You know I owned that GB42-125 you have for many years. I was the 5th or 6th owner and now you are the 8th or 9th owner.
You may also know I bought her for $40k and spent $150k of my money, and some $60k of Boat US insurance money and $20k of potential buyer´s money all in making her ready to use and eventually giving her away at $22k. That buyer got $49k on insurance after that tornado you spoke of. It also proved how tough a boat she is.
You bought a boat that had already had a quart million spent on her for mere peanuts and you are in one of the last TRULY free areas to enjoy a boat like that, so by all means do enjoy it. But please recognize it is extremely expensive to restore and maintain ANY large boat. Woodies just require a bit more and a bit more frequently than steel, aluminum, fiberglass or ferrocement. But they will outlast them all if enough money is spent.
Your perspective will be dramatically different in Alabama on the Tennessee River than in San Francisco Bay or PNW areas, Outer Banks or The Keys. By all means continue to enhance and enjoy her, you know she means a lot to me. Having totally rewired her and replaced and enhanced so many systems and eliminated many of the details that cause issues with GB Woodies and other woodies, she should be easier to keep usable. But not everyone wins a Boat Lottery and gets a special boat that has had hundreds of thousands and literally tens of thousands of man hours spent on her for < a single 1% of all that.
So Be Happy and realize that most folks here and in other forums have had to invest on a whole new level, ten or a hundred times higher, thus they cannot relate any better than Thurston could relate to Gilligan. May you find your Mary Ann or Ginger and enjoy thousands of miles under our old gal´s keel. Remind folks that it is the Great Whittler´s Dream they are seeing when you get to the Bahamas and Exumas and if you ever return Northward to the Outer Banks.
Flat seas, and warm breezes to all of you.
"Touche'
Yep,DJ,you are absolutely correct on all points. I did win the boat lottery.
But,as you know,I have also had loads of woodies, including, but not limited to, a 1947 Matthews, the famous "SAPPHIRE "now docked in Charleston, South Carolina, a 1968 45 ft Matthews,,GRACE ",and on and on. Both needing a major restoration.
But restoration doesn't necessarily mean make new. I did all the work myself,except for pumping out the fuel tanks on SAPPHIRE ,due to the fact of a partial sinking (just like WD),and,it being a gas boat,it had to be disposed of.
So,I agree with you,but,still,one does not simply have to be in good financial condition to get a woodie. It can be done on a modest budget, if you do it yourself.
I would have never told the OP to get the boat if it had been setting on "dead boat row"at a marina, or on the hill in the back of some boat yard wasting away. He stated that this boat was in constant service, and, being on the west coast where all those peoples lives were lost in the fire on the dive boat,I'm sure that the coastguard, and all water LEOs are vigorously checking boats for unsafe operation.
And yes,I am in a truly unbelievable area to own and travel on a boat. And my boat,I'm confident, is capable of traveling anywhere in the world that my fuel capacity will allow.
My problem with this thread is the true nay-sayers. Those who by their own words,feel that wooden boats are a complete waste of time and money. It sticks in my gut. Sorry,but some of us,you included, love our woodies.
Come'on DJ,we have spoken on the phone several times,and,like I have said to you before, I am "smarter than the average bear" when it comes to woodies.
And yes,this forum is for USEFUL information, shared by all,to all. But,those who have nothing constructive to say, and I mean TRULY constructive, should leave their opinions to themselves. Opinions being the operative word. If ya ain't owned one,be quiet. You do not know what you're talking about. (Not you DJ,your input is always welcome)
Those who have only heard horror stories from other people, who probably have never owned one,should be quiet. I've never owned a Porsche, but I've heard bad things about them. So,I should have no input in a discussion about them. All I would be doing is ,in essence, spreading rumors. See my point?
A very good example is I recently traded my Jeep for a 2002 BMW X5 4.4i. With very high milage. You should have heard the nay-sayers. My best friend, and probably just about everyone I told about the trade told me I was crazy. But, not one of them had ever owned one,much less rode in one. So,who are they to give advice? (Oh no,here come the BMW nay-sayers on here) I had to replace the alternator ($300,not the $800 everyone said) and the battery (not the $250 everyone said, but $55.00 from Rural King),and I did the labor myself, instead of the nearly $700 that the BMW dealership quoted me to "install,reprogram, and update"the systems. Let's see, that is close to a $1400 savings.
This goes to my point. If you can do the work yourself, you are cutting your costs of repairs about 75%. And,thr OP said that he can do it himself.
BTW, we,Pops and myself, have completed all the repairs, sans sanding and painting, in about 7 working days. Total cost in parts,about $175.00. Cost in labor? 2 home cooked dinners,and a few homemade biscuits and gravy breakfasts. Lots of our stuff,i.e.the 1.25x1.25 pieces of mahogany for the bulwarks, were taken from either scrap from old abandoned boats in the yard beside us(Jerrys)or came from pieces of mahogany used as spacing chocks in a pallet of flooring.
So,DJ,I hope you see the point for my passion. You are a lover for these woodies, and I'm sure have the scars from cuts on your hands to prove it.
Nutin but love,my brother !!!