1960 TollyCraft Restoration

Since I have taken over this project from my son, I now at this time have the boat gutted --- yep all the way down to the hull. I do have some rot on the upper edge of the entire boat that extends about 1 to 11/2" down. My plan is to remove this small amount of rot evenly all around.
I will need to replace all trim and rails and of course the transom. The hull appears to be solid as do the stringers. My next step is to get it under cover before the rains come.
I'm still thinking about putting a small cabin on it like the bellboys, but we'll see.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

[Helmar]

Your not going to like my answer.
When I worked with Marty at Island Boat Shop, we would have to, Replace the bad wood.......

Get yerself some really thick, straight-grained, 72 year old Port Orford cedar, keep it pickled in salt water and keep the rain offen it! VeryBigSmile

I thought that I could remove the rotted wood and replace it with a thicker piece leaving as much of the plywood and epoxy with several coats of glass and resin. I am going to paint the boat so I'm not concerned doing it this way. I just got to make sure that the epoxy, glass and resin hold everything solid.
When I roll the boat over I just hope there is no more rot. If there is I may just trash the whole project.

[TheBronze]

Yikes! That doesn't look good. I'd say replace the whole section of wood.

[Tim McCrain]

I'm no wooden boat expert, but ...

In my limited experience, if the hull has been glassed over wood and you have rot somewhere, it's very likely that you have it somewhere else. The discoloration of the ply hull in your photos tells me there has been a lot of moisture there. I wouldn't do anything else until I thoroughly examined the rest of the hull for rot.

I've had two glass-over-ply hulls that were going to be projects until I found the true condition of the ply under the glass, and neither of them had any rot at the bow like yours, that doesn't seem to me to be the first place that would go bad. Look very carefully at the chines, the transom, the juncture of the transom and the bottom, etc.

Hope everything turns out alright,

Tim

[Helmar]

Do you have a couple of pictures to post and share ?

We did one of the Tollys that was a 23 footer, wood hull, deck, fiberglass cabin top and sides and a wood framed windshield.

It was my understanding that were the cabin top meets the deck right around the outer corners of the front cabin windows, was always a problem with rot as well.

Did you poke around real good inside to make sure you didn't find any soft wood?

Well it's 16' so there is no cabin on it -- although I was thinking about adding one. A small one just enough to get out of the weather.

The inside hull appears good - by that I mean when I poked around the bottom with an awl and I found no weak spots, but that doesn't mean that where the keel meets the hull I will not find any. So far all (and I mean all) the screws that was used to hold the hull, railings, trim and transom in place were rusted and burned into the wood, but it appears that all that is above the water line except for the transom were it was all the screws that held it on.

I need to dig into the keel by removing the fiberglass then I know if it's really worth moving ahead with this project.

Maybe I should re-think this wood boat thing and find a fiberglass that has more promise ------ as long as it's really a low price or better yet a freebie.
Limited income will dictate what I can get.

Limited Energy Elect. + Eugene = no work (for almost 3 years)

[Helmar]

I thought it was a cabin boat opcorn1:
Well, myself, I am not a wood boat guy. I will work on them and know how but just can't bring myself to getting into one. They are pretty special and well, wood does have its mystique to it.

I can replace all the wood in glass boats without any issues and really like the glass work. (used to work in a body shop taking two and three corvettes to make one)

I am quite sure you can find all kinds of vintage glass boats around down your way too. Just keep looking.