Hook, Line and Sinker: The hunt for the perfect project boat

Why wouldn’t you? Old boats are great. They have a story to tell. They have survived the test of time and they are much, much cheaper than new ones. But they need a lot of work, and more often than not a new powerplant.

The one thing we have learnt from all the project boats completed over the years is the whole thing is a money pit. It will cost you.

Do all the work yourself and choose to not repower, and there's a chance you may come out ahead. But if you think you can buy a cheap hull, rebuild and repower it, and then sell it for either a profit or maybe even just break even, it’s our experience that you won’t – based on do-overs of almost a dozen boats.

Why do it? The answer is simple: more often than not, you end up with a good, reliable boat. If it is a boat you will keep and use, a project boat is something you should seriously consider. The work will be worth it if you do it right.

This season on

First, we needed to find a boat each… and the hunt started earlier in 2018.

One thing we have learnt is that project boats only start to make financial sense the longer you hold onto them. The depreciation curve is steep early on, but looks better over time.

With this fiscally responsible thinking in mind, I was keen to find a project that I could keep for a while; one that would fit in with the family, and one we could all enjoy for the next however many years.

I was fortunate to grow up on a little rock in the middle of Bass Strait called Flinders Island, and it is still where we go each year for a family holiday. We do have a boat there, a 1975 Mustang 1800 runabout named Pegasus, which is the boat I grew up in. It has sunk three times, lost at sea for a week and has run over more granite rocks than I care to count.

For sentimental reasons I did consider Pegasus for my budget project, but ultimately decided against it. This was for two reasons; the tides are big and waters around Flinders Island can be lumpy, and there is the occasional breeze.

You want a boat that is soft and dry. Unfortunately, the mighty Pegasus is neither of those things. It is the hardest riding, wettest boat ever produced.

I should point out that not all Mustang 1800s are the same. Normal ones are good, but as an early abalone boat, Pegasus was built for shallow waters and moulded with a flattish forefoot that pretty much ruined it.

As a family growing up we’d often head off to one of the outer islands for spot of fishing and a picnic. The Duigans would arrive wide-eyed and drenched, while other families would casually step off their boats without a hair out of place.

Clearly they had something that we did not – which is how I learned about the legend of the Haines Hunter V19. A great boat in 1976 and to this day a soft riding, dry, safe hull that with the latest engine and electronics is good for another 50 years.

If you’ve been following the used market on www.boatsales.com.au for the last year or two you will have noticed that old Haines Hunters have become increasingly sought-after and valuable*.

Old, clapped-out Haines 244s that used to fetch $10,000 now make $50,000. A clean, original V17L will cost you more now than it did new, and the same can be said for arguably the most desirable of all the old Haines, the V19 runabout.

Haines Hunter tragics will tell you that there are two quite different versions of the V19r. The early model has a pronounced reverse chine – so much so that the boat was moulded in two halves that were then joined along the centreline. The later model has a straight chine allowing the hull to be moulded as a single piece.

Straight-chine boats have higher coamings, more freeboard and feel bigger. Some say they’re not as stable at rest without the big chines, but they probably ride better than the older boats, and they’re certainly more expensive to buy.

While I was looking, four suitable V19s came and went; three with reverse chines and one straight, and with asking prices ranging from $3500 to $18,000. Eventually I parted with $4500 for a very early, very original reverse chine boat on a vaguely agricultural dual-axle trailer.

The boat was originally fitted with a stern drive, but it does have some other quirky features I may be able to incorporate into the rebuild. Most obvious is a teak and glass windscreen that probably isn’t from the factory, but is extremely well made.

The 1960s-era Mercuiser gauge cluster is very retro cool, and we may be able to do something with it. While they’re probably not PC, dual chrome ashtrays add a bit of nostalgic value.

All in all I’m very happy with my V19. It hasn’t been bastardised along the way and should provide an awesome platform for a budget-conscious project boat.

(* Does not apply to Haines Hunter Tri-hunter models)

I had spent a few months keeping an eye on boatsales.com.au but didn’t really know what I wanted to do as a project. There were cats, tinnies, half cabs… plenty that would suffice, but my problem was I didn’t know what purpose I wanted a boat for…

Thankfully, the boat found me.

When I tell people I am now the proud owner of a piece of boating history, a Haines Hunter Tri-hunter 170, they all react in the same way: No one has ever heard of it.

That’s because from what I can gather, fewer than 100 hulls where laid in the Haines Hunter factory in the very early 1970s.

The Tri-hunter 170’s cathedral hull is based on a Boston Whaler design. Another of C. Raymond Hunt’s ideas, it has the benefits of more stability at rest from the tri-hull at the front of the boat, while a more traditional rounded hull at the transom means that when the whole thing is up and going, you are riding on a magic carpet of air.

That’s what I’m saying, anyway.

The 1970s-era Haines Hunter Tri-hunter was released with a 115hp outboard and featured a very innovative bowrider set up. My Tri-hunter was in very original condition and sporting a 40hp Yamaha two-stroke when I found it.

This particular model was so innovative back in the day. Nick, though, pointed out that tri-hulls and bowriders where two of the most unpopular types of boats ever invented.

I paid $5000 for the hull and trailer. Too much? Maybe, but it is a very good trailer and I could see the hull had all the bones of a very good, sweet open-style machine. A side console, a big casting platform and a repower back to the 115 would make it a great fishing boat.

But before the build could take place, I needed to deconstruct – a messy process. Every bit of ply in the boat was wet and rotten. The transom was scarily soft. You can see it flexing on the video we filmed on the day I bought it.

To save money I thought I would attempt to do the project myself. But because I’m hopeless at all things handy, I quickly employed the services of a mentor/expert.

My mate Michael plays around with old boats for a living, and each weekend he would come to my house and chip away at the project.

First thing, we removed the top deck. It was just riveted on and peeled off fairly easily. Then it was a case of smashing, digging and cutting out and the rotted stringers. It wasn’t a gentle exercise and required plenty of banging and muscle to make inroads.

The whole interior was ground back, a horrible job that took a number of days. Michael, in his hazmat suit, is very particular and claims this grinding process is one of the most important steps in any rebuild.

The hull was finally back to its original glass, and the process of rebuilding it could start.

I am using ordinary plywood for the stringers and transom, and not the marine-grade stuff. Michael says there’s no need, as the whole thing is going to be sealed, so why spend more on the more expensive material?

That sounded good to me. After all, this is project boats on a budget.

To date, we have the stringers and transom in place, and have started fitting the floor. This is where the real fun of fitting it out and packing as many features as we can into the mighty Tri-hunter as we can starts!

The big lesson I have learnt so far is that you need heaps of preparation to get to a stage where you can start putting bits and pieces back into the old hull.

Who knows how it is going to turn out. I do know something though… a 115hp Yamaha VMAX is going to make it very slippery.