TOPIC: Where to start? - 1958 Botved Coronet Convertible

We have a 1958 Botved Coronet 16' convertible that belonged to my husband's family when he was a child. We got it out of the weather 20 years ago and into our barn. Now we are moving and the subject of restoring it has started again. We just gutted and remodeled a 1904 house, so woodworking and construction skills and tools are readily available. What we do NOT know is alot, but starts with things like: whether to replace or repair the chine stringers, how to flip the puppy over or set it up to work on it (literature says is about 500 lbs) without damaging the boat, and the BIG one ... should we get another boat to restore before we start on the one that really matters and, if so, what should we look for that would be similar (fiberglass over plywood).

I don't have any recent pictures right now. most of the stringers appear to be good. the chine stringers where the sections of plywood meet are pretty well rotted in places - especially a little forward of midship. There is also some rotted ply in that area toward the bottom of the boat (can stick your finger through). Surprisingly, the transom appeared to be solid. There is some delamination of the ply over the cuddly and a few other horizontal surfaces & the surface is rough (hubby thinks his dad put some sort of epoxy paint on it that did not like the sun).

Other than not having the original motor & cushions, the accessories are complete and the teak floor pieces are all there.

So suggestions on where to start???

practice makes perfect.......mesure twice cut once.....you know. If I had the chance I would look around for a small cheep to free and start there. it would give you a a chance to see how resin works in those kinds of situations, remember to never use treated wood, in fact the better the wood the better off you will be. I would use cheep cdx ply on the experimental boat and marine grade for the real thing.

Thank you. I have been looking but am not sure exactly what to look for. Most of the boats with fiberglass inside will be significantly different than ours ... I guess we need to look for a wood boat which, I suspect will be more expensive

Is this boat wood? I thought it was glass...... if its wood go to GlenLcom they have many many plans,kits,etc or clarkcraft.com

Ponyboy, I guess it is classified as glass since it has glass on the outside and was Botbed's 1st attempt at a fiberglass boat. I think we are looking more to getting another boat to restore, not build as there are intricacies in taking something apart & that the rot would cause us to encounter. Besides the Chris-Craft Lake 'N Sea, we need other other years and models to look for that are plywood with glass over it or, i guess, look for a plyood boat.

Shello,

The Botved is still classed as a wood boat. Mine was a 1960 19.8' Cornet Cabin boat. I do miss that boat very much the Danes are good at boat building. This site has an excellent forum for wood boats. Another source is the ACBS. I would try the forum here at Fiberglassics first for immediate practical assistance, and the ACBS for their archive on wooden boats.

Morris aka
Al Wilson
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g3 marque club rep ACBS