Long, long, long boat projects

[Toccata]

Toccata a Jarkan 40 has been 3 years in the overhaul.
Repaint inside and out New Allspar mast and boom, New headsail
carbon fibre sprit, new rudder etc etc. I have really enjoyed doing the project but now looking forward to racing her again.
When I realised it was not the boat for us to use for cruising, I went looking for a boat that could carry greater loads, centre cockpit, furling main, bigger engine, and all the other bits n pieces.
I selected an Oceanic 46 (The last one built in 1994) it "Quiet Achiever" had been used for extensive cruising. Mistakenly I assumed that the systems were ready to go on, however reality is that the systems were all worn out, so it's turned into a project. Worst problem was the years of condensation/moisture accumulated outside the stainless steel fridge cabinet. Major wrecking to get the box and foam out. Now the big question: Eutectic tank vs lightweight evaporator. This forum makes interesting reading on the question.
There's no perfect answer, I just stumble along with a notion of what I want/need and then come across something that seems to fit the bill.
I certainly would not advise my path as the right one, in fact don't follow me, I'm totally lost, but enjoying the journey "mucking around with boats"

[SV Siren]

Skipmac, good on you for actually following through on your refit! I hear of so many that just never get finished. I am in the same boat as you were, just years behind. I am in year two of a hopefully 5 year refit/restoration of our Columbia 50. I got sick of driving 45 minutes to the yard to work on it, and then getting charged and arm and a leg for storage fees, so I had it moved to our home and she now sits about 20' from my shop. Mine is a total redo, and over 50 years of PO's "updating and work", it needs a ton of work to get it up to snuff and "right" in my eyes.

I have done a bunch some gutting, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears and I get a ton of crap from friends who think I am nuts...they just don't understand being non-sailors. Everything will have been redone once I am finished, nothing will be left untouched. I will know the boat inside and out, and it will be better than it has been in the past 30 years or so.

keep it up and post some pictures if you can find any.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by skipmac

In honor of the launch and successful test drive of my 7 1/2 year boat project I wonder how many others have seen through a long term boat project and what was involved. I guess I'm thinking about project boats and not building from scratch. I've read about a couple of those that lasted 20-30 years.

I already know 7 1/2 years isn't close to a record on a project. Met a couple at the marina when I launched who had a friend that just launched after a ten year overhaul.
....
So, who else has gone through a multiyear boat overhaul? Or who has started one and abandoned the job as too much?

I took 14yr to build a 10' dinghy. It was stored another 10yr and had started rotting so I landfilled it without it ever going in the water.

Very embarrassing to admit.

[Jolly Roger]

I haven’t been following this thread since I stuck my oar in almost two years ago, when I wrote, “I’m almost finished a major refit.”
What delusions we sailors suffer from!
I’m still at it, and not wishing to bore anyone with a new list, if you’re interested you can read blow-by-blow at my website HOME
It’s all very well folks talking about long restorations, but I don’t think anyone has mentioned age, which for me is increasingly relevant—I just turned 75.
You wont’ give that much thought if you’re 35.
I bought my boat when I was 67, after I decided not to act my age, (like my kids and grandkids suggest I should), but to act how I feel, and I feel okay to continue doing what I like on my boat—but it does slow you down a bit.
My present project—which is only on the website in cursory form, because the article has been sold to Cruising World—is a total remodel of the chart table and electrical distribution panel. I’ve had others published over the past two years in many different boating magazines.
So come on lads, lets hear how old you all are, which will throw another light on your extended project. The older you are, the greater the credit.
And no fibbing...

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by SV Siren

Skipmac, good on you for actually following through on your refit! I hear of so many that just never get finished. I am in the same boat as you were, just years behind. I am in year two of a hopefully 5 year refit/restoration of our Columbia 50. I got sick of driving 45 minutes to the yard to work on it, and then getting charged and arm and a leg for storage fees, so I had it moved to our home and she now sits about 20' from my shop. Mine is a total redo, and over 50 years of PO's "updating and work", it needs a ton of work to get it up to snuff and "right" in my eyes.

I have done a bunch some gutting, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears and I get a ton of crap from friends who think I am nuts...they just don't understand being non-sailors. Everything will have been redone once I am finished, nothing will be left untouched. I will know the boat inside and out, and it will be better than it has been in the past 30 years or so.

keep it up and post some pictures if you can find any.

Thank you. I have to confess I'm pleased and relieved that it's mostly done. Still have a long list but only one significant project remaining, redoing the cabin sole. Other than that it's just the usual list of standard maintenance and minor repairs.

Making a very, very WAG (Wild Ass Guess for the non-Americans that may not know that bit of slang) in regard to how many major boat projects are finished vs those that end up moldering away in a boat yard or back yard I would speculate at least half of them end up abandoned or sold to another dreamer that may or may not finish it. I felt like I was at least a little ahead of the game since I had gone through some fairly extensive boat projects in the past and I had the time, skills and situation to follow through on this one.

Sounds like you have a good handle on your redo and a very nice, solid boat for the foundation. Sounds that your boat, like mine, also suffered from a lot of really badly done stuff from the PO. I spent about two weeks just hauling junk and trash off the boat that he left behind including two large garbage bags full of line that was old, rotted, frayed or just very short. All I can figure is that he wanted to keep it to make baggy wrinkle since it was worthless for anything else.

Good luck on the project. Hope you as happy with it as I am. Unfortunately my cruising plans ran into a major problem when my daughter finally figured out how the reproduction process works and generated a couple of grandchildren. However that's not a bad problem to have.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

I haven’t been following this thread since I stuck my oar in almost two years ago, when I wrote, “I’m almost finished a major refit.”
What delusions we sailors suffer from!
I’m still at it, and not wishing to bore anyone with a new list, if you’re interested you can read blow-by-blow at my website HOME
It’s all very well folks talking about long restorations, but I don’t think anyone has mentioned age, which for me is increasingly relevant—I just turned 75.
You wont’ give that much thought if you’re 35.
I bought my boat when I was 67, after I decided not to act my age, (like my kids and grandkids suggest I should), but to act how I feel, and I feel okay to continue doing what I like on my boat—but it does slow you down a bit.
My present project—which is only on the website in cursory form, because the article has been sold to Cruising World—is a total remodel of the chart table and electrical distribution panel. I’ve had others published over the past two years in many different boating magazines.
So come on lads, lets hear how old you all are, which will throw another light on your extended project. The older you are, the greater the credit.
And no fibbing...

Well I turn 69 next month so I'm also wondering how much longer I have to make a significant cruise. Still really want to take the boat to Europe and cruise the Med for a year or two and I think I'm quite able but for how much longer?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Adelie

I took 14yr to build a 10' dinghy. It was stored another 10yr and had started rotting so I landfilled it without it ever going in the water.

Very embarrassing to admit.

Is there a boater that's been doing this for very long or who has undertaken a few significant projects that doesn't have an embarrassing tale?

I think my worst, installed a new engine in a boat years ago but hooked up the raw water hoses backwards and killed it the first time I ran it. That was expensive.

[laika]

Spent 20 months in the yard a number of years ago. I mixed in a few extended stays in colorado to break it up and escape from the yard's giant air compressor that would kick on right outside the boat each morning at 7. Was like living in a dirty awkward industrial tree house. Hansolo's description of the pros and cons is spot on. Some of the stuff I look back on as work created because I was stubborn and naive, but having had no major projects for years now onboard, it's hard to say it wasn't worth it.

Congratulations to you on the completion.

[sailorboy1]

Skip's boat is now at Green Cove Springs Marina, some boaters and boats go there die (but call it refit)

[AiniA]

Congratulations to all those brave souls who take on such massive tasks. You are better than I. I think such rebuilds are likely to become much more common in the years to come as our boat stock ages.

[Jolly Roger]

I Still have a long list but only one significant project remaining, redoing the cabin sole.

Skipmac. Before you start your cabin sole, you might take a look at the article on my website about when I refurbished my teak and holly floorboards. I went through the whole boat, and it was a massive job.
Here is the link.

CABIN SOLE

[Suijin]

I started my last refit 4/17 and finished 6/18. The plan was to strip the deck of all hardware and repair paint and rebed. Thought it would take four months of working full time. HA HA HA.

It turned into a can of worms, with the mantra “well I have the whole boat apart might as well do X while I’m at it.” Repeated at least weekly and often daily. I had done two partial refits earlier (new portlights, topside paint, and full bottom job) so those were out of the way.

Work performed:
- deck stripped
- molded in nonskid ground off
- extensive fiberglass/gelcoat repair
- painted deck with awlcraft
- painted nonskid with awlgrip
- new chainplates
- new traveler arch
- stainless handrails on coachroof
- insulated coachroof and deck underside
- bow washdown
- cockpit shower
- refinished and rebuilt pedestal
- new autopilot, AIS, chartplotter
- new wiring and receptacles for USB
- Added 340 watts solar
- rewired battery compartment, charger, switch
- new clutches, deck organizers, running rigging
- new standing rigging.
- refurbed and rewired mast
- new heat exchanger, cooling pump, hoses, thermostat and housing, clean and paint.

The yard crew helped when I needed four hands, did the spraying, and most of the engine work.

I was lucky that I could work on it 8 hours a day. But it was a death march or felt like it. Lowest point is when you are several months in and STILL ripping stuff apart. When you turn the corner and start to put stuff back together that’s a sweet moment.

In truth it’s the million other little things you do along the way that eat up time...like reconditioning the windlass, polishing the heads of 400 fasteners, fixing suspect wiring you come across...the list is endless.

Being a liveaboard, every day that goes by is agonizing. I lived in a trailer at the yard while the boat was uninhabitable which pretty much sucked but provided serious motivation to git ‘er done, day after day.

[lateral]

"I guess I'm thinking about project boats and not building from scratch. I've read about a couple of those that lasted 20-30 years."

I feel a smidgin vindicated with that statement.
My 11yrs, was a refit that turned into a new build, along with dismantling the old, rebuilding a deck mold, working full time, freeholding my property and helping my eldest with her post grad journey.
Although it was a totally inefficient use of my time I have to keep reminding myself it was NOT a failure....just a little stupid.
We WILL celebrate with a blue water expedition in the near future.