Just stumbled on to this thread and have to say, it's the best story I've read in my life. Your GB is a gorgeous boat and the work you've done is to be commended. I'm another one that believes in saving these beautiful wood boats that are a piece of art and history.
I've loved boats since I was a kid (born in 1954) and the first boat we had (that I remember) was a 12' wood boat w/ a 12 HP Sea King that a distant relative built and my dad traded his aluminum boat and Evinrude outboard for it. I've owned countless fiberglass boats and then in 1994 bought a 1966 32 GB. That rekindled my love of wood boats. We lived in the PNW at the time and had to move (due to a job relocation) to VA in 1998. I haven't emailed with the person that purchased her in a long time but last I heard the cabin (and bridge of course) were badly damaged when a shed roof caved in under a heavy snow and he had it rebuilt and still cruising her.
Fast forward to 2013. We didn't have a boat after moving for 15 years as our daughter was heavily involved in soccer and the reality was we'd never have weekends to use a boat. We finally decided to try getting back into boating in 2013 and wanted to wade into the water financially and found a 1960 Cruise-Along in VA. It was a boat that was popular in the 60's and they were built on the Chesapeake Bay. It was plywood hull and
looked similar to a Chris Craft sun bridge/express cruiser type boat from the same era. We had that boat for 1 summer and fell in love with boating again and decided to look for a 32 GB.
With an extreme stroke of luck, I found a 1972 32' GB up on the Toms River in NJ. It was in a very old and top notch wood boat yard. Having owned one before, I knew the problem areas. To say this boat had a ton of work done to it would be an understatement. The story I was told and have no reason to doubt was the owners wife was very tired of the money pit and at this point didn't like the boat and wanted it gone. We ended up striking a deal (put together by a creative broker and genuinely nice person) where the broker took our Cruise Along in trade and the balance was the significant bill at the yard. Not sure what kind of a deal he made with the seller but it worked fo us! He never moved the Cruise Along to NJ and we (he owned it and I showed it) advertised it on CL for a very reasonable price and it sold in a month.
The boat yard had hundreds of photos of the work at various stages and I have photos of the boat with no fly bridge and portions of the cabin missing. There's pics of planks missing on each side towards the stern and the entire teak deck in the cockpit was removed. The yard replaced all bad planks and re-caulked the entire hull. They replaced both fuel tanks while the back deck was out and then did the back deck in marine plywood and fiber glassed the entire deck and up the gunwale and applied non-skid. The entire fly bridge was rebuilt as well as any bad spots in the cabin and then the entire cabin and bridge were fiber glassed. The deck in the bridge was fiber glassed and non-skid applied. They did a fantastic job...you can't tell that it's not the original fly bridge.
The boat had been stripped of most systems although all new plumbing was put in and the electrical is the original DC and AC panels with most wiring updated. The boat had no sanitation and no electronics. There was one compass, the original installed at the lower helm.
All side cabin windows and the one rear cabin window had been replaced with aluminum sliding windows that look and function great. For those interested, there are stickers on one window that says they came from (probably custom built) by a company named Wynn in AL.
About Us
Since repacking the prop shaft with high speed pump packing (a proven idea passed to me from someone at our marina) there is no water leaking on that packing gland and is cool to the touch when underway. Some may scoff at this idea but trust me, it works really well. This packing is made to be used for pump shafts turning at very high RPM's and our motors turn at what...1500 most of the time? The bilge on this boat stays dry and doesn't even seep water after being out 4-5 days for bottom paint and maint. That's how tight it is.
I added reverse cycle heat and AC, a quiet flush vacuum toilet, all new sanitation hoses, holding tank and new potable water tank (all plastic). I added VHF at both helms as well as a nice Garmin Chart Plotter that also gives you a menagerie of information like speed over water, true compass heading, etc and a new compass up top. We also added a lot of Navy canvas and Navy window screens.
We've painted the hull once and it's holding up really well with very minimal plank movement over 6 years. I'm considering painting the hull with Awlcraft, not to be confused with Awlgrip.
Like most wood boat owners, owning and working on a wood boat is a hobby to me. Not just cruising in the boat. I enjoy winter days putzing on my boat in it's covered moorage. We're currently considering moving up and if I can find a beautiful wood 36, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. But the reality is, finding a boat with all the work done like we did on our 32 is going to be nothing short of a miracle. I love this boat a lot but there's not much you can do to add a real bed and a stand alone shower within the space allowed on a GB 32.
To the OP; your story is incredible. I'm a DIY kind of guy that also knows my limits and what I'm capable of and what's best left to an expert. My boat was perfect for me because I'm not an expert (finish) wood worker but can do most behind the scenes wood work and anything mechanical and electrical. My hats off to you for taking this project on and doing everything you have. Your boat is nothing short of beautiful!