Where tofind Cheap project boats

[Glenndarryl]

G`day,

I`m a young bloke and wanna learn and fix up boats, Preferablly Half cabin and cruisers. I`m looking for something cheap to start off with, I`ve tried ebay and gumtree and don`t find much. Anyone know anyone or good sites?

Cheers

[PADDLES]

cheap boats are usually on the side of the road or in someone's front yard, mainly in coastal areas. they're usually not worth spending 40 bucks on a trading post ad. keep your eyes peeled whilst you're out and about in the car.

[Nathan Tuskes]

like paddles said... although i found mine by just having alot of patience on ebay and boat sales i think i looked for 3months before a suitable one came up at a great price, and i didn't stuff around when i saw the ebay add (buy it know or auction starting at $2000 ) just offer them a buy it know price because popular project hulls (like mine) sell really quickly as i found out twice when i tried to win an auction. but keep in mind its still a project boat so depending on how run down the boat is, the price really has to match or its not at all worth doing.

cheers nathan

[Glenndarryl]

I was hoping for Under a grand.

[timddo]

Project boats are there. You just gotta be patient. I have a 4.3 meter boat and motor sitting in my front yard needing work on. It's a project for a rainy day ( one day).

But then , you can't work outside on a rainy day , can you :P

[Glenndarryl]

^^^^If ya wanna sell it ;) ;)

[blueline]

i got a 6m cruse craft sitting in the back yard to give away, only thing is no trailer and i live in innisfail, so transport be too much , hull is good but it need stringers and transum.

[finga]

Have you done a boat up before young fella??

If not then I'd start with a dingy sort of boat and work my way up. Try a 3.7m or so boat first up and see how you go.
Well that's what I did anyways.

If you want to sell the boat you've done up there is always a market for them. If you sell the one you've done up then you'll have some more money to buy a bit better boat and then do it up and sell for a bit more profit to buy a bit better one and so on and so on.

It cost a lot of money to buy materials to do any repairs to a reasonably sized hull......and then the cost of fittings..hooly dooly they add up quickly.
Cruiser or cabin boats that are under a thousand dollars usually require structural work done like the stringers and transom needing replacement. This is best left to the professional or very serious home based repairer to do.

What tools do you have to do the job?

There's a few smaller boats on ebay well under a thousand dollars.
And the best thing about doing up a smaller boat is you can put a 6hp motor on it and use it yourself until your old enough for a license (if you haven't got a license already)

And don't let anyone put you off. There have been a few young blokes here that have done work to their boats and some of the quality is better then what most older blokes could have done. The standard of work on a couple has been very impressive indeed and something anybody would have been proud to say....I did that.

But my advice....Start much smaller.
Start with a dingy style of boat. 3.7m maximum as they're easy to buy, easy to move about whilst your working on it, easy to work on. And the best thing is you can use it once it's finished.

[Nathan Tuskes]

exactly what finga said, previous to my fibreglass rebuild I’ve done a totalfit out on a bream boat and a partial on another, you learn the basics when theproject is kept small, how piping is going to be run/wiring, boat layouts/weight distribution, ergonomics, working with power tools and hand tools, plusyou build up an assortment of tools to use.

[fandtm666]

i got a 6m cruse craft sitting in the back yard to give away, only thing is no trailer and i live in innisfail, so transport be too much , hull is good but it need stringers and transum.

That would be a nice one to do up , pitty you are so far away

[blueline]

yeah it is a big progect that one, iv done up a few boats over the years, my latest is a 5.3 swifty i replaced everybit of wood in the boat, i was going to do the same to the cruse craft but now iv opted to make a 6.5 plate boat from planes not a kit. its a boaden alloy sea boat mk 2 delta hull.
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/hitcho1/017-1.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/hitcho1/008-1.jpg

[Chimo]

Here are a few boats including Ozscotts http://www.precisionmarine.com.au/usedboatsseafarerhalfcabprojectboat/
kidding

C
C

[fandtm666]

The first one i did was a 4.2m dehaviland , put forward steer lifted the transom and put in a flase floor.

my current one is a 5mtr sprotsman craft and is a full rebuild , transom - stringers - floor and building a custom pod
it has been a great experience and heaps of fun.

when finished i will see how she goes and if i get the right amount for her i might sell and buy a bigger project
working my way upto hopefully a 6m