Restoring a wooden boat : Salvage and tow bringing her home

This is a 1948-built timber boat Gurugal, she was sunk and abandoned for almost 2 years on the mud banks of the Hawkesbury River. In 2021 my father and I salvaged her and have begun bringing her back to her former glory along with our second timber boat Jannali.
The next video will contain commentary and timber works as requested.

[@ricturtle]

It was the dual bridges at Brooklyn that did it for me

[@jerrycallender-qm7zr]

What happened between pumping the water and painting the hull?

[@topherbec7578]

I admire someone who can take on a project like this.

[@ClydeneHostetler]

This boat wants to live!! God bless you for taking this project! She’s a looker. Good luck & looking forward to her progress.😊

[@09beegee]

What type of work was she built for?

[@donaldmiller1207]

Bing fan of older wooden beauties afloat. Notic the Teak Decking and really nice woodwork trimming window etc. Would love to see finished with brightwork varnish sparkling in the sun...

[@matui6983]

We have a boat here in NZ with a very similar hull shape to yours. It currently has a heavily modified 6 cylinder D-series Ford we built in it pushing it along at an easy 20+ knots. Not bad for a boat over 100 years old.

[@Martin-y9t]

I read your comment on the restored wooden boat here in Australia 🦘,& you stated you had a similar type 🚢 boat.so why don't you put some video clips, photos ect for all to admire 💁..(just a thought 🤔)..cheers Martin..

[@jeffhodgson965]

Watching this while doing the ironing this morning. Thanks for sharing this, one of my work mates was a Shiowright on Goat and has lots of great memories👍

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thanks Jeff, I'm glad you enjoyed. I'll be posting some more in depth videos soon

[@kimcooper1451]

Nice to see another G boat being looked after. I spent a lot of time around Gonniemah in Port Macquarie. Sadly she is back on the hard but not totally forgotten. Good luck with your rebuild.

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thanks mate, this footage is old and I've already got much better videos in the works with timber work, voice over commentary etc.

[@markduncan6690]

Whoa! Now here is “A Restoration Job” Power On Sir!

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thanks very much mate 🙂. Still lots to do and more to come.

[@bigunone]

Thank you for allowing the wind and the waves to be the music and not cover it with some stupid melody played over and over

[@iventheede2669]

May you have good luck with your boat.

[@bishopkinlyside8477]

Wow that looks like an old ferry fantastic , Nothing like an old wooden boat give up the good work love your videos cliff from Logan city Queensland Australia

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thank you mate, she was pretty much a ferry but for the workers of Goat Island back in the 40s - 80s.

[@paulbriggs3072]

As someone from the Great Lakes part of New York State, I know how rare and precious old locally built boats like this are. I watched the whole thing and enjoyed it. It was an inspirational ending to see the other sister ship show up and escort it at the end. In fact I think your boat's more original window configuration is better looking than Gooreen's.

[@chrisstaylor8377]

Well done ,worth saving

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thank you mate, lots more to come. Will make it more enjoyable in the future

[@RichardLWhite]

Looks like a interesting restoration...liked and subbed..from Minnesota USA..good luck on your refit...cheers

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thank you mate, I'm amazed by the amount of people outside of Australia interested in my restos, heaps to come

[@jayrecard2742]

Bloody awesome video, I lived on the Hawkesbury on a yacht for a few years back in the 80's. In NZ at the moment and restoring a 11.6 mtr whaler... built in 1906. I'm living on it now at Nelson NZ.

[@jeffparkes01]

Great bit of 'slow TV' guys. Love your work and will look into the other vids. :)

[@gwstonemason]

Lovely old boat.

[@gwheyduke]

The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. Between Wisemans Ferry and the Pacific Ocean marks the boundary of Greater Metropolitan Sydney in the south and the Central Coast region to the north.

[@oliverw3646]

Beautiful scenery!

[@blackbirdxx4613]

Nice boat....

[@AM-jt7wv]

Schöne alte Linienführung 😍

[@TimsBitsnPieces]

A lovely old workboat... there are several very similar down here in Melb that were the navy 40ft workboats. She has nice lines on her.

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thank you Mate

[@MuscatZulu]

Well done you guys👍

[@johnmorrison1180]

Could do with a little more verbal input, we have all seen old boats under tow, but I did appreciate the natural sounds and no music.

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Sorry about that at the time I was so focused on saving this old boat. Starting my career as a shipwright and preserving maritime history I will for the future do This

[@ПавелКолабкин-ю2т]

У нас в России все на металл порезали.Нечего восстанавливать 😂😂

[@markduncan6690]

What a tiny ship on the ocean!🫣🫣🫣

[@normanmerrill1241]

Beautiful ship

[@johnulshafer951]

What has happened with this boat? Whats her current status? Is there a place online to view that blueprint? I love this design and would love one just like her!

[@foxyloon]

Might be a silly question, but was that rain water being pumped out, or did she have a leak and flooded? Glad to see the old lady being saved, she has some elegant lines to her. Will be a gorgeous boat when she's done.

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Hi, not a silly question. This water was from about 3 major leaks she had, 1 of either side about mid ships and 1 just below the waterline. She would fill up with water at high tide and at low tide be full and stay sunk. Once the pumps were installed with a few trial and error attempts she finally floated. I do wish I recorded more during the salvage but everything was so hectic for example we arrived to check on the boat once and it had got caught under the pontoon so we had to wait for 6 hrs until the tide came up enough to lift the pontoon whilst sinking the boat, eventually we got her free with minimal water ingress but it was scary to say the least. I have a lot of photos during the salvage. future videos will have commentary during timber work repairs

[@pks41805]

Fun crossing.

[@ronmcgregor9324]

Do a bit of voice over Alex. You have a great story to tell.

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Hi Ron, thanks I plan on that soon for the next chapter of actual videoed woodwork as I didn't do much of what could have been voice overed during the salvage.

[@ronmcgregor9324]

She will come ip a treat under the care from you and your family. Was a treat to see the three workboats coming into Sydney harbour.

[@markduncan6690]

I would have put this ship on a barge! Too much uncertainty!

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Here in Sydney a barge would cost $$$ , luckily these type of boats were used to go going between the hawkesbury and Sydney occasionally which isn't very far.

[@kellyrandall1714]

I wonder why you didn't use the facilities at the haul out , to pressure wash the inside??

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

We only had 1 week to get her ready so unfortunately not enough time for that but once in Sydney we used a mates Hot water pressure washer and did it thoroughly. More to come with more in depth and commentary.

[@daleskidmore1685]

Recognised this was on the Hawesbury because of Dangar Stu and Sailing Katie Louise. A brief intro about the boat would have been nice, but appreciate the lack of a musical soundtrack.

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Thanks mate, I promise I will for the next video ☺️👍

[@brianmackenzie5692]

I see being towed by a former 40 foot naval workboat (AWB 4010).

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

That's the one

[@markduncan6690]

Watch Out for those Ocean Swells!

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

My second video of Jannali ( other boat ) is a doosie for the swell. She was built for those conditions. She's a beast

[@rodneylee4026]

Better check and see if there's any paint left on the hull after that tug. Lol

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Haha luckily there was little

[@blackbirdxx4613]

Where is this

[@kmg9802]

😍👍 🇱🇰

[@bigunone]

*:16 guy in the yellow shirt is telling the other guy faster their still back there!

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Lol you're God dam right

[@kevin-vt7dw]

Why not I'm watching 10 others

[@jasperedwards2713]

looks like martys location mew zeeland

[@jamescobun7395]

What type of boat is it? I would love to make a model of that type.

[@lopezwoodenboats8441]

Hi James, this is a 36ft G class motor Launch built by the shipwrights at goat island between 1947-1955. Only 15 were built of this design and now only 5 are left including Gurugal. I believe there are line drawings on the web somewhere