I feel sorry for this couple....

[tiltrider1]

Yes, I found them too, got in about 10 minutes and couldn't take any more, they'll never finish that tub...

Don't be to quick to judge this guy.

First, he builds custom van's for a living. Some very high end and well finished vans I might add. Second, by the looks of his motorcycle racing program this guy has money. Why he decided to take on this project eludes my logic. I don't know if its for the challenge and the Youtube channel is his wife's project?
What ever the reason I wouldn't bet against this guy.

That said, the odds are certainly against this project being successful and I can't see any financial logic in doing anything but taking the engines out. However, I will be watching this channel just to see if it succeeds or goes down in big flames. I can't wait to watch this train wreck.

 

[Lepke]

It's how you learn. Sitting in the mud, the whole hull is probably rotten. If they're like most people I've seen that buy a boat like that, they'll spend all their time and money on the inside and not think about the hull until the pumps won't keep up with the flooding.

 

[tdoriot]

What a mess!

They are screwed! The S.S. Waterweavel would take a dozen ship wrights and a million bucks to make a decent $ 50,000.00 boat! You gotta admire youthful exuberance!

 

[lwarden]

I watched the Q&A from the soggy WWII boat channel today. I came away with a slightly different impression of the two of them. I think the guy may have some skills with his hands so there is that. Wifie is a petroleum engineer if I heard right. I still don't think they will get that boat back to decent condition, but I think I'll watch for a while and see what happens. They said they have 10 Patreons so far. Not much, but a start....

 

[tiltrider1]

I just watched the Q&A. He is convinced that the hull is in great shape because its double planked and the boat is full of fresh water. Maybe he is right? I got to watch this. It’s going to better than Saturday Night Live.

I don’t buy the “we are doing this to own a piece of history” but they have been oddly successful in life. The couple have skills, just not sure what game is really being played.

 

[Simi 60]

It's how you learn. Sitting in the mud, the whole hull is probably rotten. If they're like most people I've seen that buy a boat like that, they'll spend all their time and money on the inside and not think about the hull until the pumps won't keep up with the flooding.

Yep
I know ours for the last couple of years of her conversion was sitting in a mud berth at low tide and I fully expected some ugliness when we lifted her for the pre purchase inspection.
But, she seemed fine, 2 inch thick spotted gum and a few decades of toxins on the planking obviously has made her a bit unpalatable.
But she did leak, but was nothing that the first of 4 pumps couldn't handle kicking on for a pump every 6 hours or so (I have installed a resettable counter)

She needed a bit of spot caulking to stem the flow and every lift since we concentrate on hull, hull and more hull
Its the bit that keeps you afloat.
Now I need to manually set the pumps off once a week to make sure they still work.

 

[Simi 60]

I just watched the Q&A. He is convinced that the hull is in great shape because its double planked and the boat is full of fresh water. Maybe he is right? I got to watch this. It’s going to better than Saturday Night Live.

He needs to put down the crack pipe if he thinks fresh water is timbers friend.
Fiend yes
Friend no.

 

[Greatlaker221]

I watched the first two episodes of the Yuba couple. Interesting that they had good filming, good editing, interest building format and a drone on the first video. Experienced YouTubers that found an unlikely outcome subject to creat interest and suspense.

The English couple are beginners at boating and YouTube. I wonder if that boat even floats at high tide. You just want to reach out and tell them the impossibility of their situation, but they are not ready to hear that.

 

[Art]

I watched the first two episodes of the Yuba couple. Interesting that they had good filming, good editing, interest building format and a drone on the first video. Experienced YouTubers that found an unlikely outcome subject to creat interest and suspense.

The English couple are beginners at boating and YouTube. I wonder if that boat even floats at high tide. You just want to reach out and tell them the impossibility of their situation, but they are not ready to hear that.

I've same question. Also wondered how the twin diesels' cooling was happening when they both got started by experienced mechanic. Many reasons why cooling system could/should be faulty.

I watched Yuba vids all the way to where shipwrights had fully removed the keel, removed prop and shaft, dropped the rudder and done a sister to lower portion of bow stem. At end of that sequence they were showing that nearly all of the frame ends at keel level were also very rotten. They had begun to bolt sister wood onto those locations. New keel had been fully milled and bolted together... waiting for rest of rotten hull to be made ready for keel installation. I see many troubles for lining things up correctly and bolting things together tightly.

I noticed a very pained look in the face of the pretty, fairly ambitious wife. It appears this experience may have become more that either of these youngsters bargained for.

Knowing a bit about marketing and income for You Tube videos... No matter how restoration of this boat turns out [it's a useless, rotten old tub IMO], and no matter how many folks watch the videos of the repairs [I don't think too many people will be too very interested to see the rotten bottom of the boat removed and replaced] the cost of all the repairs will out weigh video income.

Perhaps this couple originally thought there's be no big deal to get the old boat operational and cruise the world doing You Tube videos. Unfortunately for them, if that had been their plan, I fear the cost of boat repairs will squelch the potential for video profits any time soon.

Perhaps someone in this play has deep pockets... I hope so for their sake!

 

[LouisG]

This is the 70th reply to this thread so I'd say they know what they're doing.

 

[kthoennes]

This is the 70th reply to this thread so I'd say they know what they're doing.

Well, I'm not sure about that. Active discussion yes but I think for a lot of us, it's not necessarily their marketability and internet star-power that's catching all this comment and attention. More like a hideous car accident on the side of the road and all the passing drivers slow down to take a look.

 

[LouisG]

"There's no such thing as bad publicity" - P.T. Barnum (or maybe some other guy)

BTW I'm not disagreeing with anyone about this. IT'S A TOTAL FREAKING TRAIN WRECK AND I CAN'T LOOK AWAY!!!

 

[Simi 60]

This is the 70th reply to this thread so I'd say they know what they're doing.

Not sure how replies on a forum from unrelated posters equates to skills of others in another part of the world.
Magic?

 

[LouisG]

It has nothing to do with skills. As has been pointed out by many this couple is running a business (Youtube Channel). When we talk about it on this forum it helps their business. That's all I'm saying.

 

[Nick F]

Quote: Barking Sands: ..I just recently went to their Instagram page and in the Q&A section it states that this boat, Yaba, was originally built in 2006. Can this be correct? I figured it would have been a mid 20th century boat?

I just saw this thread and watched the videos. I have lived in Brazil for the last 21 years and, although moving back to Vancouver, am in Brazil right now. This style of boat is called a Saveiro and there are lots of them around - mostly used as party boats.

A long time ago they were sailing cargo coastal boats but none of them sail now. What little sails they have tend to be decorative at best and they are not ballasted for sailing. Some thirty years ago a privately owned one had its sails up in sheltered waters, got hit by a squall and was blown flat and foundered. Luckily nobody got hurt - I know this story because a good friend was aboard.

I, too, was amazed to discover some years ago that further north in Brazil they still crank out these boats. I think its cheaper to have one built in the bushes than to restore a rotted one.

As regards the dream, even after fixing the boat you still have to find affordable moorage. Maybe MP's family has a bit of shoreline.

All this said, its lovely to see the very basic craftsmanship at work and the video is delightfully catchy to watch. I would love to drop by the yard and look for myself. Unfortunately its a 15 hour drive, including the famed "highway of death" between Sao Paulo and Curitiba - and Covid time is not the time for travelling. There are of course flights into Navegantes (I have been there for work) but I am not that keen.

Nick

 

[john-o]

Watching the couple got me to thinking about my real first attempt at being the proud owner of a boat. There was a place behind where I lived as a kid, that people use to use to dump stuff. Mostly construction stuff like boards, old wallboard, broken sawhorses, stuff like that. And a short distance from that was a big swamp.
A buddy of mine found an old, beat up cement mixing pan. He and I cleaned it up, found an beat up beach umbrella, some lawn chairs, and some canoe paddles split right down the middle - WALLA .. ONE YACHT DELUXE ! We got some house paint from my dad's garage and painted our masterpiece with black and white lines, like the ships had in WW 1, to breakup their lines on the horizon. So, we got in, shoved off, and stood in about 8 inches of rusty swamp water coming up through the holes in the bottom of the thing.
Nevertheless, it was worth the experience, wouldn't trade that old cement pan for the Queen Mary ..... Well, maybe I would. But, I can understand how and why those two youngsters, for whatever reason(s), did what they did.
I'm sure no one can tell them anything but.... good luck and many safe seas of adventure. In fact, I was going to suggest naming that old boat ... THE CEMENT PAN.
But then, that was my expectations, not theirs. Damn, I can still see that cement pan after we painted it and had that umbrella and those lawn chairs. She was a beauty.
ps.
For launching, we even got a Bosun's Whistle to pipe us about. Turned out to be a dog whistle, and we couldn't hear a thing. That alone should've been an indication of ... not so good.

 

[WillR]

So much negativity here. They have succeeded in getting a youtube channel running as well as paying patrons. No the boat is not a classic sailing schooner. They say in the Introduction that they wanted to make the ocean there home so they bought a boat and are making repairs not unlike you would do to your first home. Maybe the housing market is a challenge where they are in Brazil. Im about halfway through the series to whee they are realizing that alot of the ribs are going to be replaced. And it seems they are going to replace what is needed to be replaced. This boat will float again it will surely (and it did) sail again, no matter how badly it is at it it will still move by the wind. I think its meant to be more of a house that you can sail if you would like too.

 

[toocoys]

they'll need a few decades.

...and trust funds.



ETA: To the OP. Curse you for getting me hooked on another sailing channel.

 

[WillR]

Also if you all would like to check out another channel that needs a watch and some support checkout sailing wildlings on YouTube. They are a couple with a boat that I hope doesn't sink on its resplash. Its old and needs a complete refit before its fit for re entry. At least in my eyes.

 

[ssobol]

I have enjoyed watching their series of videos. They are entertaining and informative. It is interesting to see how a wooden boat is being pretty much completely rebuilt. [Spoiler Alert: They pretty much replace the whole hull and deck.]

While the couple do a fair amount of work on the boat, they are paying a small shipyard to do the difficult stuff starting with raw wood. Even in Brazil it can't be that cheap to rebuilt an entire 70' boat. While the the purchase price of the boat was probably low due to its condition, I don't believe that this couple would be able to afford to any of the rebuild without outside help. Unless there is another source of funds that has not been mentioned, they seem to rely on money raised via their videos.

Got to give them credit for taking the chance though. They got a boat and started rebuilding it based on raising money to fund it by making videos of the rebuild. There is no indication that they could have done this project on their own resources.

I wonder what the total cost of the rebuild will be and what income the videos generated. Yes, I realize that the revenue from the videos themselves is probably low, it is the donations via Patreon and the like that the videos encourage that I'm interested in.

 

[toocoys]

I'm up to Episode 4 already, and I have to say... they've got much bigger cahuna's than I do. He'd have stuck that chisel through that hole and I would have just fell over and passed out right there. I really hope they get this thing restored!

 

[WillR]

I agree. This is hugely ambitious. But its is nothing money and skilled tradesman can't get done. It think I would not have taken that boat if given to me. If force upon me I'd would have pulled the masts and rigging pulled the power to the bilge pumps drained the water out of the engine and ran her till she either sink or seized and then sink the thing. Im from Nova Scotia and a schooner is not built the same here

 

[toocoys]

It certainly says a lot about their problem solving, critical thinking, and stress management skills. None of which I have very much of!

 

[WillR]

My main problem with a project like this is that if I took it on even in a country with the cheapest labour I would never be able to afford the refit. And being that I'm not much of a "people" person youtube is not a option for me... also I'm guessing this boat is much further along than even the newest video suggests.

 

[john-o]

This will be one heck of a submarine when they finish!

 

[Simi 60]

He needs to put down the crack pipe if he thinks fresh water is timbers friend.
Fiend yes
Friend no.

Just saw the name, "YABA"

Yaba is the Thai name for Crazy Medicine, Nazi speed
Methamphetamines and caffeine.

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/yaba-the-crazy-medicine-of-east-asia.html

 

[toocoys]

I just binged their entire channel. Lot of talking. I watched the last 10 or so episodes by clicking through them. They've essentially rebuilt the entire boat, with lots of work to be done.

 

[rsn48]

The nice thing about going about a major refit or rebuild, the boat is outfitted for you. The electronics, fuel tank size, engine(s), galley appliances, finish, etc is all the owners wishes. It becomes "your" boat, more than just ownership.

 

[Seevee]

I'd say hats off to this couple. They are doing what they want, enjoying it and will end up with "something". I'd bet at some point in time, they will abandon this boat for something better, but the experience is priceless.



Not for most of us.

 

[Gdavid]

It is a good thing they aren't buying all of that wood in the US right now.