I picked up this very old boat for $200 in late June. It might wind up being amazing or crap in the end. The main reason I picked it up is to have a tangible project on which to learn how to do some fiberglass work without screwing up something expensive.
How old is the boat? It doesn't have any sort of hull ID or manufacturing marks on it, so I don't even know what the manufacturer is. All I know is that it's built like a tank, so screwing it up should be more difficult than with a thinner hulled boat.
I dragged it home and just kind of threw it on blocks while I figured stuff out.
During the following weeks, I picked up a brand new Load Rite trailer that'll serve as the stand for this while I work on it. I figure even if I sell the boat, I can modify the trailer to carry canoes and kayaks. I went brand new because so many trailers around here are ratty, overpriced and don't have a title. Or all of those conditions at once.
First things first, I had to remove the integrated bench seats. They'll need to get replaced, and having them gone will make the boat lighter to move around. All of the wood inside of them had turned to mulch well in the past, but apparently the boat still got some use because the middle of the benches had cracks in the shape of asses.
I'm betting the foam has water in it, too. It feels a bit mushy.
I cut into the floor. The small stringer it had is completely gone, and I was able to rip out chunks of the floor with my hands.
I've not even gotten to the transom yet. This is going to be a challenge, but the varied jobs required to get this small guy back on the water will translate well over to the bigger boat.
