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My sister in-law's husband called me the other day and asked me if I was interested in buying a boat for cheap. He found a flat bed trailer that he wanted with a sailboat on it. He said if I bought the package deal and gave him the trailer he could swing the deal. Fine by me if the boat was worth it, I figured I could salvage enough hardware to make the $200 spent well worth the deal

After driving for an hour in four wheel drive down a one lane Alaskan trail I spoted a blue and white hull on a trailer. I about had a heart attack "TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!" I tried to pretend that I wasn't interested and shook my head with a couple of fake growns.

I crawled under her, I climbed on top of her and even stuck my head through the hatch. I didn't know what the heck she was, I couldn't find any plates with any kind of name. I think she is about 22' to 24'. She is a double keeled sailboat, with a little hull damage up forward, the teak trim is shot and the interior was in rough shape. It looked like someone at one time had started to restore her, she was at least clean. Then I spoted the sails My heart did another flip flop right there and then, talk about angina.

No dang camera, just a little bit of bad memory. I went on line and did a search. I'm not sure, but I think I found a twin keeled Hurley 22.

I got the call earlier this evening, I bought the boat for $200

Hopefully, in the morning I'll take possession. I have a shoveling crew lined up to dig her out and a couple of trucks for the tow, incase I get stuck. If I can figure out how to post a pic, again, I'll show you my new boat.

I believe the boat can be restored without all that much work. I certainly think I can repair the hull. The winches and the rigging are in good condition. I am a little worried about the framing in the bilges, because I saw about three inches of frozen water that had leaked in from the hatch over time.

I don't know what I have yet, but I am excited, more to come later. At the bottom of this link is a picture of a very similar looking boat.

http://www.twin-keeler.org/newsletter/tw...4_2005.pdf

Mike

Looks like you found yourself a nice little boat there Mike. I don't think I'd want to cross oceans in it but it's comforting to know it's been done. I hope you can bring her back to life and get her on the water once again, if not it sounds like you can get you money out of it with stripping the hardware. Nice find

Keith

The winches look perfectly sized for the Vacationer :wink:

However, I would truely love a coastal boat and with our twenty foot tide changes she might just work out for up here. My wife and her sailing buddies are all ready throwing names in the hat. I said that was fine, but I reserve the right of veto. :roll:

I found this link after searching for several days, while waiting to see if the owner would except Joe's offer. I wanted to go back out to check on the sailboat so bad, but then the guy may have figured out I was really interested.

The kicker, will be if the framing is sound. My knowledgable friend Lars Opland, who also went on the original looksy, says that I could reframe her easy with my tool set up and even my meager skills. Why should Angie have all the fun restoring boats

http://www.boatbuilding.com/article.php/...ftwinkeels

Wow talk about paydirt, looks like you struck it Mike. I'm Looking forward to the pictures, when you get her home.

Greg

Greg,

I think the pay-dirt is smeared all over her :lol:

I and a friend spent part of Sunday digging her out. But then it snowed a foot last night :twisted: At least fresh snow is easier to shovel than pack ice.

I still haven't found out for sure what kind of boat she is, but I did e-mail the webmaster at the Twin-keeler organization in England with an attached photo. I may get lucky.

Here is a pic of the way I found her. I realize I have a lot of work ahead of me, so will see if there is any gold beneath that dirt. So far the framing looks good. The winches work, there are five sails aboard and a deep sea reel 8) Plus one heck of an anchor.

I am the proudowner of an Islander 23, built in Essex, England by Russell Marine between 1965 to 1971, I haven't been able to pin down the year yet.

I have started a restoration photo album on my new website www.aurorawolf.com The main page is not up yet, but if you click on galleries or forums you can view either. Feel free to join, if you have a mind to.

Today, I started to unthaw the cockpit, there must be a ton of ice :roll: I did get the drains in the cockpit working.

I am gutting the cabinetry, it is in such bad shape, and I will build new stuff.

Make that three deep sea reels, and I keep finding treasures like a cool fixed 12volt bilge pump and another gas can for my out 9.9 Honda out-board.



Mike

That's great mike, also I like the site so far. Even though you have not setup your main page.

The Islander is a great little boat. I almost bought one from a guy in B.C. last year in about the same shape as yours. It was not a twin keel but a fixed full keel. The interior was completely gutted already, but on the plus side, the hull had been sanded and painted already which was at least one thing I would not have had to do. I decided against it as I did not think I would have the time to finish her.

Then I got my weekender Now I need to find time to finish her.

Just a question, the interior does not look to bad on your boat, can it be re-finished, or is that a picture of another boat? I noticed you had a couple other photos of a finished Islander 23'

Shawne,

The interior picture is of Tim's Ballerina.

I wish mine was that good. The wood cabnets in mine are in horrible condition. I am going to keep the sink on the port side and maybe the little cabnet on the starboard side. All the rest has already been ripped out, yesterday. I'll build new stuff, after my wife decides what she wants. :lol:

The thawing is going well, so far the hull and cross members look good. Only a little superfical damage to the upper deck of the bilges where the wood floor panels fit in. A couple more hours and the interior should be dry. Wet vacumes are the greatest, I can suck up gallons in a couple of minutes, sure beats bailing.

The cockpit is still full of ice :roll: but I'll switch the space heaters on to it in the morning.

So far my bubble has not been burst, I got a big boat. I am already planning trips out along the coast. Shrimping, crabbing and Halibut fishing wahoo!

But never fear, the Aurorawolf is still my first love. Even if it takes me an hour to rig her everytime :lol:

Mike

Well, you've got your work cut out for you, but it sure sounds like a good project to tackle. You'll get a hand in all the systems of the boat, which will cut down on maintenance expenses down the road. Can't wait to see more pictures of the process of restoration. You and Angie are really setting the bar on what can be accomplished after building a Stevenson boat. good job, and good luck.

Living proof that once you build a boat, one just can't stop. :lol:

When I first started the Vacationer, I didn't have a clue. As the years have gone by, I have picked up a little more knowledge each season.

Yes, the pluming, electrics, rigging, epoxy repairs, sanding and painting. If I'm not sailing, I'll still have plenty to do.

The sad part of this new endevor is that I had to put the lapstrake caledonia yawl on the back burner "temporarily". :wink:


Oh, one other tibit, now that I have started my own website/galleries/forum a "Special Thanks", to those who have maintained the BYYB website. It is a lot of work, and an extream learning experience.

Mike