Restoration or new build

Hi all I have a few questions for you.  I have been wanting to start a new build on the Rogue Dory in Rogers book for a couple years now.  Recently I ran across a Rogue River Special and trailer for a couple hundred bucks.  It is a bit smaller than the Dory in the book but the 16ft length would suit me better anyways.  This RRS needs some repairs and love. It looks like it was a homemade boat and the tag says 1973 on it so does have some age. At the minimum it has one chine log rotted through and the chine log and will need to scarf a piece of ply at the same spot on the side panel.  The frame at that spot will also need replaced.  The bottom has a hole where they damaged it and didn't fix the glass on the bottom so rotted, rest of the bottom seems solid.  I would want to replace the gunwales on this boat, and replace a few of the other frames just for asthetic reasons.

Opinions on if this boat is worth saving or should I start over?  How hard would it be to build new of this boat as a model?  What would be the easiest way to get the dimensions for the side panels?  I would probably care a bit more if this was an actual Briggs built boat but it isn't.  Its not in horrible condition but some of the wood work ie chine log notches on the frames or sloppy.  I do like the design of the boat though and would want to replicate if I can.  Opinions.  I will try to get some pictures tomorrow if I can.  Thanks.  Thomas 

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on October 5, 2012 at 12:15pm

thomas, you might be lucky and find that they are silicon bronze! Then no worries like Don says.

Rick

Permalink Reply by Andrew on October 5, 2012 at 12:34pm

Good Idea Rick, essentially what you are talking about is making an plug cutter to take out the old screws in a plug and fill it with new wood when your'e done.  

I got lucky and the guy who built the boat I restored did not use nearly as many screws as one should when building a boat and they were easy to remove. 

A

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on October 5, 2012 at 2:42pm

Get it seaworthy on the cheap, take it for a few trips and decide if you like the boat.  Then do a resto or a rebuild on the boat you WANT. 

I'm of the thought that any good ol wood boat that was built nicely, cleanly with history or without is probably worth a resto. 

Trust me, once you "sail" down this path, you will lust and find yourself building more boats.

Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on October 17, 2012 at 10:24pm

Dave writes..

I'm of the thought that any good ol wood boat that was built nicely, cleanly with history or without is probably worth a resto. 

   I've wrestled with this question on many boats...First as a professional shipwright and as a home builder and as a part time for hire boatbuilder.   I thing the question can be answered only by the guy who actually has the boat...."how much is it worth....to you?" 

  Some people are just in love with a certain boat and they're willing to go to great lengths to bring it back to life, damn the cost or the labor involved.    Others are 'value driven'...how much money is it worth, fixed... or how much fun can I have or how many fish will I be able to get to?...etc..

  We  restored a Willits Bros. Canoe, a small production shop who's canoes were built here in the Northwest back in The Day......cedar double planked with copper clench nails holding the double diagonal layers together....took us a lot of hours but the owner loved that canoe and he was willing to pay the cost...I could easily have done him a brand new 'modern' epoxy stripper canoe, lighter by far and much more durable for about half what he had into his restoration...but he wanted the Willits done...it was worth it..to him.

  I have some +tough ones+ come along....boats that are really a toss-up as to whether it would better to restore or replace with new....I have to, when dealing with someone who brings it to me, wanting me to do the work,  I have to give him a cost and I'm often asked..."Is this boat worth fixing?"  I can give my estimate, but the owner has to decide for himself....A well done comprehensive restoration is just as pretty and as serviceable as a new boat...but sometimes it will take more cash to do that than it would to build another boat using the lines of the old one, should the owner want a copy, or decide to use one of our fine NW builders and get exactly what he wants...

  It is a tough decision.  There are  thousands and thousands of wooden boats that *could* be restored sitting in dry storage or rotting away on moorings...Not many people want to bother with them anymore.  There aren't even many wooden boat builders left who could restore a traditional wooden boat.....Dorys are a different critter...simpler, easy to repair and restore. Wooden ones are nice to float...quiet and alive feeling, this gives them value that compares favorably with some of the more 'practical' boats made with other materials, but less charm and character. 

Permalink Reply by Mark Heskett on October 12, 2012 at 11:56am

Thomas, Did you buy this boat in Kerby? Looks just like the boat I went to look at. When I got there the owner said he had already sold it to a guy he worked with and his wife didn't know at the time I talked to her. I did look at the boat though. Like you I have been wanting a classic wood drifter to rebuild and use on the Rogue. I live on the middle Rogue between Finley Bend and Robinson Bridge. Passed up a Keith Steele a few weeks ago that was a lot rougher that this boat. Good luck. P.S. I would of bought the boat.
Mark

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