My second boat – Lean II PART 1

Elan T500 cabin cruiser - side view

As I was saying in my previous post about my first inflatable boat, I sold for quite good amount of money considering what it was worth. But honestly I sold it becouse it was a little to small for our needs. My dear Andreja was always complaining when the water was a little rough (she was right, it was a very bumpy ride ) and you all know the problem when your boat is one meter too short.

So I decided that I will bring another beauty to life. This time for real.

I started following all the local classified ads for old boats in need of renovation. I found a lot boats, but there was allways some issues with them. One didn’t have all the neccessary documents, the other had a price like it was just out of the store, etc…

After a couple of months of searching I finnaly found it. A nice V bottom cabin day cruiser about 5,5 meters in length, manufactured ba Elan Slovenija in 1976. It was out of the water for about 12 years but it was very well stored so it was quite good preserved. Of course it needed a lot of work but as it proved later on it was a good base to start my diy boat building project.

Elan T500 cabin cruiser - side view

Elan T500 cabin cruiser - front view

I immediatly called my friend and he told me that I am stupid to be doing this. But I am a stubborn man, especialy when it is about stuff that I care very much about. So I went on with the deal and bought the boat for 400 EUR. I then brought it home and started disassembling it for the rebuild.

First I googled three nights to get a picture what needs to be done. I used a local boatbuilding forum morjeplovec.net which is Slovenian boatbuilding forum. I also checked some US and UK forums and found a lot of usefull information.

I read all about boat osmosis, rotten wood, plastic faults, paintig boats, and some informations regarding materials and tool that are used in such a job. I luckily am a little tool freak so I often buy some tool when I get a discount or a good price. So I have almost every desirable tool in my garage and I was able to start working on my boat very quickly.

I wrote down a couple of things I need to do first before I can start rebuilding my boat. I basicly found out on google that I need to do the following things in order to complete my renvation of the boat:

• check in what state is the boats hull (fiberglass reinforced plastic) – check for osmosis
• check all the wooden parts inside the boat if they need replacement – keel, stern plate,…
• luckily I found that all the wood in my boat is completly rotten and will need a replacement ( Not good!
• check all metal parts an screws that are holding things together if they are still in good condition

I got a little frustrated when I saw all that rotten wood inside the boat. I tought it will cost me a fortune to rebuild the damage boat parts. So I started searching for ways to repair the damage. I found some diy boat building solutions how to replace the stern plate so I once again calculated the amount of material needed for the job and once again went to buy the marine graded plywood. This time I bought a little thicker version becouse I am planning to mount a 90 HP yamaha on it. I bought 25 mm plate and made a template out of paper for the stern plate shape. I then made two identical plates 25 mm thick. They will be used as a new stern plate that will easily carry a 130 kg 90 HP Yamaha beast.

Old stern plate removed - closer view

First stern plate mounted into position

Both plates covered with layers of fiberglass matte and polister resin

Both plates covered with layers of fiberglass roving and polister resin

Stern plate after a few coats of fiberglass

Technorati Tags: boat, boat renovation, boatbuilding, build, cruiser, diy, diy boat, epoxy resin, fiberglass, marterials, poliester resin, rebuild, roving, stern plate, stern wall

Related posts:

1. My first Boat Building Project – Lean I