I love restoring boats, in the past I’ve restored an 18 Ft 2001 Wahoo center console, a 2005 Seaboss 180DC Dual Console. Each of these have been increasingly more demanding in the amount of restoration required. This Boston Whaler 13 I just bought (Less than 2 weeks after selling the SeaBoss) is no exception. Actually, it will require a significant amount of restoration to make it sea worthy again, not that I would take this boat out in Blue water.
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I first saw one of these during a dive trip to Key Largo. I’ve always been a fan of the Boston Whaler boats. Chiefly because of the hull design on them. They handle more like a sports car, tracking hard turns fairly flat. At times at the risk of flinging folks out of the boat! The 13 footer intrigued me because of its looks and practicality.
This 13 footer I picked up had a fairly solid hull and the transom is in excellent condition. Having a solid hull and transom on any 1966 boat is nothing short of a miracle. The interior was another story. There was some delamination in the bow area, which seems to be fairly common on these boats.
There was also a significant hole in the anchor locker. I presume from having an anchor bouncing around in there during it’s 52 years of use. Surprisingly, the fiberglass in that area of the boat was less than 1/8” thick. I thought this unusual for a this boat since they have such a solid reputation.
This boat came with a 1988 Johnson 40hp outboard. I’ve yet to see whether this motor is salvageable or not. The teraflex steering rod is stuck in the tilt tube. As if that isn’t enough, the tilt tube itself is stuck with the engine in the raised position. I’ll have to solve those two issues before I attempt to start it. Starting it will be a challenge as well since the previous owner lost the key to the ignition switch. If I can get it started I’ll do a compression test and go from there.
I’ve done a significant amount of work on this motor and it is running decently now. You can read on all the work I’ve done here: 40HP Johnson Restoration
I have decided to not use the Johnson. I’ve opted for a newer (97) Yamaha two stroke. The key decision being that the Yamaha has power tilt and trim and the Johnson does not.
Overall this looks to be a promising project. I’ve already researched what I need to do for the boat itself. I’ll be using epoxy resins for this project. These resins are extremely versatile in both fiberglass repair as well as filling in voids. The interior will be primed and painted with a marine grade polyurethane paint. I plan on finishing the hull with a sealer and a two part polyurethane paint using the roll and tip method.
For the interior, I plan on buying a pre-made mahogany interior for the boat. My goal is to restore it as close to it’s factory new condition as possible. But, there will be a few modern amenities such as the Teleflex steering and the electrical panel.
This page will be the landing page for this project. As I complete various parts of the restoration, I’ll add posts and link to them from this page.
Hull Fiberglass Repair In this article I’ll cover a hull restoration . This involves a major hull fiberglass repair. I fixed the normal gelcoat and small fiberglass damage you would expect on an old Boston Whaler. But, I also found that the large chine on the port side had been compromised. Surprisingly, it was completely […]
Damaged Hull Fiberglass Repair – Boston Whaler Restoration – Part 12 Read More »
I bought this Whaler without an interior so had to buy one. Luckily, there’s a great craftsman in Haverhill MA who fabricates them out of real African Mahogany. Bob Latorelle put together a Super Sport interior for me at a fantastic price. The wood came unfinished so applying spar varnish was the first order of
Applying Spar Varnish to a Mahogany Interior – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 11 Read More »
Now that the weather is warming up here in North Carolina, I can finally start working on the hull and the boat transom. The transom fiberglass repair will consist chiefly of patching in all of the holes with a permanent fix. The only holes I won’t fix are the ones for mounting the engine. This
Sealing the Boat Transom Fiberglass Repair – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 10 Read More »
If you do boat restorations, you’ll eventually have to get the boat off a trailer and onto boat stands. Moreover, you’ll probably have to flip it over as well. I’m restoring this Boston Whaler 13 and have finished the interior. I have to get this boat off the trailer and onto boat stands. That way,
How to Lift a Boat off a Trailer – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 9 Read More »
I finally have the topside finished! Watch as I go through entire process of getting the topcoat of polyurethane boat paint on. I used Total Boat Topside WetEdge in Classic Boston Whaler Blue. It’s a single part polyurethane marine paint and simple to use. Most of this was rolled on but for the most obvious
How to Roll and Tip Topside Boat Paint – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 8 Read More »
Getting the interior of this Boston whaler ready for a finish coat of fiberglass paint has been a challenge. There was a lot more defects that really were unnoticeable until you started Digging in. The first hurdles were the large hole in the anchor locker, rebuilding the transom and the delamination in the bow .
Fiberglass Paint Primer and Sanding – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 7 Read More »
While grinding out a few larger cracks, I discovered that what I thought was a large crack on the bulkhead was actually a large chunk of fiberglass and gelcoat that had been glued back in. So It looked like I needed to do a gelcoat repair. This isn’t necessarily complicated or hard. There are several
I’ll be writing about how to do a clean transom repair. A previous owner modified the transom so that a steering rod on a newer motor would work correctly. These old (1966) Whaler 13’s had a lowered (15″) transom. A pulley and cable system originally steered the boat. When past owners upgraded their engines, one
Fiberglass Transom Repair – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 5 Read More »
If you restore fiberglass boats, fiberglass hole repair is going to be one of the tasks you face. Many folks will just fill in the hole, sand it smooth and call it a day. The problem with that is that those plugs will eventually work themselves loose. Think about the vibrations a boat hull is
Small Fiberglass Hole Repair – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 4 Read More »
One aspect of this Whaler 13 restoration that I’ve been anticipating is repairing the large hole in the anchor locker. This is a medium to large endeavor in fiberglass repair. I’ll be using epoxy resin to lay down the fiberglass mats. I’ve also already used “excess” epoxy resin from other repairs to create a solid
Anchor Locker Fiberglass Repair – Boston Whaler 13 Restoration – Part 3 Read More »
