Tripled planked yacht repair.

[John B]

This happens all the time , the worst cases get presented as typical of type. I've only ever owned multi skin boats,
The first one I owned( own) is built in 1907, I sailed it hard for 25 plus years and is in my shed now. ( 41 ft).She's in a cradle on her keel and has a bow and a stern prop, occasionally when I mess up and bump the prop it falls out because there's no sagging or weight in the ends of the hull. If she was some old carvel she'd be bent over her cradle like an old boot.
The modern we own was built over 1974 for the 75 season and is 4 skins of kauri resorcinol glued. The thing is a rock, nearly 50 years old and has a 20 year old paint job. the cupboards don't move and will open in 30 knots on the wind and she doesn't creak , groan or move.
The op boat is not a pro build and clearly has not been maintained, deck / clamp leaks have been allowed to continue and she's rotted in her planking , the same as any other wooden boat.
What my friend Paul might not have mentioned with his amazing repair and restoration is that that particular boat was also unmaintained, raced hard and ignored, left to rot and was the bargain of the town because of it. It was also not built of proper boatbuilding timber. The variety being the very type Capt James Cook discovered for the English navy in 17sixty whatever , harvested for spars and became profoundly disgusted as it rotted in front of his eyes. You could build a moored boat of aircraft spruce and it'll be light and fast and pretty for a few years I bet, ain't going to be around in 50 years though, or if it is ,its been put to bed with a blanky every night and talked to nicely. Kahikatea is like that. You can encapsulate it and it'll have a good life but it doesn't have have the redundancy /rot tolerance of kauri.
Our multi skin kauri boats are a bit different though , they speak for themselves because they are still there and a restoration , although less than simple ,usually ends up with a nominal 100 year old boat retaining a hand on heart 90 %( plus or minus a small figure )of its original hull and structure. This is no exaggeration, time and time again. Rainbow, Rawhiti,Ariki, Ngatira, Iorangi, Rogue,Ida,Gloriana,Yum Yum, Big Thelma, Little Thelma,Pastime, Janet... etc etc All boats in the range of 1886 through 1895 to about 1905. A restoration of one of those boats usually involves a new deck and beams, some clamp work , some hood end work on skins and often beefing up any fixed frames( of which there are not many because they're a monocoque hull relying on a couple or three stringers a side and the hull lamination/ fixing.(copper riveted nails). Garboard work( where have I heard that before) None of this is easy or inexpensive but the point is that the hull is still essentially the same wood as it was built with.
As I've said before the furtherest you can get from one of these 'restorations' where a few cleats and some furniture get tranferred over to a new hull.

My old boat for example, has the decks she was fitted with in 1907. ( those are 2 skin). Now that... that is very unusual.

Anyway.. the defense rests run out of time and my wife is pestering me to go sailing, have to go and get on one of them cold moulded multi skin timber boats made when I was at school ( and good grief, that wuz a looong time ago)and see if there's a fish out there.

[Paul G.]

So much work… so much material
I’m not a fan of cold molded/ hot molded/ triple skin /whatever the hell this boat is boats.
…and now you know why

Hey Wiz, nice to see you're still here! Most of these old girls that turn up as part of a dream should go to the dumpster or the next man unless there is a careful very conservative assessment of what's involved. Frinstance, at the end will you be the same man, with the same needs? I did a rebuild on a small classic that was perfect for my dream of weekends on the waves but it took so long that my single child who fitted quite nicely at age 3 did not fit at age 12 with his new brother lol!

The other question is whether its worth it, there's a difference between caulking a few planks, sistering a few ribs and slappin' on some yard paint etc, to a boat that needs a rebuild everywhere you look! If you can get one that sails for more upfront, it will be way less in the end and youre on the water. Some people are builders and enjoy their boats as a backyard hobby and thats just fine but you need to work these things out before you start since boats are never cheap, its either time (irreplaceable) or money.

I have seen it so many times that it's sadly predictable, guy gets old boat and criminally underestimates what's involved, spends years rebuilding, guy get old and runs out of steam, health, money, boat gets sold to another man with a dream or is left to compost somewhere.

That is also why I'm a big fan of using plenty of goop on these old girls

[Paul G.]

This happens all the time , the worst cases get presented as typical of type. I've only ever owned multi skin boats,
The first one I owned( own) is built in 1907, I sailed it hard for 25 plus years and is in my shed now. ( 41 ft).She's in a cradle on her keel and has a bow and a stern prop, occasionally when I mess up and bump the prop it falls out because there's no sagging or weight in the ends of the hull. If she was some old carvel she'd be bent over her cradle like an old boot.
The modern we own was built over 1974 for the 75 season and is 4 skins of kauri resorcinol glued. The thing is a rock, nearly 50 years old and has a 20 year old paint job. the cupboards don't move and will open in 30 knots on the wind and she doesn't creak , groan or move.
The op boat is not a pro build and clearly has not been maintained, deck / clamp leaks have been allowed to continue and she's rotted in her planking , the same as any other wooden boat.
What my friend Paul might not have mentioned with his amazing repair and restoration is that that particular boat was also unmaintained, raced hard and ignored, left to rot and was the bargain of the town because of it. It was also not built of proper boatbuilding timber. The variety being the very type Capt James Cook discovered for the English navy in 17sixty whatever , harvested for spars and became profoundly disgusted as it rotted in front of his eyes. You could build a moored boat of aircraft spruce and it'll be light and fast and pretty for a few years I bet, ain't going to be around in 50 years though, or if it is ,its been put to bed with a blanky every night and talked to nicely. Kahikatea is like that. You can encapsulate it and it'll have a good life but it doesn't have have the redundancy /rot tolerance of kauri.
Our multi skin kauri boats are a bit different though , they speak for themselves because they are still there and a restoration , although less than simple ,usually ends up with a nominal 100 year old boat retaining a hand on heart 90 %( plus or minus a small figure )of its original hull and structure. This is no exaggeration, time and time again. Rainbow, Rawhiti,Ariki, Ngatira, Iorangi, Rogue,Ida,Gloriana,Yum Yum, Big Thelma, Little Thelma,Pastime, Janet... etc etc All boats in the range of 1886 through 1895 to about 1905. A restoration of one of those boats usually involves a new deck and beams, some clamp work , some hood end work on skins and often beefing up any fixed frames( of which there are not many because they're a monocoque hull relying on a couple or three stringers a side and the hull lamination/ fixing.(copper riveted nails). Garboard work( where have I heard that before) None of this is easy or inexpensive but the point is that the hull is still essentially the same wood as it was built with.
As I've said before the furtherest you can get from one of these 'restorations' where a few cleats and some furniture get tranferred over to a new hull.

My old boat for example, has the decks she was fitted with in 1907. ( those are 2 skin). Now that... that is very unusual.

Anyway.. the defense rests run out of time and my wife is pestering me to go sailing, have to go and get on one of them cold moulded multi skin timber boats made when I was at school ( and good grief, that wuz a looong time ago)and see if there's a fish out there.

JB, good to see you making the most of the respite from these cursed easterlies, catch some fish and go yachting! We have had one day of summer here in AK, mind you the garden didnt need watering!

There is a huge difference between restoring/rebuilding a classic yacht that has significant provenance, elegance, history, emotional connection etc and some nondescript vessel. Moreover, the materials its made from matter as well as the original workmanship and attention to detail. Of course all of this is irrelevant if you're madly in love! I look at a "proper" resto like Tally Ho and appreciate everything about it- but the amount of work is MASSIVE! So much donated labour, materials, time as well as paid work and a very skilful media/patreon platform to fund it and they are still miles away! I think the trick is to buy a boat that has been restored or nearly so, it will be pennies on the dollar then go sailing asap and make the most of it before the next date with the hardstand!