0:00
There are literally hundreds of thousands of project boats available around the world
0:05
but does that really mean that you can get on the water for cheap? Now you might be saying to yourself that most of those potential project boats out there aren't worth fixing
0:16
And you'd be right. Out of the never-ending supply of project boats available, only a portion of them are really going to be worth fixing
0:24
If you've seen our tour of the boat graveyard though, then you'll also know that there are still quite a few out there
0:30
there that are actually worth fixing. But you'll need to know some considerations about a boat before you go jumping into a project boat
0:38
We've done a few boats over the years and we've already got a video going over some of the
0:42
vital checks of a project boat that you'll need to look at and how to check them out
0:46
But we'll link to that video at the end of this video. Some of those vitals are going to be your transom
0:54
the condition of the engine, the boat's fuel tank, the stringers and the floor of the boat
1:03
These checks will let you know what you were about to get yourself into, which is one of the top considerations that you need to account for
1:10
when it comes to this area of boating, being how much of a project can you stomach or how much are you willing to do
1:18
We can easily look at the financial evaluation of the boat and make a comparison
1:23
if the boat is going to take you $20,000 to restore it
1:27
but is really only worth like $10,000 even after. you are done restoring it, then that's not really worth doing. Unless you have sentimental value
1:35
or you really desire that haul and boat, where the dollars in the cents don't really matter
1:39
anymore. When it comes to the amount of work and what you are looking for out of the boat
1:45
though, this is where we can make it way easier to decide on a threshold or tolerance of what you
1:51
want to do to the boat, and what you are looking to get out of the boat as well. Most of us
1:56
dread the thought of going boatless, and many of us don't even see that as an option. Even if we have
2:02
to ride around in a whack-and-packed boat to stay on the water, sometimes roughing it is just what we have to do
2:08
Of course, you've got to be comfortable with a boat that isn't as cosmetically pleasing as it is
2:13
structurally sound, functionally operating, and safe when it comes to getting out on the water
2:19
We'll take my friend's Seacraft boat here as an example. This is a 1973 20-foot seacraft that's been
2:26
modified. Like many of these old boats, to have a bracket installed on it and then a 140-horse
2:31
four-stroke Suzuki put on it. These are a really desirable haul because they ride great
2:37
I don't know how well they handle with the bracket put on there. I've never been on one with
2:41
the bracket, just the ones with the engines still mounted on the tranceom, and they rode really
2:46
nicely. When it comes to these older holes, whenever the sides begin to blister like this
2:52
this will need to be fixed. But this is more cosmetic at this point in time and the pinch here is you got limited options for fixing them You can either patch them individually and leave the spots or you could patch them individually
3:07
and just wrap the boat with vinyl or you can sand and re-gel coat the entire outside of the hall
3:13
and that is a pretty sizable job to undertake. Again it's a cosmetic thing unlike this down here
3:20
on the keel of the front of the boat where we've got this big old scratch in the keel and this
3:24
has to be fixed in order to make the boat usable. Running the boat with this kind of damage
3:29
will end up in some serious structural destruction to the integrity of the boat, so that will have
3:35
to be repaired with some glasswork. Now the inside of the boat is where we get to see something
3:40
interesting about how a boat flexes and the importance of sanding. You can see a lot of cracks
3:45
like this around the boat, here on the top and down on the floor. The floor is more spots
3:52
opposed to cracks, where the filler has separated from the fiberglass that is underneath all the
3:58
filler and gel coat that they used. There's also this crack that runs around the corner of the
4:05
transom along the floor. The transom is also cracking around the edges as well and is chipped all along the cut out here where they've covered it up with some 5,200 or something like that
4:41
You can see the exposed glass here where we can pull out some glass
4:46
The main thing about this is you can see the glass wasn't wrapped over the transom
4:50
So all this will need to be glass. over and sealed up. But the transom seems solid and isn't integrally compromised like you would
5:10
think it would be. As well as the floor. The floor is still solid with
5:22
No soft spots, just the exposed glass where the filler is popping off
5:27
You can see how thick the filler is and everything on the boat flexes, but I'm not sure
5:32
if the floor didn't get sanded before the filler was put on or what
5:40
But it's all popping off in real thick chunks like this. All over the boat too
5:45
The floor up in the front isn't as bad as it is back here. But it starts with these little cracks or spots that then just chip up And with the boat like this it isn really usable
6:10
So what will need to be done here is the entire floor will need to be chipped up
6:14
and ground down to the glass. But not too far because it looks like there's just one layer
6:19
of glass here on the floor. Underneath here looks like the wood instead of another layer of glass
6:24
So you don't want to grind through that. But all the filler will need to come off the deck
6:28
For whatever reason, the floor came out really lumpy when they did it, so it looks like the filler was used to try and level it out
6:35
But it had to be put on really thick in certain spots in order to try and level out the deck
6:40
I guess this was done like 12 years ago, so that's pretty good that it lasted 12 years
6:44
I'm sure someone got some great use out of the boat over that time period
6:48
Down here in the bilge, though, it looks about like what is to be expected down in a bilge
6:53
Wires everywhere, heat shrink connectors that weren't heated, we've got this nice little
6:58
Y valve down here for the water system. It looks like this was running the live well and the
7:03
saltwater washdown system and I'm pretty sure that this probably was not leaking at any point in time
7:08
either. The bilge pump is looking pristine but then it looks like the saltwater washdown
7:17
hose was actually stored down here in the bilge as well and ran out through this little hole
7:23
in the access here which is an interesting feature to have. I'm
7:58
But then the console doesn't look too bad. Probably only one speaker working
8:12
Radio looks all right. Nice compartment here for some storage. Battery switch tucked back in the console here
8:23
switch tucked back in the console here. Trim tab pump that probably doesn't work
8:33
And then wow, an interesting bracket with the fuel filter on it that's come off
8:46
But looking at the fuel tank down in here, the fuel tank was changed at some point in time
8:51
It's got a plastic tank in it. But the tank had to be a prefab tank because the fill port is pointing in the wrong direction
8:57
It going over to the starboard gunwale instead of the port side of the boat where the fill port is And that why they got this big bend here in the hose going to the tank But hey it works right Now the one thing that you got to watch out for is stuff like this here
9:15
They've got snaps here where a cushion or a canvas would strap to on the leaning post
9:19
But the screws are sticking out and have been ground down but not all the way
9:23
I'm sure this is great to lean against and get a nice gouge down the back of your thigh
9:27
while you're fishing. Probably not the best feature for the boat. The console's got some nice storage under the seat up here, but it's got a pretty nice
9:40
size crack down the front of it here. As well as up here in the fish box
9:51
The lid has a huge crack going down the top of it all the way across the hatch, but a nice
9:56
size locker though. All in all, it's not a bad project boat
10:00
Most of the things on the boat are cosmetic, and this may seem like a bigger project than
10:04
you would think, but then really, it's just two main issues that is keeping the boat
10:08
on land right now, being the front keel portion of the boat, and the deck glasswork, which
10:16
I'm including the Transom glasswork with that. The rest of this stuff is all cosmetic
10:23
I mean, you shut the plumbing off and lose the water systems, you strap the bilge pump down
10:28
and fix the wiring to make sure that that's operating. with the float switch so you can leave the boat in the water, but then you're water ready
10:34
I'd take those screws out of the leaning post as well, though. I'd say that the rigging here needs to be moved over as well
10:40
Having it come out of the deck like this and lay over the transom like that is just a hazard to trip over when you are fighting a fish
10:47
And this boat has low gundals on it anyway, so you don't want to fall out of the boat because you tripped on the rigging tubes and the steering hoses
10:53
But other than that, the engine looks great and the transom's not rotten
10:57
the fuel tank's in good condition, With a good day or two of grinding and sanding, you can just grind the deck down and patch
11:04
any glass spots, level it out some, and re-gelcoat the deck with some non-skid
11:09
I'd probably move the rigging over as well while doing that. You patch up the scrape marks in the front of the keel, and then the boat's going to be ready
11:16
for water. When it comes to the project boat, I think that it's going to be your comfort level that
11:21
will decide how much of a project you are willing to take on. Glasswork does suck, which is where a lot of people draw the line, but others don't mind
11:29
the glass work and hate the electrical work or they don't want to deal with the plumbing issues
11:34
The boat is going to depend on how much you want and what you can afford
11:37
But being hundreds of thousands of project boats available on the market
11:42
you could easily get into a boat for pretty cheap and get out on the water without having to deal
11:46
with a whole bunch of problems. Now make sure you are subscribed to the channel so you can see how this boat turns out in the upcoming weeks
11:53
As well as visit us at born againboating.com for more helpful how-to boating content
11:59
Thank you all for hanging out with us this week, and we look forward to seeing you next week
