Another lurker surfaces... We have a 1973 wooden Grand Banks 36 Classic, which we've had for three years. At the time we bought Misty Ann, we had no trouble financing her through Ganis Credit Corp. The boat was in very good shape when we took possession, although I noticed a few flaws in the paint, especially above the windows on the sides of the main cabin. The surveyor did a thorough job looking for rot, and found none. It's very hard to find yards (in the Seattle/Lake Union area) that know how to work on wooden boats: even when a yard agrees to do work, it may not be done correctly and may have to be redone by a knowledgable expert. She was kept in covered moorage for 18 months, then a big snow storm crunched the roof (they got her out before it fell) and she was left in an open slip for 9 months. The paint began to fail after six months (blisters). To make a long story short, here's what found we had to do: - the bedding compound used by American Marine has a lifetime of 15-20 years. This is used to bed the windows, the trim, and fittings. We had to rebed everything. - the bottom paint hadn't been been stripped to wood in many years, this had to be done - the entire exterior had to be refurbished and repainted - the entire brightwork had to be stripped to wood and redone - the boat hadn't been ventilated correctly, and moisture had settled in the plywood roof of the house: this had to be repaired - many many seams in the teak deck had to be re-caulked - the windless pylon had to be replaced - two coats of varnish over the entire interior, including stripping and refinishing the dash - some trim that had been replaced by another yard had to be remilled, as it was the wrong shape and was bedded using the wrong material This work was done by an excellent yard, took six months, and cost more than the cost of the boat. The actual time was twice the original estimate, and the actual cost was three times the original estimate. Had we understood wooden boats better, we would have at least repainted her when we bought her: this would have saved some of our later grief, but not all of it In short: old wooden boats may be cost-effective if you love to work with wood and can do the work yourself, but they're unbelievably expensive if you have the work done by a yard. Mind you, the Misty Ann is now one good-looking old wooden Grand Banks! Jeff East Misty Ann -----Original Message----- From: iamgone@ibm.net [mailto:iamgone@ibm.net] Sent: Thursday, October 15, 1998 6:42 PM To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com Subject: Alaskan 46 questions? Hi all, In our consideration of a boat to purchase we have come across the Alaskan 46. The boat is apparently in fine shape. Our greatest concern is the wood hull. Does anyone have any thoughts, experience or advice on the pros and cons of going with an old wood boat? We appreciate all of your thoughts. Thanks Vince and Cherri Langley