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TDunn · 07-12-2016, 10:49 AM

As others have said, a wooden boat is a labor of love. My boat (avatar picture) is an 80 year old woody. I work pretty hard to keep it in good shape. In a typical year I would say that Maintenance typically comes in around 300 hours. This year was a bit more. If you are paying a yard to do the work that works out to at least $20K a year when you include materials. Right now I am in the process of replacing a galley counter top and the ceiling over it. That small project will run about 30-40 hours by the time it is done. At yard rates that works out to somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000.

As far as buying a woody goes, it is essential that you get a comprehensive survey by a qualified wooden boat surveyor. I would also have a wooden boat shipwright look the boat over. Even a boat that looks really good can go bad in just a couple of years if not properly maintained. A boat like that Defever would probably require $20K-$30K a year to hire a yard to properly maintain it. If there are any problems the repair cost could be a LOT higher. Basically any rot anywhere means that that wood must be replaced, the source of fresh water that caused the rot identified and repaired and the area of the leak and the rot thoroughly checked out for additional rot. For example, a few years ago I found some rot in my cabin house. After checking everything out I ended up removing the cabin house and building a completely new one - about 500 hours labor plus $10K for materials (mahogany is expensive).

07-12-2016, 10:49 AM	#15
TDunn Guru City: Maine Coast Vessel Name: Tortuga Vessel Model: Nunes Brothers Raised Deck Cruiser Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 889	As others have said, a wooden boat is a labor of love. My boat (avatar picture) is an 80 year old woody. I work pretty hard to keep it in good shape. In a typical year I would say that Maintenance typically comes in around 300 hours. This year was a bit more. If you are paying a yard to do the work that works out to at least $20K a year when you include materials. Right now I am in the process of replacing a galley counter top and the ceiling over it. That small project will run about 30-40 hours by the time it is done. At yard rates that works out to somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000. As far as buying a woody goes, it is essential that you get a comprehensive survey by a qualified wooden boat surveyor. I would also have a wooden boat shipwright look the boat over. Even a boat that looks really good can go bad in just a couple of years if not properly maintained. A boat like that Defever would probably require $20K-$30K a year to hire a yard to properly maintain it. If there are any problems the repair cost could be a LOT higher. Basically any rot anywhere means that that wood must be replaced, the source of fresh water that caused the rot identified and repaired and the area of the leak and the rot thoroughly checked out for additional rot. For example, a few years ago I found some rot in my cabin house. After checking everything out I ended up removing the cabin house and building a completely new one - about 500 hours labor plus $10K for materials (mahogany is expensive).