CONTINUOUSWAVE

I want to have my father's 1980's 15.6-foot Boston Whaler boat restored. I am looking for a competent place to do the work, within 150-miles of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The boat is in fairly decent shape for its age, but:

--the rub rails need to be replaced

--some spider webbing on top of gunwales to be repaired,

--a couple small cracks on gunwales need to be repaird

--the navigation lamps need replacements.

Most important, I need someone who can tell me if the transom and subflooring is sound.

I'd feel better about the project if it was a firm that was experienced with Whalers, but that's probably not essential. Does anyone on the forum have recommendations for firms I should contact based on experience with them?

If you don't want to do any of these repairs yourself, and you're ready to spend a bit, find a dealer that has experience in doing this kind of work on Boston Whaler boats. The first place I'd look for such a dealer is at a LONG-TIME Boston Whaler dealer, a dealer who sold Boston Whaler back in the 1960's and 1970's and still sells them and repairs them.

Hiring out all that work will probably result in a service bill that will be rather impressive. Here are some articles on such repairs. Even if you never try to repair these problems yourself, these articles will give you some background on what is needed to be done to make a proper repair, and this may help you in choosing a repair vendor to do the work:

--you can get the rub rail replacement kit from Boston Whaler. See the article in REFERENCE on rub rails:

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/rubRail.html

--repair of minor spider web cracks can be done by any good fiberglass shop; they just need to color-match the hull gel coat. Whaler does not use white gel coat, and older gel coat colors often are faded. There is some pre-mixed colored gel coat that is often a good match for the OEM color. The most common source is from SPECTRUM COLOR, gel coat repair kits.

--repair of small cracks that are only in the hull laminate and do not expose any foam are also relatively simple for a general fiberglass shop to accomplish.

For advice on repairs to the hull gel coat and laminate of a Boston Whaler boat, read

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/repairInstructions.html

and

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/whalerRepair.html

--the navigation lamps of the 15-footer were usually nothing special. You can replace them with modern LED bi-color combined sidelight lamp fixtures and a white all-round pole lamp of your choice. For some advice on the wiring of navigation lamps, see

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q11

--checking the transom integrity is not difficult; if the boat has an outboard engine mounted, you can grab the gear case of the engine and use it as a lever arm; try to move the gear case up or down a few inches--it should not want to move and it should exert a bending moment on the transom. Observe the transom for any sign of flexing. Here are some prior discussions:

How do I check for Transom Rot
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/004209.html

Assessing Transom Strength
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/008738.html

For more prior articles, paste this into GOOGLE:
site:continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3 transom check

--hull integrity can be checked by tapping the hull with a small plastic-faced hammer and comparing the sound or report of the tap; any sound of hollow tap means a debonding of the hull laminate from the foam. A close visual inspection should reveal any punctures in the gel coat layer which are exposing the underlying laminate and foam.

--the cockpit deck can be checked just by walking on it. If it feels soft and spongy, you will notice it. Repair of a soggy deck is a big project. Take a look at this two-part article on such a project:

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... store.html
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... tore2.html

As Jim said, experience with whalers is very necessary.
Note: The word “restored” is both over and misused in this world.

Good Luck