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Fibreglass boat refit


manxmike

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Well, I've gone and done it - I've bought a fibreglass boat!

It's a 26 foot centre cockpit Viking. I have no idea what year it is as there seems to be a distinct lack of paperwork. It doesn't have a BSC or a license - both of which will be acquired in the very very near future.

The hull and upperworks are sound, the outboard engine is fine, there's no crazing or bubbles but the interior .............

I managed to get the boat for an excellent price, fully aware that the interior needs stripping back to the basic grp. So far I have spent five days removing an incredible amount of cr*p that a previous owner had stuffed into every conceivable space. I then removed the horrible rotting attic style floor boarding to find that it had been laid directly on top of the original flooring which must have been rotting when the "new floor" was laid. Under the original floor was about two inches of very dirty stagnant water.

The battery isolator was there, but not actually connected to the battery! The wiring appears to have been put in by someone who has no idea of electricity - a wonderful mixture of bell wire, speaker wire and mains wire, the runs are looped all over the place. Thank heavens I intend to rewire the entire boat through a central fuse and switch board.

The seating in the saloon had been constructed out of old kitchen units turned on their side and nailed in place, the sink/hob unit had been ripped out, the water heater disconnected and shoved into a locker, the gas locker had been constructed out of ply with the only vent directly into the bilge. In short whoever tried to refit the boat in the past had made a complete pig's ear of the job - to a scary degree. I'm amazed that it ever got a BSC and am surprised that it didn't explode into flames.

I have had a wonderful time so far - a good friend commented that I seemed to like a project, she's quite right! It's almost going to be a let down when I get it finished.

I'll update as the work progresses.

Edited by manxmike
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OK, I will try to put pictures in.

Nothing more likely to happen for a while as, living on the Isle of Man, it's a bit far to go every weekend! Next visit will be weather dependant and might not be until March.

The first pic shows the exterior, 2 shows the interior before I started ripping it apart, the next shows the cabin with the floor(s) and most of the water removed (note the cleverly laid wiring under floor and under water), then the last one shows all the water gone along with the seats etc.

Lock-1.jpg

Lock-inside-2.jpg

Lock-inside-3.jpg

lock-inside.jpg

Edited by manxmike
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Thats a Norman not a Viking!

14 hours ago, RLWP said:

Can you get it transported to the IoM? It'll take you forever to complete otherwise

Richard

Should be cheap enough to transport. The likes of Tony Tug can move that around and it won't cost the earth.

I agree it would be far better to have it close to home to work on.

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Jocave - yes it's still at Moonsbridge

Naughty Cal - well well, thank you. As they only built the Norman 27 from 1980 to 1982 when they had the factory fire that narrows down the age nicely. As far as transporting it is concerned, that would be great but I rather think the cost of the sea crossing would be exorbitant, The IOM Steam Packet run one of the most expensive services around, I wonder if it would fit in a container and how much that would cost. Do you have any contact details for Tony Tug? It would certainly be worth while getting an estimate or quote.

Shame I've just joined the Viking owners club!

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Just got prices locally for transporting the boat to the Isle of Man - £1800 each way plus crane hire to lift on and off a flat bed, plus manufacture of chocks or frame to hold it in place on the wagon. Then the same to return it to the UK and get it back in the water.

That's the equivalent of about 20 or more trips over to work on it.

So far it's staying where it  is!

Does anyone know of a more economical way of getting it to the Isle of Man? Numbers for specialist haulage firms perhaps.......

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2 minutes ago, manxmike said:

Just got prices locally for transporting the boat to the Isle of Man - £1800 each way plus crane hire to lift on and off a flat bed, plus manufacture of chocks or frame to hold it in place on the wagon. Then the same to return it to the UK and get it back in the water.

That's the equivalent of about 20 or more trips over to work on it.

So far it's staying where it  is!

Does anyone know of a more economical way of getting it to the Isle of Man? Numbers for specialist haulage firms perhaps.......

It will go on a road trailer.

Here are Tony's details:

http://www.tonytugboats.com/

If you look at his Facebook page you will see the boats he has been transporting around and some of the places he has been. His prices are very reasonable.

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Try Gary Lancaster from Preston marine, he is based down the road from Moonsbridge ,he is moving mine which is moored just behind yours in a couple of weeks from there to Wales, no idea if he would do IOM but worth giving him a ring, he is charging £250 to move mine, Tony tug boat never got back to me with a quote ..

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http://www.prestonmarina.co.uk/core_pages/MTSTransport.htm

5 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

I must say I am surprised at that. When did you try to contact him?

He has been abroad a lot delivering boats recently. Could be he was out of the country.

We have him booked in to take us to the Thames next summer.

Probably about 3 or 4 weeks ago, couldn't get through by phone and email wasn't answered, I know he's up and down everywhere and guessed he may have been out of the country that's why I emailed him also..

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Hi there. good to see another project rebuild/furb to look at.

I hope you keep it updated for us all to see at what your getting upto. Have you a time plan to get it going ? not going to be easy with it being over here so will take a lng time unelssyou can get over here for a week at a time. 

I see you are trying to see if you can get it home to work on it. I have nearly rebuilt a 20 foot cruiser so a bit smaller but it needed more work than your as your looks and sounds good to go and fit out. I have been at it for around 2 1/2 years now and mine is on my door step. Slowed a bit recently with work but near every weekend i do a bit.

 

I dont understand why you got one over in the UK, that makes it a not so good buy to me. Unless it was free. Travel or to get it moved over to the IOM has made up for that ` bargain`, a chap idea to get it over there as it seems your not in a hurry to work on it is to see if a chap with a boat that will go and get it and tow it over to the IOM. That may save a good ferry fee and then store it in a boat yard on the coast maybe.

Looking forward to your updates :)

 

wayne :)

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H Wayne, I don't think towing the boat across the Irish Sea in the middle of winter is a good idea - 1' 6" below the water line and force 9 gales on a daily basis don't seem a good mix :captain: plus the Norman 27 is most certainly not a seagoing vessel.

I want to use the boat on the canal system when done, so unless I can find a reasonably priced way to get it to the IOM it will stay in the UK.

I'm half way through reading about your re-build, all I can say is INSPIRATIONAL!! I have learned a great deal that will prove incredibly useful in my refit. I will be spending a fortnight at a time working on the boat, my daughter lives half an hour away from the Marina, so accommodation is not a problem and being retired time is not a problem either.

Until recently I had a 43 foot steel narrow boat, but a survey showed it had rusted to 2mm in places so it had to go and a GRP seemed the future. Because the narrow boat went for a loss finances were limited and I love a project so this seemed a good idea. I'm hoping to have it refitted and running part way through the summer, but time will tell. Whilst it costs the best part of £225 each time I come over to the UK in the car, once the weather clears up I will be travelling by Motorbike at £100 per trip return, so at current transport costs I would need to make 40 trips on the bike to cover the carriage cost of moving the boat!

I will post updates and pictures, but there will obviously be gaps between posts, so please be patient.

My wife Jan says your wife deserves a medal :P

 

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lol, it would be a tad rough wouldnt it. If you can do two weeks at a time then that would be good, get plenty done, Joys of being retired hey, jammy sod ;)  

You made the best choice IMO, GRP more fun and character :)

Is it Garstang`s  Moon Bridge where the boat is, not to far from me i am in Radcliffe,Manchester. 

My wife is just puddled like me lol. It keeps me quite as i get itchy feet for things to do, even after a 13hr day at work lol, T says i have problems :rolleyes:

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On 12/4/2017 at 18:10, manxmike said:

Hi Wayne, yes, the boat is moored at Moon Bridge Marina. The only stumbling block to being able to do a fortnight at a time will be if my daughter and her family can put up with me for that long!

In the past i have roughed it on a  boat to work on it for a few nights, fun really with a good chippy T and a few cans to relax at night. Mind you i am passed that now lol.  

 

I can promise but when your over one weekend give me a shut and i will be happy to pop up and give a hand if you need it. Hope to have mine finished`ish in a few months.

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Rotten floors and yukky water under the floor seems a common theme in ancient GRP boats LOL.  Had a similar problem with mine.  Sorted mostly, but still need to revise cockpit area into more user friendly one for us and solve one last leak........too cold right now for anything other than a quick visit! Good luck and keep us updated.......the upper deck structure can cause a lot of the leaks via old deck fittings by the way.........certainly the case with my old Teal, so worth carefully checking every single fitting, however small, and resealing. 

Edited by Sunflower16
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