fixing up decommissioned patrolboat to houseboat

External Since: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 1

Hi,

I am considering purchasing and fixing up a decommissioned patrolboat,
the hull is in good shape, and parts of the boat have already been
made into a living area.
Now here comes the embarassing newbie questions:

I have sailed before, but that was weekend sailing, this at any rate
is motor driven and the motor is shot to hell. I am a pretty good
handyman and have a good deal of carpentry experience but not really
the skills involved in this kind of restoration project (have done
minimal welding, was not very good) what kinds of skills are likely to
be needed for a project like this? The motor I will buy my way to. The
boat does not actually need to be usable as a boat for the first year
after purchase.

Any suggestions for practical things I should start reading up on,
considering purchasing, links to relevant information sources?

Thanks.

External Since: May 12, 2007 Posts: 1576

On Dec 9, 11:19 am, pantagruel <rasmussen.br....RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am considering purchasing and fixing up a decommissioned patrolboat,
> the hull is in good shape, and parts of the boat have already been
> made into a living area.
> Now here comes the embarassing newbie questions:
>
> I have sailed before, but that was weekend sailing, this at any rate
> is motor driven and the motor is shot to hell. I am a pretty good
> handyman and have a good deal of carpentry experience but not really
> the skills involved in this kind of restoration project (have done
> minimal welding, was not very good) what kinds of skills are likely to
> be needed for a project like this? The motor I will buy my way to. The
> boat does not actually need to be usable as a boat for the first year
> after purchase.
>
> Any suggestions for practical things I should start reading up on,
> considering purchasing, links to relevant information sources?
>
> Thanks.

If you are serious about this project, I would hire a surveyor. He/she
will point out all of the problems with the boat, then you will have a
real good starting point. Once you have done that, come back and tell
us what you need to fix and we will probably be able to give you much
better information...