The hull of the
'72 Caravelle Tarpon in the front yard - June 1996.
Nearly a year
into the project the top has been removed and the transom replaced.
The hull of the
'72 Caravelle Tarpon in the front yard - June 1996.
Nearly a year
into the project the top has been removed and the transom replaced.
I was given this boat nearly 10 years ago. It was a cast-off from another restoration project being done by my brother in-law. He purchased the boat only for the trailer and motor. Once he had removed the motor he made a gift of the hull to me. It is cheaper to give a boat away than to scrap one! I was not particularly interested in putting it in the water at the time so it sat neglected in my back yard for 5 or 6 years. At first it was covered with plastic but after a few years the ultra-violet in the sunshine disintegrated the cover. By the time I paid any attention to it again it was part of the overgrowth from the vacant lot next door.
Project
Year 1 - 1995
I needed to move
the boat from it's parking place in the back yard so that new septic fields
could be installed. We trailed the hull to our community marina, still
complete with floors and two sets of seats, put it in the water and tied
it up in a slip to await the completion of the septic construction work.
A small mounting hole in the transom under the water line went unnoticed
to us, but not the lake! By the next morning the hull was sunk, being held
off the bottom only by it's flotation. A small submersible electric pump
was used to raise her and the hole was plugged. The seats which were already
in bad shape were a total loss and discarded. The Tarpon sunk one more
time that summer before she ended up in the front yard where she sits in
the pictures below.
That fall we decided
to repair her. I began removing rotted wood from the floor. My initial
estimate was that only about 1/3 of the floor deck needed replacement.
It had been repaired before but the job was not done well. As I removed
more and more wood I realized the entire floor would need replacement.
By this time it was time to quit for winter. I built a beautiful blue poly
building smack dab in the middle of the front yard to protect the hull
from further damage. It's a good thing I live in a lake community where
covered boats abound in the winter.
Project
Year 2 - 1996
Early in the spring
of 1996 I decided to split the hull and remove the top after discovering
that the transom was also rotten. My son Matthew, then 5, had a great time
operating my electric screwdriver as we stripped her of all of the rub
rail, hardware and windshield. Soon the top was removed and placed on horses
in the back yard while the hull remained out front. I began a serious campaign
of removing all of the wood from the hull. Some came out in handfuls while
other pieces required a crowbar and muscle! I was able to salvage enough
of the wood to make patterns for the new parts. The fiberglass covered
transom, floor and stringers were cut back using a Dremel Tool with a fiberglass
cut-off wheel leaving a flange of fiberglass to attach the new parts to.
All of the wood with the exception of the keel was removed from the hull.
These pictures
were taken just before the new deck was placed.
The new transom,
stringers and floor braces are in place and covered with resin.
The new transom
has been attached to with fiberglass mat and resin.
Stringers and cross
braces are 1/2 inch marine plywood. 1x2 Pine is attached to thicken the
edge.
Center beam is
2x2 treated pine. Two sections are spliced together to create the length.
Decking is 1/2
inch marine plywood. Transom is laminated from 1 inch and 1/2 inch marine
plywood.
The deck is composed of six sections of 1/2 inch marine plywood.
All of the deck
sections are in place and screwed down. My son Matthew (5) supervises.
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