I have a Volga that I bought from Croatia almost two years ago, which I’m currently restoring. I don’t know the exact age of the boat since all the factory plates are missing, but I’ve concluded that it must be from sometime in the 1960s. After dismantling most of the boat, I discovered that the deck was in such poor condition that it had to be replaced. It’s been a lot of work to remove the old one and build a new one, and I’m now about halfway through that process.
The plan is to convert the boat to electric drive, using an 80 kW motor from a Nissan Leaf, which is roughly equivalent to 110 horsepower.
It had previously been repaired at the stern near the rudder. In that repair, the previous owner likely used the wrong type of aluminum, which was not saltwater-resistant and had completely corroded. I have removed all the corroded aluminum and installed a new plate. It doesn’t look very neat, as I had to reuse all the old holes to the rivet it again, but I have now used a saltwater-resistant aluminum plate, thicker than the previous one.
The door leading into the forepeak had previously had a large speaker installed, which I have removed and sealed with a new plate.
