Enterprise Im still going

[gavin100]

I wanted to say thank you to all the people who have given me advice along the way to this restoration. I am getting close to the end now, well in fairness its a virtually new boat now.

To anyone thinking of taking the a restoration on, here are some points to consider

1. It will take 3 times longer than planned
2. It will cost 3 times more than your budget
3. it wont make you a small fortune if you want to sell it
4. You need more space than you think
5. Your wife / partner will threaten repeatedly to leave you over the obsession to rebuild your baby

You have been warned haha

If you are still interested please feel free to follow the link to the photos I have put together of my project.

https://flic.kr/ps/2yTSxE

I would also love to hear from others who have / are also going through the same mid life crisis.

Cheers Gavin

[trebor]

Well done Gavin,
I am in the process of rebuilding a Minisprint, I seem to be thinking of what to do next most of the time, I try to do something every week, but the nearer the end, you find you have left a lot of difficult jobs.
I have just acquired an Enterprise, luckily it is in good condition, only needing a small amount of maintenance.

[gavin100]

Hi Trebor thank you for your comments, I know what you mean about the jobs building up as you go along. It would be great to see some photos of your boats if possible.

Cheers Gavin

[trebor]

minisail.org.uk
technical section under minisprint rebuild

[Michael Brigg]

...To anyone thinking of taking the a restoration on, here are some points to consider

1. It will take 3 times longer than planned
2. It will cost 3 times more than your budget
3. it wont make you a small fortune if you want to sell it
4. You need more space than you think
5. Your wife / partner will threaten repeatedly to leave you over the obsession to rebuild your baby

You have been warned haha

I would also love to hear from others who have / are also going through the same mid life crisis.

Cheers Gavin

Hi Gavin, Glad to see another restoration coming over the horizon. I seem to have missed this one and its nice to know that there is another active resto nearing the nervous stage of "nearly finished." It is increasingly looking like 2015 is developing into a bumper year for "New" old boats in the association and perhaps some planning needs to start to encourage a rejuvenation regatta for the re-animated hulls. It is so easy to loose momentum in the final straight and I have especial difficulty when it comes to deciding where to put fittings if there is new wood to be drilled

Always remember however that this is not a mid life crisis, its a rite of passage. One day soon SWMBO will see that looking at pictures of boats on ebay is healthy, and that a boat is far less expensive than a mistress and will be only to happy to give you a shed. She will realise that "It is difficult to make someone happy if you are not happy yourself," should be amongst the pages of advise that is given to all newly weds, and so for the sake of that principle I would add two other clauses to your advice on restoration.

6.) Always buy boat stuff with cash.
It is worthwhile in this matter to start "dieting." If you are given a free lunch at work (say at a meeting or wherever) then the £5.00 that you (would) have spent on your sandwiches should find its way out of your wallet and into the stern locker of your boat. You would be surprised how many lbs you can lose in this manner!

7.) Never keep receipts.
Remember also that if you are a two car family, then an untidy car boot, or for that matter a cluttered garage, can be a very good place in which you "find" what you needed at some future date

[gavin100]

Michael you have raised some brilliant points, and to be fair at those times when I have been struggling to carry on with the project then this forum and the community have been really good at keeping me going.

I will add your points to my list. It would be great to hear from other people what words of wisdom they would offer.

Thanks again Michael for your witty post.

Cheers Gavin

[ent228]

Lovely looking resto'

I see you have a jib furler, are you going to use it?

Not in class but lovely to have, they make sailing so much easier.

[gavin100]

Hi ent228 thank you for the question, I have to say if I'm honest I've not really got as far as thinking about the furler. My wife would like me to sell the enterprise when it's finished, but I'm torn between keeping it and sailing it or much to her dismay starting a new project - what to do????

[neil]

There's a few other tricks you might want to consider, but only if you get a serious boat buying habit.

• Stick to one class, so if you have 2, 3 or 4 of the same class it's easier to say "but we've had that one for ages". Move the hulls around occasionally as a moving target is less easy to spot. Avoid bight coloured hulls, stick to white.
• Get to know your postman and courier drivers. Agree where things should be left. Always put a note on eBay purchases for parcels to be put in the woodshed/under a bucket/in the green house etc. Get into the habit of checking your dead drop locations regularly as it's easy to forget you've ordered things. Destroy cardboard boxes and packaging immediately.
• Store spares and components in multiple locations, that way a large pile of stuff is less easy to spot. This is tricky with masts. And Land Rovers.
• If your habit gets extreme then you'll need to find a neighbour with a barn. Though usually anyone with a barn has filled it with their own collections.
• Be careful will buying tools or leaving them where they can be seen. This often results in those DIY jobs being raised as you now have the tool for the job.

[Michael Brigg]

There's a few other tricks you might want to consider, but only if you get a serious boat buying habit.

• ...Be careful will buying tools or leaving them where they can be seen. This often results in those DIY jobs being raised as you now have the tool for the job.

The DIY stuff can be a useful Trojan Horse mind.

It is sometimes surprising how much varnish of antifouling you need for freshening up the window frames.

(....not to mention stripping tools, sanders and paper, and even a B&D Workmate.)

[JimC]

The DIY stuff can be a useful Trojan Horse mind. :roll:

That works both ways though, because it becomes necessary to actually do some of the DIY...

At the moment I have the Moth down at my Mothers house, using my late Father's workshop. The domestic authority finds it hard to complain about me being a dutiful son and visiting my mother, whilst my mother is so happy to see me and see my father's shop in use that I have much more freedom than I would at home. Also all items are scattered between the various locations. The only trouble is that progress is sporadic according to when I can get there. No doing half an hour's work each evening.

[gavin100]

Wow, some great tips are coming out. I have to say I'm pretty intrigued about the landrover story Neil.

And using the parents and friends spare garages is a stroke of genius. Can anyone top that???

[Max McCarthy]

Not sure if this'll 'top' anything (at least in the sense you are implying) but perhaps, might just about cover it?

If you require a temporary form of shelter for your project, a tent can often provide a quick (and typically easy) route for help.

I wouldn't use one in winter though (mainly a temperature issue to be fair - especially when trying to get epoxy or paint to set or anything for that matter), and it can be tricky to get any electric items wired up to the house, or indeed the mains; depending on your whereabouts. But it has (for me at least, and on many occasions) solved the typical household arguments by those with the 'higher power' status of why *they* can't use the garage for things which simply do not require them - a car perhaps?

However, seeing the state of our garage at the moment, it has far too much stuff in it to be used for anything anyway, so (if I am wanting to do any work on a boat, despite the fact I have no projects on at the moment) the tent it is!

Although, not having a project on at the moment is probably a good thing, considering my A2's are coming up...



Having said all this; you would be unlikely to find a *good* value tent for something with a size suitable for something like a Flying Fifteen, a JollyBoat, or even anything greater than about 12' to 13'. They're pretty good for moths though....(yes any species, even the elusive polyphemus http://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/ ... s_ohio.jpg maybe the tiger moth might be pushing it a little though...)

[Michael4]

I live a charmed life...no questions asked if it fits in the garage. But there seems to be a pile of trailers in the corner of the front garden...

[Rupert]

The dreaded trailer pile causes more grief than everything else combined.