davo123

Id like to think as im a welder by trade and building beautiful structures out of metal is something I regularly do it would look quite nice indeed.infact the new addition on deck would be shorter in height than the current wheelhouse and the same length and position as the current setup above deck including wheelhouse,you truly have no idea what you are talking about concerning what I can or cannot build or how I would do it . nevertheless Thank you Paul and to everyone who has chatted to me,I think I obviously need to think about passing on this one and saving for longer.i may still hire the gauge and test it.if nothing else it will be easy to say no if i find problems and its all experience after all. If I do buy it I'll let you all know.happy new year to all.

I would get it hauled out and cleaned.it would then be derusted with a pin gun,anything welded then treated then an epoxy two part paint.so what id effectively be paying for is getting it towed,hauled out the water and cleaned at £1500,then the cost of metal,welding consumables and rust inhibitor and paint.that would probably take me the best part of a year id imagine so add 120 a month for twelve months.without doing any welding under the waterline i would already be buying 2500 quids worth of 4mm sheet to do a new deck and space above deck.the 6 grand would be enough to last me to august believe me. Im aware of the costs involved with hauling out and storage and insurance for tow..im not a fool however,if I could find a boat of a similar size for around 10k in decent nick I would drop this one in an instant!

Yes id have 6k available to spend and a large check in august. Thats alot of boat for 7500 euro Paul,i definitely need to have more of a search.I haven't found anything close to that,the thing is I need space,lots of it.with this I can have two storeys without it looking awful,in effect a 45x12ft space downstairs and another 35ft x 12 down.i guess I can do that with any similar sized trawler though.

Ok good to know it needs to be bright metal.the price may well be negotiable if its in worse nick than expected.id be renting the gauge for a week so I could literally go all over it except for the concreted bit.im aware its a massive undertaking even if I got extremely lucky and the hull is ok.the story is that 15 years ago it was sent in for major bottom plating..I dont know if it was the whole bottom, the owner couldn't pay amd forfeited the boat at which point it sat in the yard a few years and my friend who worked there at the time eventually bought it off them for labour,got it tugged to where she is and it hasnt moved since.certainly at the front of the boat on both sides the first ten foot has definitely been plated but you cant see any further due to water/mud depending on the tide. Also shes never been underwater at any point. She has alot of paperwork also that I have yet to see as its in storage elsewhere.

The last one is of the worst looking bit of hull thats visible on the inside.the majority of it at the front end is dry inside but obviously I have no idea what lurks below it The last one is of the worst looking bit of hull thats visible on the inside.the majority of it at the front end is dry inside but obviously I have no idea what lurks below it

Just having a good look at wendy blog now.either way very glad I found that as if nothing else I can use it to prepare the wife for what she has in store at some point in the future.

Im aware concrete is used to hide things but I think in this instance it has been used as a cheap ballast to make the boat sit right in the water.. The engine room hasnt got any in it and if you removed the huge engine im sure it would bob up at the back. The reason im umming and ahhing is partly my heart yes,but also the fact that saving 15k for a lovely sound tested hull will take me a long time however I can afford this with what I have,and immediately have nearly 6k to spend on it,and finding money as I go is more doable in my kind of work. I'm looking like this as something that will be in a yard out of water for the next 3/4 years,not expecting it to be easy in any respect.i have learnt a few things this evening definitely,I think it may be too far gone by what you all say,the way you describe how the supports lifted away under the concrete makes alot of sense,I presumed it would be dry under there for the most part but I have no idea how they do it.

I think I will gamble 50 quid on it.rent the thickness gauge and spend a day measuring it.is there anywhere in particular I should defintiely take lots of measurements? I think I will gamble 50 quid on it.rent the thickness gauge and spend a day measuring it.is there anywhere in particular I should defintiely take lots of measurements?

Ha.i do very frequently tell myself im a complete fool and I should walk away.i can see what you are saying about the concrete definitely,and also i did think the engine room rust first thing was a little susect! but something makes my brain go back to it..also the fact that its only 3500.im aware I would spend another 30k roughly however it would give me something todo with my weekends for about 4 years..

no the ultrasound would be from the inside out and as long as its touching metal hull it will give you a measurement of the metal..not the paint or cement etc on the otherside.at least thats what the guy renting the unit out told me.. Ok,ill have a search for a sea vessel forum,my main reason I thought id ask is because whenever I google a question this forum geberally comes up with an answer!

Well the cement is in the front end,and quite shallow.theres 14ft of engine room bottom to test and the rest will have to be from the concrete up.

Somebody told me that if the engine room hull is ok it generally would be ok elsewhere as its usually the place to rust out first.is this true?

Also yes all visible holes in the hull are along the deckline,there are holes that are supposed to be here to allow the water off but along that line its in particularly bad nick,I would probably do a 1ft x 120ft patch around the whole deck side. Ok well my next plan is to spend a day on her, take a thickness gauge and just work my way around it. The weeping from the large plate in the engine room worries me,its above where I would guess the prop sits underneath and I doubt would be an easy patch as its along a join basically from what I can make out.

To be fair its not abandoned,he lives on it. To be fair its not abandoned,he lives on it. To be clear this boat isnt up for sale,its my friends but he has never tried to actually sell it until I thought about buying it. Its wet inside but tjis is down to a 65 year old rotten deck,alot of the hull is painted inside,what I can see has no rruston the inside apart from one bit in the engine room,the bulkhead,deck and wheelhouse are rotten but these would all be removed.so over 4mm is what I want to see if I do the ultrasound test? I havent considered the surveyor coming out,partly because the way my friend has tried to raise the floor means alot of the hull isnt easily accessible,I can crawl down each side ok but i doubt the surveyor would be too keen on going down there!

Id love to know what it started at,on the inside of the engine room theres plating riveted around 12mm and also 15 years ago before she was laid up the hull was plated on both sides going under the waterline from the front of the boat.these plates are also riveted and also around 10/12mm.this is what's giving me hope,the worst rust is along the deckline but even here the metal in close proximity is easily 5mm in some places

Well its about 300 metres from a huge scrapyard with river access so my plan in the event it was a lost cause would be to salvage anything half useful, ie four nice old portholes,anchor and chains,chain winch and anything else I can find before arranging to scrap it. The problem I have is finding out if its good enough to bother with,but without moving it somehow?

Ill check that link now Bee,thanks. I did fear this may of been what id hear back from you all. I so want to save her,she could be a lovely home

Ok this is news to me! I thought that generally the worst of the rust would be above the waterline? Also its a trawler so the hull should be nice and thick no?

No its not a canal boat,it would be in a local marina when finished,for what reason exactly should I run? The size of the job? I am not worried about this and I have somewhere in a local yard I can do the work.my worry is the hull..if its too thin to make it worthwhile.in reality I could buy a barge hull that costs me 15k before I get it to the yard and it comes with nothing at all..this has chainwinches anchors chains,original portholes all things I would then need to buy anyway. And when finished,yes I do think it would be my ideal boat,as a background I am an experienced vehicle restorer and converter,and have in the past restored double deckers,coaches,down to austin 7's. Admittedly this would be my biggest project by far its only extra time and extra money in my opinion.i never intend to move the boat once finished it will be effectively static.

I should add that although the huge Daf engine could be brought to life the propshaft is very much out of action,so I suspect I would be removing that also,im intending to convert to a houseboat with two floors one down in the hull and one on deck. My next step is to hire an ultrasound thickness gauge and spend a day there measuring it,but I have no idea what I should be measuring or what a good or bad measurement would be.and also no idea what it would of been originally!

Hello all,im new to the forum but have already learnt a fair bit by reading posts,great forum. I thought I would post because any additional information I can gleam from you all would really help me.forwarned is forarmed and all that. So heres my situation, I have been offered a 60ft 1950s dutch trawler that has been on the mudflats of a local estuary for the last 15 years.it has no bss and I think theres little point in paying for a survey because it has concrete in the bottom and it can't be moved without insurance,so I am sort of buying blind. She floats and doesnt actually leak, although there is alot of rust along the deckline of the hull,and actual holes some 20cm in length,I know that its less likely to rust on the bottom.the engine room bulkhead is rotten but the hull looks ok from the inside,with only one spot I could find in the engine room that looked like it may of been weeping slightly between two plates,roughly above where I would imagine the prop is. The thing is the boat is 3500 pounds (its a friends boat) I am an automotive welder by trade so I feel confident I could patch any holes but my worry is the hull in general will be too far gone.although it has the odd hole above the waterline,and much rusty crustyness,it still feels like the metal has a good thickness to it(I cant really just go at it and hit it with a hammerhow id like to, especially below the waterline in case I go through it and sink my friends boat).my plan would be to get the boat out of the water and welded at first opportunity. As you may have guessed by now I am not an experienced boater,I am out of my depth slightly, so any comments would be of great help concerning what to look for rust wise,or any other things I should look for,insurance companies I could try that would even consider insuring a 65 year old trawler thats spent 15 years straight on a mudflat..should I run a mile? it just seems so cheap and I keep coming back to the fact that it floats,it has had anodes on it albeit not the right ones,very little water in the bilge and it hasnt gone up in 2 months or been pumped out..and its metal which can be welded.I realise I could just buy a barge hull..this was my initial plan however looking at bare hulls for £10000 which are usually 100's of miles away has made me consider this boat,I realise it would most likely be a full back to hull rebuild.i have taken lots of photos however I have no idea how to post them? I look forward to discussing this all with you further,and sorry if I havent provided enough info or missed out anything important.happy new year to you all aswell! Dave.