6 berths needed!
Tony runs a company in Boulogne-sur-Mer specializing in corrosion treatment. He works on boats, mainly in the fishing and military fleets, to renew paintwork. But to take his family (and his 4 children!) out for fishing and cruising, he's looking for a pleasure sailboat.
Knowing the boat you're sailing
For this sailor with no sailing experience, owning a sailboat means knowing it by heart. Seeing suction-cup boats in harbors, lacking in maintenance and follow-up, he goes in search of an "almost" wreck to completely rebuild it. Tony finds it tasteless to buy a boat and sail it without knowing its history. He prefers to start from scratch, from an empty hull.
Small budget, big commitment
He bought this Chergui built by the Gouteron yard in 1974 for ?700. It has to be said that the yacht doesn't have much appeal. Apart from its 9.87 m length, which will provide the 6 berths Tony needs to accommodate his family, the boat was converted into a home by its previous owner and abandoned in the harbor for 6 years after his death. An auction followed, with the first owner buying the boat for his son. However, given the extent of the work involved, the latter gave up and sold the boat to Tony for ?700. At this stage, the boat has been vandalized and is beginning to be stripped.
A year of evening and weekend work
Tony pulls it out of the water and tackles the task. Evenings and weekends, he'll be busy stripping it bare. All fittings will be removed. The boat is empty. This allows Tony to rethink the layout and change everything: valves, plumbing, electrics, Plexiglas... Everything is new. It's also an opportunity for this painter to completely redo the interior and even exterior paintwork. The white hull will become blue, and even the deck will take on a gray color that is surprising in yachting, but not aesthetically pleasing enough.
An inboard engine that stays put
Only the engine, an 11 hp Volvo, remained in place. A visit from a mechanic friend will reassure Tony, and getting it up and running again will pose no problem. But first, we need to recreate a fuel tank - the previous one has been vandalized - and change a few parts, such as the starter motor and oil pressure sensor.
Let's Go ready to navigate again
Now "Let's Go" (that's the name of this Chergui Gouton, which won't change) has been put back in the water one year to the day after she was hung out to dry. There are still a few details to do, such as washing the mainsail and acquiring a genoa (the old one was missing from the inventory), before setting sail.
In the end, this complete renovation and re-launch was achieved on a very tight budget and with a lot of resourcefulness and help from friends. Indeed, Tony admits to having spent just ?2,000 to launch himself out to sea. But that's without counting the number of man-hours invested in the project!
