Boatbuilding ideas

Gotta try some new stuff today. I really need to get to work on my adjenda for working on the many restorations that are in the shop. I have one cedar strip boat in the”home-shop” right now that a customer brought me to “pretty-up”.

Geisler boats are an old established design that are made with inferior fasteners and a mix of red and white oak. The boats are well build but, could sell for more than the 4 grand that they charge for a 18 footer. This is the price of a bare boat of course, and one I am done, replacing fasteners to the keel and keelsons, giving the bottom a coat or 3 of epoxy and 6 oz fiberglass cloth and 6 more coats of varnish, she’ll be water proof and beautiful. Ya, I know, varnish on the bottom?  This is a really dumb idea but, the ower insisted so, I charged him for the extra work and cost of materials. I guess his wife wanted to see the bottom on the trailer and use the boat for shows.

The inside was sealed with penetrating epoxy and has at least 8 coats of varnish. The decks and seats are also done without the aid of epoxy. The owner wanted “glove-boxes” in the walk-throughs so, I put two in (one on each side) with hidden hinges and some nice locking hardware.  This cedar strip will be as good as any out there and should last a good 20 years before any rot appears. The original Geislers last only about 10 years if they are purchased and not taken care of right away.

The other boats are in my “big shop” and will be attended to by myself or a hired boat builder (Lisa) in the near future. One is supposed to be an insurance job and the other is a re-ribbing of a folk boat. The ribs that are in her are good but cracked beacause of a drop with a lift a few years ago. The folks sistered the originals with some inferior wood and glue that totally delaminated and rotted. The original cracked white oak ribs are just fine but, have the cracks. My next phase of the job is to get a couiple of logs cut up by a local sawyer and prep the wood for the newly made steambox.

The hard part of course, is putting the new ribs in when I am surrounded by floor timbers and settee frames etc. I think the plan will work once I get setup. The removal of the old fasteners was a real pain but, I used a plug cutter that fit over the original bungs and will re-plug with the next size up before re-fastening.

I’ll be back tomorrow, if I can.

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