Restoring “River Gypsy”

A few years ago, my wife, who doesn’t like “tippy” sailing boats, bought a 1952 25’ timber cruiser. It needed, and still needs a lot of tender loving care.

So far I have removed the old engine, a 1974 80hp Perkins Diesel engine and replaced it with a new 75hp Yanmar diesel.

March 2018 – River Gypsy on the Myall River.
October 2022 – Restoration complete.
Last thing added was an electric outboard to act as a rear thruster.
(Slide to see) the old Perkins engine vs the new Yanmar.
(slide to see) Changes to the layout inside.

(slide to see) The aftmost part of the cockpit revealed a lot of dry rot especially in the deck beams. Took this opportunity to redesign the roof support and provide an easier step for boarding.
(slide to see) The old oregon deck needed a few patches but after repairing, fibreglassing and a coat of KiwiGrip, it looks much better and more importantly, it doesn’t leak any more.
(slide to see) Still some work to do, painting in particular but all in all not looking too bad.
November 2021 – Rafting with friends on Myall Lakes, NSW
This video was made after I had installed the new Yanmar diesel engine.
%d bloggers like this: