First Woodie advice and input

Hi all,
New here and first post so apologies if this sounds like a repeat question by many other posters on here.
First of all i have been scouring the internet for a active forum on boats and maintenance and ended up here. I am about to embark upon a woodie restoration/repair of a 26ft gentlemans cruiser. At least thats the best i can describe her. She has dry rot but not riddled with it. She is watertight. There is a diesel engine that will work once the battery is changed. Hardwear will need replacing or renovating and the interior is a happy little project for my better half.
She has been idle for 2 years due to the owners ill health and i need to get her to a boat yard on hard standing so as to get to work on her over the winter.I have read that leaving a woodie out of water for more than a month is'nt advisable. Just looking for some helpful advice, hints &tips.
I appreciate she will take alot of man hours to restore and we are prepared for that and i do have some previous experience in doing this. What is propelling us to do this is because she will be once again a beautiful thing to behold and for us to enjoy.

Although I am sure that you will get some response on this forum, perhaps a better one for you would be: The WoodenBoat Forum

Sounds like you need to get her into a shed or garage for the Winter if you plan any extensive repairs. If you feel she has to be wet stored than I would put off any major work during the cold months. Wet cold weather is not really good when you are doing wood work, or working with glues, epoxies, and paints.

Maybe you should concentrate on getting the engine going this Fall, and see what you really have. At least than you can Winterize her properly.

Good Luck-- Sounds like she is a lucky old gal--The boat I mean.

JohnP

Ah, thanks. I'll give it a whirl!

JohnP said:

Sounds like you need to get her into a shed or garage for the Winter if you plan any extensive repairs. If you feel she has to be wet stored than I would put off any major work during the cold months. Wet cold weather is not really good when you are doing wood work, or working with glues, epoxies, and paints.

Maybe you should concentrate on getting the engine going this Fall, and see what you really have. At least than you can Winterize her properly.

Good Luck-- Sounds like she is a lucky old gal--The boat I mean.

JohnP

Click to expand...

Hi JP,

Thats the ideal scenario but here in London we are limited to those sort of facilities. I can hard stand her but she wouldn't be covered apart from my best attempt to wrap her in tarpaulin. Interesting to hear that winter isnt the best time to treat wood and it was something i was expecting. Probably best to treat hull and anti foul as this part is pretty sound. Mostly the deck and upper parts of the hull that are showing serious signs of repair. If i cani'll upload a pic

Welcome to the forum Paddy. A few pictures are always appreciated. In the meantime here is a thread you may find of more than passing interest.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/...oject-older-chriscraft-6833-3.html#post103238

If you leave the boat in the water there is less change it will freeze if the water surrounding is above freezing. Since most of the work is above the water line the boat can remain in the water. I do the interior maintenance/repair in the winter and the exterior warmer summer months, July thru September.

Having the boat dry out shrink as not a bad if you are going to re caulk/stuff seams, so when the boat is back in the water the wood will swell tight. Besides there is nothing that will stick to wet wood. Might want to take a walk through a yard that has wood boats and ask questions and look.

Many of the commercial trawler in the Puget Sound are wood and they will be out weeks, so when they are put back in the water they leak, so they are kept in the sling and have extra pumps. It takes about 24 hours until the leaks stop.

Let us know what the repairs are as we can proable give you some ideas. I mean why tear thing aparts if there is a simpler way.

When you pull the deck hardware rather than trying to un-bolt the fittings Just drill out the phillips head screws and use a punch to drive them thru.

I helped a friend re-bed a bow rail. We spent hours trying to loosen old fasteners.
The heads would strip. We tried those little bits to remove damaged screws and any thing else we could think of. Finally we tried just drilling them out and it worked.
Stainless is sort of soft it will drill real easy.

SD

For new interior construction the galv combination screws are great.

Drive with the Phillips bit , and if it strips , the square shank bit will remove the bad screw.

Makes taking apart almost a pleasure!

Welcome Paddy - Phil Fill is correct... wood boats that have been out of water for some time should have some means to remain supported for day or two, with ample pumps working till the seams swell together and leaks cease. Working in New England boat yards I took part in launching many many wood boats in the 60's/70's that had been on the hard for winter months. A good wood bottom is OK to leave dry for some time as long as it is caulked and painted well and supported for a while right after launch. Enjoy your new add-venture!

Art