Boat Forum / Building / November 2005

Responses to questions

The boat is a 1942 Wheeler 83 footer.  This boat served in WWII and was part
of the Normandy flotilla.  Some would believe she is worth
restoring...others would not.  We would like to think she is worth restoring
though it was not our intention at purchase to undertake the task now at
hand.  Not that it is important but we relied on the seller, seller's survey
and conversation with the actual surveyor.  (not SAMS or NAMS)  If you feel
the need to tell us what we should have done with regard to the purchase
please do so....though I would advise that you look back into your past and
recall when you did not know as much as today....and that maybe you learned
by earlier mistakes.

Not all areas of the boat are rotten but there is alot.  The stem,
frames/ribs in the bow were rotten.  The planking in the bow  is in good
shape.  We have restored the bow with a new stem, new frames, and new deck.
Most of the planking in the sides is good.  The boat had plywood fastened to
the planking and then glassed.  This work seems to be in good shape and may
influence the advice from others.

We knew that there was some rot in the stern.  The more we investigated the
more problems we found....currently to the point of putting in a new stern
and needing to work forward to the point of locating good wood.  The first
couple of feet of planking appears to be to soft to use for the new timbers
at the transom.

I understand normal ol rotten wood.  I had not seen wood that appeared to be
in excellent condition but very dry to the scraping.  The wood had not been
varnished.
Are there techniques to restore this wood?

With regard to emotional value.....I make purchases routinely that are
emotional as many do.  So far I have not purchased a new $1,000,000 boat to
find 5 years later that it held 60% of it's purchase price.  I would find
that to be very emotional and down right disturbing but there are others
that would disagree.

With regard to dry land...being 83 feet and weighing 80 tons makes it tough
to move to far beyond the boatyard.  OH...and we own a slip for the boat.

The mechanical side of our boat is in good shape...we think.  We cruised
over 1500 miles in the spring of 2004 without major incident.

My goal using this newsgroup is to learn and to share what I have learned
with others that are interested.

thanks,

Marshall