Well hello! We recently put a 1972 GB32 under contract and have tons of questions. The boat was used as a SUP charter boat and McCovey Cove party barge for Giants games here in SF. Its called the Barbary Ghost and its...infamous.
Sadly the owner's charter business has been shut down during COVID and he is unloading the boat. We've offer $12k conditional on survey and he accepted. I'm hopeful thats a reasonable price for the work we need to do. We plan on learning and doing as much of the work we can, but have started to identify people we can hire out specific jobs for reasonable rates.
Cosmetically its rough but it had a rebuild Ford Lehman 120 and the bottom inspected and repaired 5 years ago. It had another bottom job and inspection 2 years ago. So im hopeful there are no structural issues but the survey will tell next week.
I could use some help to get me oriented and up to speed on the project. I was looking for the GB Woody and GB forum but both look like they no longer work? Thats such a shame. From the comments they seem like they were amazing resources. Is this forum the next best resource today?
Ok so here are the questions I would love some feedback on. If you think we're being naive, by all means, share your opinion. I like to go into these projects knowing all my blind spots.
What I know:
- The deckhouse, flybridge and all the brightwork needs to be stripped, sanded, repainted and revarnished. We have a team of 3 guys who will help us bang this heavy lifting over 1-2 weeks so we are back to a clean slate. That will make the project far less daunting.
- I heard the flybridges are prone to rot. Luckily this one seems solid. Im wondering if it was already replaced at some point.
- The interior needs to be completely stripped, repainted and revarnished. It looks like a fraternity house right now. We will do that ourselves.
- The decks are so-so. They need to be bleached and the proud caulking trimmed. And then likely be recaulked as a longer term project.
- The topsides aren't terrible. So that might be a job for next year. But all the bronze rub-rails need to to have pealing paint stripped off them.
- All the stainless rails where painted black. I dont know why. They need to be stripped.
- The port fuel tank is shot. We will need to cut it out and likely replaced with plastic tanks? But thats not an urgent job.
- The bilge is dry
- I dont see any visible rot. I can see an area near the starboard transom that had been refilled and an area on near the base of the starboard windshield. The place is to fair those properly.
What I dont know:
- The transmission has a leak. I "think" that can just be uncoupled and the seal replaced.
- The transmission has a lot of surface rust. I believe its a Borg Warner velvet drive. Im hopeful we can just wire it clean and repaint. Any tips appreciated.
- I can see some crappy caulk jobs in the foredeck and can feel some moisture in the roof of the v-birth. That concerns me. Any tips appreciated.
- The starboard v-birth port light also looks like it had rot around the trim at been filled.
- How do I clean and rebuild the sliding windows? They have a lot of crud in the track and I couldnt move them.
- Any tips on how you clean and rebel the 3 forward facing windows. Those look ok, no rot, but have years of gunk around the edges.
- I know the transom is prone to issues. Anything to look for there?
Appreciate any tips to get us going in the right direction. If the survey checks out, I will put together some write-ups on the refit progress.
