I wonder John, about this boat. Looking at the photos again the interior seems in need of some work too.

It seems to me that by the time you have prepared the boat for refinishing you could be part of the way to building a brand new hull from scratch, and from any number of proven designs that would suit your intended purpose without compromise.

The time and money invested into this, potentially unsuitable boat, could be invested into something really worthwhile. But now is the time to decide, before you begin the project. I agree with others, you need to get out for a long distance cruise in the thing before doing any serious work on it.

A large portion of your financial outlay will be in epoxy resin, and some too in glass. This goes for this boat, or a completely new one.

Some time outlay is going to be in preparation work getting the boat back to a state that is suitable for refinishing. The time spent would have your strong back built, formers cut and probably set up ready for stripping.

On a new boat you would be more inclined then to add proper hatches, a more suitable cockpit, have adequate leg room, and a viable stability to speed ratio. All the speed in the world is pointless if you spend half your time upside down, especially if the water is less than clean.

The only real obstacle may be in the ripping of strips, if you lack the machinery to do it, but a small cheap contractor's saw is very adequate for the job.

My feeling is that, having built a stitch and glue, you would find a stripper easy enough and a lot of fun to construct, and end up with a proper boat for the job.

If it was me, I wouldn't strip back and re-glass this boat. I would bodge the existing boat, putting in the minimum of time and money, couple of days maximum, and use it as is. THEN, I would look around for my perfect design and put my time, effort and money into a brand new beautiful boat.

I have just started a new one myself. It is moving along quite quickly. I will begin posting progress soon.

My two cents

Et