Hey everyone, we’re diving headfirst into a full restoration of our Morgan 38, and who better to reach out to than the people who know and love these boats? This project is massive—everything from structural repairs and new systems to a complete interior overhaul—and we’d love any advice, tips, or support you’re willing to share. We’ll be documenting each step as we go, with plenty of photos, videos, and honest updates on what works, what doesn’t, and all the unexpected things we find along the way. If you’ve tackled any major projects on your Morgan (or just want to follow along with ours), we’d be thrilled to hear from you. Looking forward to bringing this boat back to life and learning from this community as we go. Thanks so much for any help or insight you can offer!
Let me get you up to speed on we managed to accomplish. Got the boat in August, transfered it to a new marina from NJ to NY. Raised the boat and started removing bottom paint and barrier coat down to fiberglass. Leveled the hull with Total Boat fairing compound and sanded it smooth. Tried to remove the rudder but no luck, it's stuck between hull fiberglass so we decided not to proceed with removal. Also while sanding discovered a stuck centerboard and managed to swing it down. Getting ready to remove it for service. If you have any experience removing the centerboard your advice would be really appreciated.
Now the resent work that was done as we are trying to move in on the boat. We stopped all the painting work and got into the bilge. This was one of the most disgusting jobs as the bilge was filled with dirt, grime, slime about a foot. Not just regular dirt but slime that was really hard to get off the walls and bottom of bilge. We spent 4 days cleaning the bilge and removing the floor. Now we have access to the fiberglass under the floor and are about to clean it.
Please let us know if you are interested in our project we would really love to hear feedback from you.
Let me get you up to speed on we managed to accomplish. Got the boat in August, transfered it to a new marina from NJ to NY. Raised the boat and started removing bottom paint and barrier coat down to fiberglass. Leveled the hull with Total Boat fairing compound and sanded it smooth. Tried to remove the rudder but no luck, it's stuck between hull fiberglass so we decided not to proceed with removal. Also while sanding discovered a stuck centerboard and managed to swing it down. Getting ready to remove it for service. If you have any experience removing the centerboard your advice would be really appreciated.
Now the resent work that was done as we are trying to move in on the boat. We stopped all the painting work and got into the bilge. This was one of the most disgusting jobs as the bilge was filled with dirt, grime, slime about a foot. Not just regular dirt but slime that was really hard to get off the walls and bottom of bilge. We spent 4 days cleaning the bilge and removing the floor. Now we have access to the fiberglass under the floor and are about to clean it.
Please let us know if you are interested in our project we would really love to hear feedback from you.
