Nelson 29 Refit and General Tinkering
Discussion
It has been a while since we have seen a refit story on here so I thought it may be interesting to share some details. It will undoubtedly be wallet lightening and take twice as long as planned, but there are always good suggestions and ideas to include from folk on here, so hopefully will be worth it. I'll be honest about costs too, as it is always interesting when people share real world figures. EDITED - I am writing this half way (hopefully!) through the process, but I'll start from the beginning which was June 19.
I acquired a Nelson 29 in the spring. I had been looking for about 18 months, but good ones are hard to find. For those who are unfamiliar, it is basically a Defender/Discovery of the motor boat world. A classic, semi-displacement hull that is often used as a pilot boat, police launch, lifeboat or motor yacht.
I'm a sailor by background, so even though I try to pretend otherwise (I'm trying to not be a knobby snob!), I tend to swerve away from the typical white fibreglass and chrome whizzy skim dishes. I also live in the west country and need a boat that will easily cope with some weather, across the Channel or to the Scillies. IWithin reason, when I want to go, I want to go. The trade off is speed - we will cruise twice as fast a sailing boat but in any direction and most weather! So fast enough for me but undoubtedly too slow for many. Which is fine, we are all different.
Anyway, here is the background:
Nelson 29 from Bucklers Hard Boatbuilders, 1992
I acquired a Nelson 29 in the spring. I had been looking for about 18 months, but good ones are hard to find. For those who are unfamiliar, it is basically a Defender/Discovery of the motor boat world. A classic, semi-displacement hull that is often used as a pilot boat, police launch, lifeboat or motor yacht.
I'm a sailor by background, so even though I try to pretend otherwise (I'm trying to not be a knobby snob!), I tend to swerve away from the typical white fibreglass and chrome whizzy skim dishes. I also live in the west country and need a boat that will easily cope with some weather, across the Channel or to the Scillies. IWithin reason, when I want to go, I want to go. The trade off is speed - we will cruise twice as fast a sailing boat but in any direction and most weather! So fast enough for me but undoubtedly too slow for many. Which is fine, we are all different.
Anyway, here is the background:
Nelson 29 from Bucklers Hard Boatbuilders, 1992
Edited by seapod on Friday 23 August 07:27
So the starting position is this:
with some yacht broker blurb to give context
Unfortunately, the very salesy line about poor health, is in fact true in this instance as I knew the previous owners indirectly. A real shame as they only owned her for a year and spent a good amount of cash on her in the critical areas. But like an old house, there is always more to do.
with some yacht broker blurb to give context
Unfortunately, the very salesy line about poor health, is in fact true in this instance as I knew the previous owners indirectly. A real shame as they only owned her for a year and spent a good amount of cash on her in the critical areas. But like an old house, there is always more to do.
There were 2 main challenges in terms of refit + a number of other jobs. The wheelhouse was leaking, probably from the fittings but water was streaming through from the headlining across the cabin. So it all needed removing to find out what was going on, some of the headlining ply is rotten in places.
The bigger issue is that the white gelcoat (cabin/wheelhouse/deck) has suffered serious UV degradation, so is starting to craze and crack. Most of it is on the surface but in places it has cracked away to expose the fibreglass matt below. No immediate structural issue, but needs treating asap before water penetration occurs. Its also unsightly, from a distance it looks ok but up close it is very gray as the surface has become absorbent, rather than shiny.
The teak badging around the topsides appears to have been stripped back but never re-varnished. So although it looks ok in the brokers pictures, it is degrading rapidly.
+ a myriad of other bits and pieces, eg someone had dropped a load of oil into the bilge under one of the engines.
Teak badging faded and unsealed
UV Crazed Gelcoat
Finally, I haven't hauled her out before or after purchase, i used the survey from the sale the previous year and copies of the invoices for the work done to make a buying decision.
Although she has coppercoat on the hull, the props, shafts and rudders needed a scrub + anodes are looking very worn.
The bigger issue is that the white gelcoat (cabin/wheelhouse/deck) has suffered serious UV degradation, so is starting to craze and crack. Most of it is on the surface but in places it has cracked away to expose the fibreglass matt below. No immediate structural issue, but needs treating asap before water penetration occurs. Its also unsightly, from a distance it looks ok but up close it is very gray as the surface has become absorbent, rather than shiny.
The teak badging around the topsides appears to have been stripped back but never re-varnished. So although it looks ok in the brokers pictures, it is degrading rapidly.
+ a myriad of other bits and pieces, eg someone had dropped a load of oil into the bilge under one of the engines.
Teak badging faded and unsealed
UV Crazed Gelcoat
Finally, I haven't hauled her out before or after purchase, i used the survey from the sale the previous year and copies of the invoices for the work done to make a buying decision.
Although she has coppercoat on the hull, the props, shafts and rudders needed a scrub + anodes are looking very worn.
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