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Old 02-20-2018, 01:15 AM   #6
Lepke
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City: Between Oregon and Alaska
Vessel Name: Charlie Harper
Vessel Model: Wheeler Shipyard 83'
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 3,023
Plan on learning how to do much of the maintenance yourself. Or have a very large checkbook.
I live on an 83', 70 year old boat. I also owned a yard that did mostly commercial boats and bigger yachts.
There is a lot of maintenance with owning a wood boat. If you let it go, later it becomes a much bigger maintenance problem.
Varnish doesn't hold up well under harsh sun. Plan on yearly sanding and revarnishing the top coat. If you let it go you have to start at bare wood again. Painting with excellent prep and excellent paint can go 3+ years if cracks or other damages to the paint film is touched up as needed. I've got as much as 5 years. Outside wood needs at least 2 coats of primer and finish. Then light sanding and new top coat every 2-3 years. Heavy use boats get painted yearly. As long as you use good paint and keep on top of it, you many never have to go down to bare wood.
Salt water is both your friend and enemy to a wood boat. Salt preserves, but breaks in the bottom paint can allow wood boring worms in. So in Florida you'll need to haul yearly and buy a really good paint. Also read up about zinc protection for your underwater metal - shafts, props, rudder, etc. I put borate (a salt) in the bilges as a wood preserver. It also kills mold. My hull is copper plated.
I'm 70 and do all my own work but occasionally hire helpers. I have professional sanders and other tools. I can sand the hull in a couple days and another day to paint. I painted over all the varnish. Someone after me can sand thru the paint if they want. In the PNW, at a commercial fishing port, I get hauled in the off season for about $1500. That's in and out plus a bottom pressure wash. I paint the bottom and replace the zincs. I spend less than $5000 a year on maintenance. Having a yard do all the work varnish, paint and bottom, could be ten times higher.
Your perspective boat has Detroit Diesels - my favorite. 4-500 hours is nothing if well maintained. My 671 naturals did over 20,000 hours before overhaul. I cruise at 1800, the continuous hp rating. A previous owner cruised at 2100 as I sometimes do. If you take care of the engines, you can leave them in your will. With turbos, keep under 80% of continuous rating.
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