Do you have any pictures? I'd like to see your boat...

Thanks,
Brian D



"MarshallE" wrote in message
m...
Responses to questions


The boat is a 1942 Wheeler 83 footer. This boat served in WWII and was
part
of the Normandy flotilla. Some would believe she is worth
restoring...others would not. We would like to think she is worth
restoring
though it was not our intention at purchase to undertake the task now at
hand. Not that it is important but we relied on the seller, seller's
survey
and conversation with the actual surveyor. (not SAMS or NAMS) If you
feel
the need to tell us what we should have done with regard to the purchase
please do so....though I would advise that you look back into your past
and
recall when you did not know as much as today....and that maybe you
learned
by earlier mistakes.

Not all areas of the boat are rotten but there is alot. The stem,
frames/ribs in the bow were rotten. The planking in the bow is in good
shape. We have restored the bow with a new stem, new frames, and new
deck.
Most of the planking in the sides is good. The boat had plywood fastened
to
the planking and then glassed. This work seems to be in good shape and
may
influence the advice from others.

We knew that there was some rot in the stern. The more we investigated
the
more problems we found....currently to the point of putting in a new stern
and needing to work forward to the point of locating good wood. The first
couple of feet of planking appears to be to soft to use for the new
timbers
at the transom.

I understand normal ol rotten wood. I had not seen wood that appeared to
be
in excellent condition but very dry to the scraping. The wood had not
been
varnished.
Are there techniques to restore this wood?

With regard to emotional value.....I make purchases routinely that are
emotional as many do. So far I have not purchased a new $1,000,000 boat
to
find 5 years later that it held 60% of it's purchase price. I would find
that to be very emotional and down right disturbing but there are others
that would disagree.

With regard to dry land...being 83 feet and weighing 80 tons makes it
tough
to move to far beyond the boatyard. OH...and we own a slip for the boat.

The mechanical side of our boat is in good shape...we think. We cruised
over 1500 miles in the spring of 2004 without major incident.

My goal using this newsgroup is to learn and to share what I have learned
with others that are interested.

thanks,

Marshall






"William R. Watt" wrote in message
...

Is the dry powder wood or varnish?
If you can push a knife blade into the wood it's rotted and weak.
If you don't want to go to the expense of restoring the boat you can park
it somewhere on dry land and use it as a cottage. That way it doesn't
have
to
float and you're not in any danger of drowning.
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