Replacing a window pane uncovers a rotted frame, and then the sill and trim boards and then the 2x4 studs alongside etc.  It might be a "bottomless pit". 

Good Luck

 

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on March 28, 2012 at 6:41am

Jon, with the right amount of time, money and effort you will be able to get some of the parts of this boat to float again. It's just a matter of who much of each you want to contribute. I started into wooden boats in exactly the same way as you. Take a look at my page here and peruse the photo's there. I did purchase a trailer too. Well sort of, as it came from the Oregon Coast where salt water and metal meet to form rust.

However all is not lost if you are serious about experiencing a drift boat. Order a copy of Roger Fletcher's Drift Boats and River Dories from www.riverstouch.com .

Lawrence is absolutely correct in the his advice for the next step. Attempt to discover what wood is still solid and what isn't. It appears that your boat was stored with the rotted area at the lowest point so water could collect. Which means that the wood on the opposite side might be better.

Next use the search function at the top of the site and look for AJ, Kevin, Randy Dersham, Don Hanson or patching my boat. You will find a large collection of posts on the subject. All the repairs or replacement of parts can be done, you will have do determine how badly you want to save this boat.

After that report back and share your questions with us. There are almost 1,000 members, all with something to contribute.

Rick Newman

PS I have a set of floor boards and seats from my first boat, they still need a boat!

Permalink Reply by Jeff Peak on March 28, 2012 at 6:51am

I think if this is the only soft spot on the boat, then yes, salvagable for sure.  If there is a lot more rot, maybe not.  I did a similar resto a year or two back (see pics on my page)...lots of epoxy and fiberglass, and the boat is on the river again.

http://www.woodenboatpeople.com/profiles/blogs/not-too-far-gone?xg_...

 

Permalink Reply by Jon Darrohn on March 28, 2012 at 7:23am
Thanks guys, I'm pretty sure this is the only real soft spot. I should note that the whole bottom is covered in rhino lining bed liner and it looks like two sheets of plywood. Any thoughts about taking the bottom off and putting a fresh one in or possibly just replacing the bottom layer of plywood? The rhino liner sure makes it difficult to do anything with the bottom.
Permalink Reply by Kevin C. on March 29, 2012 at 8:35am

my first thought was to remove the entire bottom ,replace the chines,lap joint a new piece in the hull and stick it all back together..this way you know exactly what the condition of the entire bottom is.On second thought and without seeing the whole boat to know it's condition,it looks as though from these pic's a repair on just those damaged parts could be possible.Cut out the side panel around the damage and lap joint a piece in.Do the same with the bottom.When these are epxied in cut out the damaged chine area and replace with 5200 as a sealant.Any damage to frames can be treated the same way by removing the least amount of frame and scarfing in a new piece.I figure if a boat is 80% still sound it's worth restoring,as long as you don't mind a working boat as opposed to a masterpiece.What year and builder is it?

Permalink Reply by Jon Darrohn on March 29, 2012 at 8:42am

Well, I kept picking at it and because it had the bed liner on the bottom I decided to take the bottom off to get a good idea of what was under there.  It has double ply wood and I have just started taking the first piece off.  I think the second piece of plywood looks pretty good (except for the hole in the front obviously) and is still attached pretty tight to the boa.  I guess my thinking is I'm going to see if I can get this thing to float before I start messing with everything else.  So I guess for my maiden voyage I'll have to do at least a partial bottom replacement and all so the lap joints and chines.

Permalink Reply by Jon Darrohn on April 2, 2012 at 10:01pm

So we ended up taking the bottom layer of plywood off of the bottom of the boat and we have cut out all the molded area around this hole and will start replacing this pieces this week.  I'm thinking we should be able to save this boat, but we will find out soon enough.

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