I've been thinking about getting an old sailboat and restoring it. Have any of you done this before? I'd like to get one in decent condition with no real structural damage and refurbish the insides. I'm thinking something between 22 and 25 ft. I'm just looking for perspective on what you guys have done and how long it has taken you.

12/22/2010 1:33:23 AM

forever and a lot of money. #1 make sure that all the fittings for rigging etc are tight. Most fiberglass sailboats had a piece of wood glassed in below the deck, and the hardware is screwed into this block. If the wood is rotten, then you have a shit ton of expensive glass work to do, and trying to make it match the rest of the boat is a nightmare. Some boats had metal embeds instead, only problem here is that the screws are generally corroded in place, and replacing anythign is a pain in the ass. Spars,sails, and rigging are all fairly easily replaced if you have the money.

If the boat is on a trailer, its fairly easy to get under and look at the hull yourself. If you have no real experience with boats, pay someone to do a survey.

I have a 17' fiberglass day sailer that I bought 6 yrs ago that I have slowly been restoring. It took about 6 months working on it every night to get it ready for the water, there is a lot of small detail work left. My restoration was more to restore useability than looks, it depends on what you are after.

12/22/2010 8:36:20 AM

Exactly what Houston said. Finding a fixer-upper in decent structural shape is a daunting task, and if you don't know much about boats or what to look for, you can find yourself with a real nightmare...AFTER you've bought it and start stripping things down.

Fiberglass delamination and waterlogging does indeed get very expensive and labor intensive, and chances are that if the boat isn't really new, parts of the deck are cored with wood. Like balsa wood. Best thing to look for is a deck cored with foam. Below the waterline, old boats like to blister, especially ones from the mid '80s and earlier, before they improved resin formulations. Nothing like ending up with a waterlogged hull that may take forever, or never, to dry out. And then barrier coating and bottom painting (and subsequent bottom painting every 2 years MINIMUM).

One thing to know...hardware will nickel and dime (more like $10 and $20) you to death. A lot of old boats had aluminum hardware (stuff like stanchions, plates, etc) that has not held up to a salt environment...stainless is the way to go, but after fitting my 23' Compac with stainless stanchions, pulpit, stern railing...I can say it's NOT cheap. Rigging, blocks, sheaves, etc. are not cheap to replace. And your best bet is to find a boat with relatively new sails...because buying sails alone can double the cost of your diamond in the rough.

I second a survey. What we did before buying our Island Packet 27...and even this boat, though in good shape for its age and reasonably well taken care of, has had a few expensive issues. Delamination of the rudder. When I went to refinish all the brightwork (and an IP has a LOT of wood), I pulled the anchor windlass up to find a nice rotted area where water had leaked under it because it hadn't been bedded with marine sealant very well. Same for one of the starboard stanchions. Supplies weren't too expensive; I think I had about 300 bucks in Epiphanes varnish, thinner, epoxy, sandpaper, etc. A few things here and there...a rebuild kit for the head handpump, a busted forward hatch, rebuild kit for the freshwater pump, various engine maintenance items, two new AGM batteries, a water heater that corroded through...a damn boat will break your bank slowly and maddeningly.

But then I'm crazy enough already and do it all out of love.

PS: you CAN do this cheaply, but it takes persistence and a LOT of homework. My friend John is currently redoing a Catalina 27, and he's done EVERYTHING on the cheap. Right down to painting the hull and topsides with an industrial enamel. And it doesn't look bad. Here's what he did: he has been looking for at least a couple of years for a boat, and he's hit boatyards and marinas that have boats with outstanding slip and storage fees, where the owner just left the boat. This one is a boatyard gem, and she's been on the yard and out of the water...nice and dry.

12/22/2010 9:16:56 AM

Yeah, this has been on my "to do" list for a while, but it's no small project. I've replaced sections of floor and done minor structural repairs on boats I've owned/flipped, but I think the sailboat restoration is going to be one of those projects for when I'm no longer working a 40 hour/week job and trying to manage a household. It's got to be a labor of love for it to be worthwhile.

12/22/2010 12:56:37 PM

I'm looking to sell a 1985 Catalina 25' Tall Rig with swing keel. The boat is already in pretty good shape, but like anything 25 years old needs some freshening up. The interior is all there, just dated. She's currently on a new custom-built trailer in a dry slip at Jordan Lake. PM me if interested.

12/22/2010 3:16:07 PM

Bust Out Another Thousand

12/22/2010 3:55:46 PM

^^ Sorry man, im in oregon.

Houston and zxappeal, thanks for the input - i've got a ton of research to do before I jump in. I just checked out some books and plan to do a lot of reading. I guess to get started, where would I even go to look for a boat? And should that be the first thing I'm doing? I know almost nothing about boats/sailing Is there any literature you'd recommend to me? Thanks!

12/22/2010 11:58:03 PM

best thing to do with a sailboat is burn it. dont pour gas on it though, real boats with engines will need it.

12/23/2010 12:09:23 AM

Joel...any pussy can run a powerboat. It takes some pretty interesting skills to sail. Don't be hatin' fool. I done both. I like both. But I can run all day for a less than a tenth of what the powerboaters are paying.

12/23/2010 3:07:27 AM

^^ There are a ton of books out there and even more information on the interwebs to get you started, but I would honestly take a class or find someone who already owns a boat to teach you the basics and get you started. I know several folks who have taken ASA classes (Basic Keelboat, Coastal Crusing, etc.) to get started, but I've always found the best way to learn/teach is through application.

Another great way to learn is to volunteer or work as a mate aboard a sailing vessel. I learned to sail by working for a charter company during the summer over a couple of years and having one on one education with seasoned captains/crew.

I would definitely find a friend with some sailing experience, rent a small boat, and spend a day or two learning the basics before you commit to buying your own hole in the water to pour money into.

[Edited on December 23, 2010 at 7:33 AM. Reason : .]

12/23/2010 7:32:06 AM

The best you could do, would be to go buy a $300 sunfish. Practice your fiberglassing skills on that, get it ready to sail, then meet a local sailing club at the lake and find someone willing to give you a few pointers on sailing. After you learn how to sail and do basic boat repairs, then graduate to a bigger boat. There are many things that it is much easier to learn in a small boat than a big, and it will make you a much better sailor (ie you will actually enjoy it more) Reading wind shifts, trimming sails, etc is all much easier on small boat, but readily applied to a large boat when you are ready. You could easily buy a fixer up sailing dingy this winter and have it ready to go for the spring. Next fall if you get enough experience, look into bigger boats. You will probably find that even 22' is more boat than you want or need. There are a lot of good options in the 16-20' range that have a small cabin (if you want one).

Keep in mind, anything much bigger than 15' feet is harder to trailer, and almost impossible to rig by yourself. Once you get to 20', you are looking at keeping the boat in the water somewhere and paying monthly dockage fees.

12/23/2010 8:16:18 AM

IMO, 22-25ft just isn't a very good size. It's too small to be comfortable for more than a night, and too big to trailer easily. I have never restored a boat, but I have sailed a lot, and the marina where we keep our sailboat has a number of boats of all sizes for sale. Unless you live near a large body of water that you are going to be continually interested in, I would really recommend spending the same amount of money on a Hobie Cat or a Prindle if you're in it for the excitement, or a Flying Scot etc if you're in it for family fun.

If you decide you still want a 22-25ft boat, come down to Oriental, NC with a trailer. There are so many pieces of shit floating around here covered with algae, I'm sure you could take one off somebody's hands for nothing. Alternatively, there are loads of boats in that size range that are older, for sale, and very seldom visited, and they are dirt cheap. I think it would be much better to go ahead and buy one in decent working shape than to try to restore one. There are so many good boats out there in working condition, surely you can afford one or you wouldn't be considering this. If you get one to restore and get into replacing ANY pulleys, blocking, winches, etc, it's going to get REALLY expensive REALLY fast.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do!

12/24/2010 2:15:51 AM

Thanks for all the input everyone! Since im an inexperienced sailor and I dont want to shell out $$ for all the rigging on a larger boat, I'm thinking of something pretty small.

I'm torn between a boardboat and a little daysailer.

Do you think I could trailer and rig something like this http://eugene.craigslist.org/boa/2149250762.html on my own?

2/6/2011 2:53:28 PM

that will be hard to rig by yourself on a windy day. It also looks like a pig of a boat. Does it have all the spars/sails with it? Custom rigging will probably be 10 times the purchase price. Buy a class boat, that way spare parts are readily available (and used ones are cheap). Plus as a first timer, you can google fixing whichever part on your boat, and there will be a hundred write ups on it. That is much harder for a custom or one off design.

2/7/2011 8:12:05 AM

you don't want to buy some guy's custom unfinished project boat. that thing looks like a piece of shit. and after having the spars and rigging custom built ($$$$$) you're going to have to buy sails ($$$). I would guess that you'd have to spend a minimum of $2,000 to get that boat even close to the water, and that's if you buy shitty sails and recycled spars

there are very few small boats out there that are worth restoring. cal's, catalinas, hunters, etc are a dime a dozen.

[Edited on February 7, 2011 at 9:58 AM. Reason : .]

2/7/2011 9:56:23 AM

Thanks for the feedback. Based on what I'm hearing, I'm now thinking of building my own.

I think something like this would be ideal:

http://www.polysail.com/conga.htm

2/15/2011 1:19:06 AM