GB32 Wood. First Haul out What to expect?

I am having my new to me GB32 hauled out next week to have the bottom painted. Im wondering what to expect and what to be on the lookout for.

This is for me, literally my first haul out ever. I think my biggest fear is that the yard will "find problems" whereas I just want them to paint the bottom and put her back in the water.

The other question I have is about how long she can be in the yard before I have to worry about planks drying out and seams opening up. They said it would take about a week and a half to paint the bottom and redo the transom. Is that too long? Im thinking just for the sake of getting her back in the water I should have them skip the transom and just paint the bottom.

Wow

How hot and dry is it where your hauling out? A week or two is probably OK . You are asking what you should look for. Dry rot, worm infestation, failing fastners, loose keel bolts, electrolysis of the prop, strut, rudder. Thru hull bedding and caulking. Split or damaged planks, caulking between the planks. If the boat is in rough condition and been neglected, you may want to reconsider ownership. Wooden boats can get out hand quickly, hopefully your boat has been maintained and refastned at some point.

Redo the transom? What do you mean? Redo can cover a lot of ground, some of which is going to take a lot longer than a week or so.

Skipping may not be a good idea either depending upon what needs to be done.

A lot more info is needed from you before you get any decent opinions. IMHO

I am in southern california. Its not too hot and dry yet by CA standards.

@Scary - thats a pretty scary assessment. One would think some of these conditions would be apparent via a thorough survey of the interior and inspection of the ribs and planking from the inside. The surveyor said that he has inspected a lot of boats in our area and worms are just not a problem. I actually had a shipyard owner tell me the same thing. He said he's operated a shipyard hear for 20 years and has never seen any worms except on a boat slipped in mexico. All in all the boat is not in rough condition above the water line but who knows what lies beneath.

As far as "redo the transom". Good point. By redo I meant strip to wood and revarnish. No repairs are expected. The wood is solid and fasteners good on the transom.

Hi Mr MP. You already own the boat? The survey of a wooden boat should always include a haulout IMHO. I would agree with Mr. Scary in what he suggests you look for.

Best of luck to you!

I'd "redo".
But a better place to ask is on the GB forum.
Or on BoatDesign.net
I'd haul as you've planned and cover much of the hull much of the time. White plastic perhaps reflecting the heat?
Check your through hull fittings to make sure they are bedded in good.
Before you haul locasome high skilled maint and repair people so if you have problems the seams won't open up while you're looking for people. Get your paint and rollers ect together ahead too.
I would'nt be very concerned about the drying out. The GB is a well built boat and it should take more than a week or two to damage the boat. Actually probably more than a month but your caution is well justfied.
Study up on caulking as you may need to do some. Have someone handy that knows how to use a caulking iron and pay extra attention to the water line area. A small propane torch and a scraper can wood down that transom quickly.
Good luck

If all they have to do is paint the bottom and refinish the transom to the point you can put it back in the water to add the last 6-8 coats of varnish after they put on 4 or so, you should be back in the water in a week or less.

If they can't strip and get the first couple of 50/50 coats of varnish on in the first day to day and a half they are slow. Or you are refinishing with something else like epoxy that adds time and steps to the job.

The ideal way to redo the transom is to remove the steps so you can seal the wood under them with at least a few coats before you put them back on. The fastest way to strip that transom is with a high speed disc sander. If you have the old flat style of transom with no grooved seams like most if not all the older wood GBs seem to have, the disc sander will strip it down in an hour or less.

If the bottom is in good shape and all it needs is fresh coats of paint, that can be done easy in a week or less.

But without more details about the condition of the bottom, running gear, thruhulls, caulking, transom, planking, etc., etc. you could be looking at weeks out of the water and tens of thousands of dollars of work.

Capt.Bill11 said:

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If the bottom is in good shape and all it needs is fresh coats of paint, that can be done easy in a week or less.

But without more details about the condition of the bottom, running gear, thruhulls, caulking, transom, planking, etc., etc. you could be looking at weeks out of the water and tens of thousands of dollars of work.

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Thanks Capt Bill.

My thinking is this - Get it hauled out, surveyed properly. Painted and then put back in the water. There are no signs that she is anything but solid now, she is dry and apparently seaworthy. If I find out that she needs tens of thousands of dollars of work I still think the better strategy is to put her back in the water, let her sit in the marina if necessary and plan the tens of thousands of work at a less rushed pace. With this strategy I will know exactly what needs to be done and in the long run by more careful planning I think I'll save the cost of the haul out anyway. I fear nothing more than a rush job on haul out after finding some "problem". If things are not as good as I suspect I'll just not take her out to sea and take a more strategic approach to her rehabilitation.

Am I way off?

mplangley said:

Thanks Capt Bill.

My thinking is this - Get it hauled out, surveyed properly. Painted and then put back in the water. There are no signs that she is anything but solid now, she is dry and apparently seaworthy. If I find out that she needs tens of thousands of dollars of work I still think the better strategy is to put her back in the water, let her sit in the marina if necessary and plan the tens of thousands of work at a less rushed pace. With this strategy I will know exactly what needs to be done and in the long run by more careful planning I think I'll save the cost of the haul out anyway. I fear nothing more than a rush job on haul out after finding some "problem". If things are not as good as I suspect I'll just not take her out to sea and take a more strategic approach to her rehabilitation.

Am I way off?

Click to expand...

Not a bad plan, but don't overlook Scary's reminder that wood boats can get out of hand quickly. My initial reaction to your initial post was 'expect a lot of work (by you) or a lot of cost. Your choice.'

Absolutely get a survey independent of the yard doing the haul, and obviously by someone competent in wooden boats. Then you might want a cold shower, lots of coffee and a lot of thought as to whether you want to keep the boat or sell it. You will have to make the choice as to work or $$$$ every haulout, not just this first one. It never ends.

You really have to be passionate about woodies to do it. I admire those who do maintain them, and can afford it. 'Glass boats end up a lot cheaper even if several times the initial cost.

This what I do

Wooden boats require special care. If your boat yard guy hasn't seen worms it's because he has working on fiber glass boats. A in the water survey will show very little about hull condition. Hull fasteners have to be pulled to evaluate. If the boat hasn't been refastened it's overdue. Caulking can't be seen from the inside. The boat sounds like it's been in salt water, that's a good thing below the water line. If it's been the weather uncovered that's not a good thing. Dryrot starts at the deck and grows downward to the chine. Speaking of chines, if you haul using a travel lift, protect the chines with padding between the straps and chine, straps can cause a lot of damage. Also while on the hard it is good to use extra stansions at the chines and block the keel about twice as much as a glass boat. Wooden boats are amazingly flexible.
Good luck I hope your boat checks out OK.

Another note, time is of essence when working on wood boats. There jobs like sanding the bottom are hateful and better left to guys in white suits, caulklng and refastning aren't fun either. In the interest of saving time, which keeps from spending lots of money if the boat dries out and you have to caulk the whole boat, to contract out the heavy work and get back in the water faster. You can spend thousands of dollars on caulk alone, the same with fasteners. I see a lot of people try to do there own work, undermanned and unskilled end up spending thousands more because they lret the boat dry out or had to redo work that failed.

IF the yard is not a specialist in wood , be sure they use enogh keel blocking while out.

4 blocks would be good , not just 2 as they would do for a plastic boat,

IF not already done mark on deck where the lift straps should be slung for the re entry and "next time".

An evening spray of water (not enough that the dirt under will be mud in the AM) can help slow the boards shrinking.

Depending on the paint selected only bottom growth , need be removed , a very light sanding is all that is required.

If you are using soft style paint and the work grows to a long job , a coat of cheap soft paint is the best way to slow drying, paint over it before launching with the "good " stuff.
.

ooops dupe post

I'm having a hard time with the idea of buying a wood vessel without a hull survey. Was it because a haul out was too expensive? Or because the previous owner had just done it and all remedial action was taken? Guessing not the latter because of the need to paint and refinish transom.

I'd want to know more history of this particular vessel before venturing an opinion, but the few hints given are alarming.


Keith

I agree with all the above.
While there was talk of worms, the Grand Banks used a part called a Worm Shoe that attaches to the full underwater length of the keel. It is basically a sacrificial piece of wood designed to allow the worms to attack it and not the planks themselves. It should be carefully examined while out of the water.

I don't know about worms, but be sure to have a recommended shipwright inspect things. A real "wood" guy. Not a jack of all trades guy.


Jim
Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

Please join the Grand Banks Woodie site and start reading! You would not try and refinish an antique wooden (desk? Piano?) without doing some research first and this is much more important. Very specialized and antiquated skills required to restore a woodie so make sure you find some specialists and do your homework lest you be screwed royally. A wooden hull in good repair is a joy, far better boat than a glass boat but if not properly maintained you will either go mad or become a pauper. (A Dickensian reference would be appropriate here).

First mke sure that they yard uou use has current experience with wood boata, a rare commodity these days.


Ask them what they will doo after relaunch. If it is not frequent inspections and installation of pumps be wary.

Xsbank said:

Please join the Grand Banks Woodie site and start reading! You would not try and refinish an antique wooden (desk? Piano?) without doing some research first and this is much more important. Very specialized and antiquated skills required to restore a woodie so make sure you find some specialists and do your homework lest you be screwed royally. A wooden hull in good repair is a joy, far better boat than a glass boat but if not properly maintained you will either go mad or become a pauper. (A Dickensian reference would be appropriate here).

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Having stewarded and self-maintained a 40' "woodie" for 23 years, Xsbank gives good advice and, yes, a wooden boat in good repair is definitely a joy: to own, be complimented on, to experience.

Although I do take exception to his term "antiquated skills". Those "traditional skills" are very much alive and well, particularly in the NE and NW in this country and augmented by some "modern" materials and methods.

If you maintain it yourself, it's definitely a lot of work but very satisfying and, in comparing our costs between the two boats, it was actually less expensive to maintain the wood boat annually than our smaller "frozen snot" boat. If someone else is going to maintain it for you, be prepared to spend major boat dollars.

MP,

Welcome to the woody club! A couple of things to watch for are:

Take a golf ball and tap around all of the through hull fittings, you should hear a sharp knock and not a thud.

Do the same thing along the bottom and sides of the chines the full length of the hull.

Do the same thing where the transom and hull join under the swim step.

Pull the brass grate off of the raw water intake for the engine and clean out any debris you find.

Grab the propeller and see if you can move it up and down, side to side and in and out. May move a bit but not much.

Do the same thing with the rudder.

Most if not all yards will not let you sand below the waterline. Unless your bottom paint is peeling off in sheets just clean and re-paint with good quality bottom paint.

Replace all the zincs including the 3 heat exchanger pencil zincs.

Stripping the transom is much easier to do on the hard. I would stay away from a propane torch and use a heat gun. 1100 degrees is what works the best for us.


Last year we hauled out for 6 days and were able to clean and paint the bottom, sand the hull to the rail and repaint it, strip the swim step and clean and coat the propeller with a zinc compound.

If you have any questions shoot me a PM.

Bob

Beautiful WOOD boat dwhatty.

Your boat gives me a nice seque into taking a shot a shot at all of you "wood boats are expensive" types.

So are Diamond rings.

What bothers me, is not only that the dubious nature of the position, but also it avoids certain realities. Beauty inspires. So does wood. Fiberglass does not - except insofar as hull designers paying homage to wood decide to give their fiberglass patterns a wood look. It reminds me of the old wood siding vs vinyl siding argument. Yes, vinyl does last for forever. But its is also ugly forever. If you want ugly choose vinyl.

That said -thanks for all to the comments. They are very helpful.

Bob Cofer said:

Most if not all yards will not let you sand below the waterline. Unless your bottom paint is peeling off in sheets just clean and re-paint with good quality bottom paint.

Click to expand...

It must be different out west. I can't think of a yard that doesn't let you get your bottom sanded.

Do some research on replacing zincs on a woody. You can over zinc and wear wood away.

The yards here will not let you self perform bottom sanding but will let you pay them to do it.

We have one on the rudder and one on the prop nut.

Bob,
Good point about the heat gun. As you say it no doubt is better. One needs to be very careful and attentive w the propane torch or you'll have blackened wood. How readily the wood turns blact (burnt) varies in sensitivity due to species.

Good pints and suggestions so far.


Be sure to get a firm description and cost for necessary work to be done. A question lingering is did you buy a wooden boat without a survey?

Well she was hauled out today. I thought I would post some pictures.

The bottom appeared much better than I was expecting. To quote the lift operator "pretty darn good shape". Hopefully they won't find anything disastrous over the course of the next week. Absent a thorough sounding the entire hull the the port side stern was the most obvious area of concern - that and the fact the zincs were gone. I did not post pictures but the prop and rudder cleaned up pretty good with no apparent problems.

I have included a picture of the transom I mentioned. Should the swim step come off during the process? Im thinking of going with a blue bottom paint instead of the red.

Greetings,
Mr. mp. She DOES look pretty good. "Disastrous" is all relative. Plank replacement, baring any underlying damage (chines/battens/ribs), is pretty straight forward and not terribly complex. Peeling paint could be indicative of a rotted plank or simply poor paint application. Sounding and probing is definitely in order.

The advice the yard gave me... get this thing back in the water quick...

PS... i posted before i saw your pics... your wood boat looks pretty good.

Hope there are no problems and you are back in the water soon.