Customer Reviews

Fix It and Sail: Everything You Need to Know to Buy and Retore a Small Sailboat on a Shoestring

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Good Book! March 12, 2006
Mike in Seattle
The one thing wrong with this book is the blurb on the front cover. It should read "Everything You Really Need to Know..." But, the disservice is done to the author--not to readers. It is not possible to tell everything that everyone might need to know in order to do something. What this book does tell is what anyone who is even contemplating restoring a sailboat had better know. It is far more than an overview of the author's own project though, Rather than just hitting the highlites, it covers e-v-e-r-y important point to keep in mind for the project from beginning to end. I have worked with hand tools for more than forty years, and it still gave me some pointers!

There is one thing peculiar about the book. Women, can't seem to keep their hands off it. My wife and her girl friend both liked the book. As if that wasn't strange enough, I took the book with me to my doctors office, and ended up checked into the emergency ward. At one point, I woke up to find my nurse looking through the book. Well, I guess that might be helpful for a guy trying to talk his wife into such a project, but it seemed kind of odd. I asked, and apparently they simply like the way the guy thinks.

This book is not only an interesting read, but fun as well! The pictures detail everything from each step of refurbishing a sailboat, including what tools to use and how to use them. I just ordered 3 more copies and can't wait to give them to my boating enthusiastic friends! Whether your re-doing a sailboat or not, I would highly recommend this to anybody who's into boating.

I enjoyed this book! It has helped give me the confidence to find and restore a sailboat that I can really afford to own and sail. Brian Gilbert writes with a refreshingly down to earth, articulate and humorous perspective not frequently seen in how to books. I recommend it for anyone interested in doing their own boat restoration. Very helpful.

I received a copy for Christmas and what a wonderful read. It gives you incite and advice and maybe the courage to try a restoration of your own

This book is a sailboat restoration book. The author, Brian Gilbert, chronicles the restoration of a MacGregor Venture 222 he acquired for $500. The boat had been "stored" out in the woods and provided a tremendous opportunity for restoration. As can be seen in the table of contents the Author covers a wide range of topics. His treatment of these topics provide an entertaining combination of technical information and his personal challenges, this keeps the book from being a stale technical manual. He addresses the topics that would likely need to be tackled during a boat restoration project.

I would highly recommend this book to the novice or experienced boat owner, let's face it every boat that is not brand new is a restoration project in some manner. Most importantly Mr. Gilbert covers safety aspects of working on a small sailboat. I remember when I brought home my first trailer sailor, I parked in the driveway, then parked my car. Anxious to start taking inventory I attempted to climb aboard and next thing I new the trailer was pointing skyward, had I read this book I would have had a much safer start. Also covered are topics that any boat owner will at some point need to address including painting inside and out, bedding of hardware, leaks and electrical systems.
I also enjoyed the authors approach to tools across all the topics, he gives sound advice on where to invest in high quality tools, and when more disposable types can be used. Additionally what's the right tool for the job and which is not, clearly supported by his practical experience.
I enjoyed the chapters on canvaswork, metalwork and sail; rig. These are topics that I had not run across in other boat building books. This chapters provide both techniques for restoration and ideas for improvements which are valuable for any boat.
In summary I liked this book very much, it absolutely gives sufficient information to take on a restoration project. It gives the reader a plan to attack such a project in a safe manner. In every chapter the author provides sources for additional resources as a book that covers this many topics may not get to every little detail on all topics. That said this is the book I would want at my side as a boat owner / restorer.

I had just purchased a boat exactly like this and I was looking for info. A web group refrenced me to this and I found a pot of gold. The text is easy to read and understand with plenty of photos. It's sprinkled with humor as well as advice on how to avoid some paths followed by the author. I highly recommend this to any one restoring or refurbishing a small trailer sailor, the information is universally applicable. Fair winds and following seas!

My husband is in the process of restoring our 28' Irwin, and even with as much as he knows, he finds this book to be very helpful. He is a 'hands-on' learner, so there is something special about this book for him to be so interested in it. Money very well spent.

Fix It And Sail is one of my favorite sailing books... honestly! It's got information needed to keep a fiberglass sailboat going for long past its "best if used by" date, and with the cost of a new boat rapidly skyrocketing out of reach for most normal folks, fixing an older boat becomes the only way to go sailing for many of us. Plus, it's a very "green" thing to do, recycling a resource that not only keeps TONS of material out of a landfill, but saves more tons in new materials that would be used for its replacement.

The book's cover tends to "overreach," though, when it says "Everything you need to know to restore a small sailboat on a shoestring." There is no way that a book can cover EVERY potential problem that you might find on an old boat. And the low-cost of restoration can often turn into an expensive proposition... you can easily spend more than an old boat is worth, just on materials. The author makes this clear in the book, and advises readers on the selection of the right boat to restore, as well as how and where to save money.

In the interest of fairness and full disclosure, I must admit a bias with this book, since I wrote it. But it's still my favorite.

I just bought a boat similar to the authors, and planned the same type of restoration. The experiences he relates of what worked and what didn't will save me lots of time and money. A job well done by a normal guy with a passion for sailing. I highly recommend you start with this book if you have your eye on redoing an old boat.

Not a detailed book and unlike the advertised "Everything you need to know to buy and restore a small sailboat on a shoestring" the book glosses over much and lists other books and web sites to find the information you really need. But in fairness the book does give an overview of the restoration process which was helpful.