Man impulsively bought a sunken yacht years ago and decided it was finally time to restore it
- An American YouTuber had let his yacht sink at a birthday party last year
- It was time to restore it back to its former glory
- The journey left him questioning whether repairing it was worth it
Published on Jan 24, 2025 at 9:48 PM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on Jan 24, 2025 at 9:54 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
An American YouTuber decided that years after buying a sunken yacht, he was going to finally restore it.
The boat was initially seaworthy but years of wear and tear had caused some issues with it and it ended up sinking.
He wanted to restore it so that his friends could have a party on it.
It was a tough journey where he questioned whether or not he should’ve just bought a new yacht instead of trying to fix his old one.
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Why does he own a sunken yacht?
Chris Steinbacher, known online for his YouTube channel with his friends called B is for Build, is known more for his car restoration videos.
Instead of restoring cars this time, he decided it was time to restore his yacht which he had let sink after some issues at his birthday party.
He wanted to restore the boat back to its former seaworthy glory as he was planning on taking it out for a party so he was a bit pressed for time.
This YouTuber bought a lobster trawler that was in bad shape and made it seaworthy again.
The restoration journey
The mammoth project of restoration began with replacing both the engines as they had completely corroded when the boat was submerged in the sinking and no longer ran.
After being careful to take safety precautions like disconnecting the battery, he replaced the engines with Volvo Penta marine starters.
Using marine-level plywood and resin, Steinbacher patched up a broken fiberglass door and worked on doing up the internal decor like replacing the carpets and polishing all the surfaces until they shined.
This yacht restoration more than quadrupled the boat’s worth.
As a little extra, he installed new systems so that he could read real-time data about the engine’s health and performance.
The whole process was arduous and grating at times for him and his team and he questioned whether it was worth it to repair the boat rather than replace it.
Clearly it was worth it. At the end of the day, the newly restored boat was miles away from the old sunken yacht, and Chris and his friends enjoyed a lovely sunset boat party.
Daisy Edwards is a journalist who started her media career after graduating with a degree in History and Journalism from Goldsmiths, University of London. A dissertation about EVs and five years of experience writing about literature, history and politics later, she now writes for Supercar Blondie. Outside of work, she has a passion for country music, dogs and all things tech.
