Introduction

Why did I write this book? I just passed 70 and have been ‘messing about in boats’ all my life. I built my first kayak while I was still at school and paddled it down the River Stour in East Anglia, England, on a 3-day canoe camping trip to the sea. Since then, I have owned and restored three cruising sailboats, sailing each one extensively around the UK and Europe. I eventually crossed the Atlantic to the Canadian NW coast, on a 50-year-old wooden sailboat that I bought cheaply because she had been sitting at the dock for more than 15 years. I completely refitted her, including making my own sails.

Likewise, I have gained an RYA Yacht-master Certificate, been an instructor in sailing, earned a few degrees, taught and practiced as a youth worker, and later as a nurse. I have also done some major DIY projects that did not involve boats (like remodelling my house).

What has always inspired me are journeys in the outdoors that don’t involve engines? OK, cruising sailboats usually do have engines, but they primarily use wind power. I have also never had a ton of money, and I like the sense of achievement I get from doing it myself. I love learning about new things and find planning trips, as well as building and maintaining the equipment I use, to be very satisfying aspects of all my adventures.

Likewise, I am not a professional boat builder; I am a self-taught amateur, so why do I think I am qualified to write a book on restoring sailboats? There are textbooks on every aspect of sailing, from hull design to installing electronics, written by some of the world’s leading experts. These books cover every type of boat from historic wooden vessels to modern racing boats. They have now been joined by a plethora of YouTube channels: some excellent, some that should be treated with caution, and some documenting somebody’s disaster! I have a bookshelf full of them. This book is not meant to add to that list. In my teaching and writing, I seem to have a knack for taking complicated subjects and explaining them in relatively simple ways that non-experts can understand. That is my goal for this book. Let me know if you think I have succeeded.

Who is this book for?

I have spent much of my life as a teacher, teaching everything from sailing to nursing. The secret to a successful class is to know your students. I am finding that writing is similar to other fields; to be successful, you need a clear picture of your audience. I hope that anyone reading this book will find it entertaining and pick up some useful tips. Over the years, I have met or read about many people, young and old, who have a dream of buying a boat and heading out to sea. I was one about forty years ago! Whether your dream is to potter around the local inlets and islands or head across the horizon to another continent, you require a boat to do it, and it has to be seaworthy. Decent boats are expensive, especially ones capable of crossing oceans. I wrote this book for people who cannot simply write a cheque for $100,000+ and step onto a boat that is ready to go, even if such a thing exists. So this book is for people who either want to head to sea on a budget or who, like me, want the satisfaction you can get from ‘doing it with your own hands’.

I am assuming the reader is quite new to sailing, and I spend time explaining terms and some ideas behind what I am suggesting. I also assume the reader will have some experience with other DIY projects, but not necessarily with working on a boat.

It would be impossible to put everything you need to know about working on a project boat in one volume. It would be an encyclopedia! Apart from that, there is already a large collection of excellent technical books on all aspects of boat design and building. I have included the ones I find most useful in the bibliography. Don’t think of this as an encyclopedia on yacht restoration. Rather think of it as the advice you might get from an experienced skipper who wants to set you on the right path and help you avoid some of the mistakes they made. I have always believed it is far safer and cheaper to learn from other people’s mistakes than your own.

The type of project I describe involves buying a boat for $15-30K, spending time repairing and refitting it, and keeping the final budget under $50K. That is based on a boat of around 32ft (9.75 m) capable of offshore passages. For a smaller boat and a more limited cruising ground, you could realistically halve that. In the sixties, we used to call this ‘putting in sweat equity’. You should finish up with a boat in much better condition than you could have gotten if you had spent your entire budget on the initial boat. More importantly, you will have a boat that you will know intimately, and one that matches your needs as closely as possible which makes it much easier and safer to sail.

If you buy a boat that is ‘ready to go,’ I guarantee there will be things that need work or that you want to change. There will also be equipment you need to add or upgrade. Most experienced sailors say that when you buy a used boat, expect to spend half what you paid for it again within the first two years. This seems sound advice. On the other hand, if you get a boat that you know is a project, you will spend more on the refit. However, now you know everything is sorted and set up the way you want. You will also probably spend considerably less than the ‘ready to sail option’.

One word of caution. There is a saying in sailing that the most expensive boat you can buy is a free one! There is much truth in that. You want something with a sound hull and some decent hardware. We are talking here about bringing a neglected or damaged boat back to a seaworthy condition, not resurrecting a hulk. Within this budget, you will not want to spend a ton on hiring surveyors and, believe me, detailed surveys are expensive. In order to properly assess a boat’s condition, you need an experienced boat builder to assess the hull. An engineer to survey the engine and machinery. An electrician to check the wiring and equipment and a rigger/sail-maker to look at the sails and spars. Each one will want a day to go over the boat and charge around $100 an hour plus expenses. I would absolutely recommend doing that if you are spending $150K or more on a boat, but at this budget, spending a few thousand on survey fees is not feasible.

The other trap with surveys is thinking that an insurance survey is all you require. An insurance survey is exactly that: it tells the insurance company that the value you are setting on the boat is reasonable. A decent surveyor will always point out anything they see that may need urgent attention or be dangerous, but if you read the disclaimer, you may be surprised, or even alarmed, by what it does not cover! It will generally not tell you that the wiring has come to the end of its life, that the sails are blown out, or that the engine is on its last legs. During an insurance survey, the best you can expect is an inventory of the sails present; the surveyor will not look at them hoisted, nor will they start the engine. You get the picture. I am not knocking surveyors here; they are typically excellent and highly experienced. What I am pointing out is that you get what you pay for, and a basic survey is not sufficient to assess a project boat. I spent a full chapter on how to fully assess a boat you are considering.

This book discusses how to tackle a restoration project. It covers selecting the right boat, surveying her, identifying what needs to be done and developing a budget. As companion volumes, I have written an illustrated series detailing the different jobs, providing a step-by-step guide. These include extensive structural repairs, a full rewire, building a new cockpit and dodger, laying a traditional wooden deck and more. Each guide is fully illustrated, includes notes on how it was done, and aims to help anyone to undertake a similar job. The guides are particularly aimed at anyone tackling something like wiring for the very first time.

Brigid

The boat I am working on is a 1998 custom-built 32ft (9.75 m) cutter with double diagonal cedar planking and plywood decks fully coated with epoxy. I bought her after she had been left at the dock for a couple of years, with decks that were severely leaking and causing major structural damage. It has taken me 2 seasons to complete the rebuild while working part-time; the total budget will be around $30k. The final job is to fit the navigation gear and other offshore equipment. Once completed, she will be an offshore-capable expedition boat for the NW coast of Canada. Much of this book and the guides include illustrations from this project.

Layout, and how to use this book

This book is in two sections. The first volume is an introduction to choosing a suitable boat as a project, what is likely to be involved, and how to plan your project for success. This includes the very important topics of surveying and budgeting.

The second volume is a set of project guides covering specific areas, such as rewiring or installing bilge pumps. These guides are written to be taken aboard the boat and used as step-by-step guides with lots of illustrations. They are particularly aimed at people who are new to working on boat systems. For example, in the guide to rewiring, I start with how to make a reliable connection and select the right wire size, and then progress to designing a full wiring layout.

Not every project boat will need all the systems upgraded, or at least not immediately! This layout gives you the option to get the complete book, part one and all the guides, or to get part one and select only the guides you require. Or you might just choose specific guides if you already have a boat and are looking to upgrade some systems.