Рет қаралды 605
This 20 Dutch-designed boat was offered for free on a local web site. Wooden boats are often avoided by many boaters and for good reason. Many can be in poor shape with need of many repairs and also can need more maintenance than a fibreglass vessel. There were no pictures included in the offer and the boat was stored in a field behind a feed Co-Op so it was hard to imagine what kind of condition it was in.
I called a friend and we went to have a look and found a strip built 20 foot Dutch racer which had been wrapped in FG inside and out by the original builder who was the father of the man offering it for free. (he actually made the name boards while in 8th grade shop class, back in the late 60's)
She had been covered with torn tarps held in place with chunks of firewood, but once we uncovered her and started poking around we found she was in amazing rock-solid condition. I took her home and started anxiously getting her ready for the water. I had to replace all the standing rigging and that was about it...she was ready for a shake down cruise! Well...she was no amazing on the water that I didn't haul her out for the rest of that summer. Sailed perfectly balanced and was fast as all get out, even with 50+ year old sails!
The next spring I went to work making her more comfortable, drier and updated the sail-handling. This video is a picture diary of that transition, before, during and after.
Note: These boats are usually an open cockpit racer with no cabin and no benches and the crew sat outboard of the low combings, This is hardly like the standard design.