Reply to Eric of ManyBoats: I bought the CHB "as is, where is" in Juneau's Harris Harbor in January of '11, knowing she had sea water in the engine and hadn't run in 3 years. I knew the vee-berth was pretty much wasted from a leaking windshield, but didn't discover the degree of rot throughout until I stripped the commercial-grade carpet off the walls & celiings to get rid of the moldy smell... Then I discovered that somewhere in her past, likely the 2nd owner, bubble-wrap had been contact-cemented to the woodwork, with carpet glued to that... and you know what happens to plywood (not even 'marine grade,' just plain ol' plywood!) when moisture condenses that can't readily evaporate from... By the time I got done scraping, many places just have 1/4" of fiberglass overlay left.
Well, I bought her as a "sweat equity investment" for less than $25-G, and found an incredible buy on a replacement engine (took 5 months of on-line searching before I lucked out and found an auction buyer who didn't know what he had, just thought it was a diesel pump engine from the Chicago Water Department's Surplus Auction. Total costs including freight from Chicago to Juneau was under $3500! and the history on the engine was included, that she had logged 300 hours of pumping fresh water (using the same for drawing her heat exchanger coolant), was completely rebuilt with new bearings, rings, & valve grind because of age, not hours, then mothballed on a pallet. I paid an extra $300 to have an International Truck Dealership in the Chicago area go to the site and test start the engine on-camera for confirmation of its integrity.
When I bought the boat I was living on a 28' Tollycraft Express Cruiser & showering across the street from Harris Harbor at the High School Swimming Pool, where I swam for exercise anyway. I didn't know that the moorage slip didn't go with the boat, which was moored at the bottom of the Access Ramp, 2nd slip in, which was perfect for the lovely lady I was engaged to in Colorado Springs (I knew she was medically retired with Fibromyalgia, and the nice size of the boat would be at least a starting place for us. But then after living on the Lady Cherish for ten months, the Harbormaster moved us over to Douglas Island, where the winter Taku Wind sometimes gets up to 100-MPH!!! ...We moved to a land-based apartment in December, too much for Kathie... Now we're supporting an apartment and a boat that's not yet functional enough to even take out and enjoy, and that's why I'm considering selling her, instead of investing the time and money into the complete remodel intended.
I can buy the yellow cedar and completely rebuild the vessel into a swank floating condo for about $80-G plus my labor, and I'm quite sure the finished product would not only be very unique, but also very livable, even for Kathie. The plans even include a 170-GPD Water Maker, 12-KW GenSet, & a centrifugal/hydraulic stabilizer, Naiad or equal. Tit-for-tat, there's not a lot of cost difference between fiberglass-over-plywood versus T&G Yellow Cedar, but the future maintenance would be more expensive with the wood, as I understand the Cedar tends to reject even the best of paints and needs repainting every 3 to 5 years.