Boatbuilding ideas

I have a part of my web site that shows how we restored a 1958 Munroe Cutter. It took a few years to complete and during that time I expanded my business of building and restoring wooden boats to a much larger piece of property and a much larger, more modern shop with 3 large bays. I needed a spot to properly restore our beloved boat and she finally rolled in during the second year of business. That was the only time I could fit her in because of all the other boats that I had lined up to do.

She turned out well and we shipped her to Florida to finish and officially launch for the first time in 5 years. I took about 3 weeks to get her ready with new plumbing, refrigeration, and electronics. The engine had to be hooked up and so did the life ines. Once all that was finished, I had her launched and found a leak right away. I told the fellas at the marina to leave her in the slings out of the water while I investigated. The culprit was the new thru-hull provided with the new depth sounder. It only went through about 1.5 inches of hull and I had a hull that was almost 2″ thick. A quick cutting of an inner ring on the plastic nut that tightened things down did the trick.  I really am wary of such things through a wooden hull but, it was the only possible way to get the new electronics working properly. I will keep an eye on it and probably replace it with one that will go through fiberglass. Then, I’ll have to put a glass patch in the boat and mount the new depth sounder there.

We had very little sailing during that time in Florida because we simply ran out of time and got tired of how damn hot it was down there so, we had her shipped home in early June and she has been sitting there beside my shop since.  We did not put her in last summer because we have been very busy trying to sell the house to move down to the new property with the new shop….   This year, we’ll put her in anyway and if the house sells, it sells and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t…

She was a real joy to see in the water and we even took her back to the original window configuration with mahogany on the cabin sides as she was in a picture of her in the Bahamas. Our first night on her in the water was a joyfull occassion. We had a wonderful meal and drank some champagne. The boys were very excited about putting out the Canadian flag and they paraded up and down the dock singing the anthem while we played with the manatees off our stern. The manetees love fresh water so, we fed them the stuff and got to pet them and take some photos.

Our sailing was confined to the bay off Cape Canaveral and was fun but, not as satisfying as taking off on a real adventure. The trip was short and sweet. We loved the time we had together as a family and the boys really want to get out and sail longer and farther. We will go this March to the keys and charter a boat for a week to give them a taste of what Pirouette did for the last 40 or more years. She was made in Miami and part of the Coconut Grove area for the first part of her life. The Biscayne Bay Yacht club still had a very large picture of her on the wall as you walk in the building. We couldn’t believe that we were looking at our own boat. She was owned for a short time by a french fellow and then sold to Ralph Ride of Rider  Trucks. Then Mike and Joan Stevenson bought her and they had her for 35 years before we aquired her. Pirouette is a boat that we grew to love and we just couldn’t bear to see Mike upset because we didn’t want the boat. Once we learned about her historical value and the adventures she has had, we just couldn’t resist. I had a cradle made up for her and she was shipped north to Port Dover. After she arrived, we had her shipped to the family farm and built a bow shed around her to start the restoration. What a job getting the centre-board out.

I figured it took me almost 300 hours of work (hard work) to remove the ballast and free the cast iron centre board from the 3500 lb. ballast. Once free, the boat could be saved. There were many times though, when I thought of re-casting everything in lead and bronze. The cost stopped me of course, and with air chisels, muratic acit and sandblasting, she came loose. What a feeling that dark evening, when she broke free. After that amount of time and all the “expert” opinions on how to do the job, my solution worked and I proved once and for all that anything can be done with lots of will power and sweat equity.

I’ll try to remember to get some pics up. I am using my wife’s laptop to type and she has no pics on file. I do have a whole collection on photobucket though. I think it is under Hammond somewhere.

Enough for now, the beer is getting warm and I need to go downstairs to watch tv with my family.

Tomorrow is the first day back to school….  Yes, I teach full time this year and the boat building has to wait for a little while. I hope that I can take the afternoon off next semesterl, starting in February.

Cheers,

JFH

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.

It’s new years day 2010 and I am up without a hangover. I must be getting old. Still can’t get the wooden boat building bug out of my head. I guess that is why I started a business years ago.

The possiblity of hiring back one of my principal boatbuilders is growing now and I really hope that she can help me gain some momentum on building a Flyer 135.  The plans have already been purchased and I  have all the wood for the frames and the planking stock for the bottom. Topsides will be mahogany but, the bottom will be 4/4 cut old growth red cedar that I purchased for  special boat building project years ago. I also have some nice teak that will go into the build.

Every wood boat built that is a gentleman’s runabout or a step hydro-plane on the net a few months back were sold so, I think it’ll be a good investment in time and money to have one to show and play with and ultimately sell.

With the boatbuilding economy in the wooden boat world at a slower pace than normal, this might be the chance for a wooden boat builder to experiment with such a streamlined craft. I found a site that wanted information about the streamliner look of their step-hydro plane, made in the 50’s.  The site was under Shepherd Boats of St. Catharines.  I live about an hour and a half west of them. The boat looks like it has the same lines and a stepped hull.

http://www.shepherdboats.com/features.asp?id=3   This is the site that had the pics of the Flyer 135 class hydro when it was sitting in the channel and racing. Quite a boat!

Well, time to go.  Happy New year.

I’ll try to keep up with this. It is helping me to stay motivated.

I have finally started the CNC work for the flyer 135. She’ll be a 16′ step hydro made of wood and epoxy. I have always loved the lines on this boat and hope that anyone interested in seeing her come to life will spread the word that Inner Bay Boats is building a wooden boat that is rare and should be very fast. The motor will be a 4 cyl GMC based block and I will have to purchase a new transmission. I have the old motor sitting in my smaller shop at home and  have always wondered what to do with it so, this will be the motor’s new purpose after a little re-building.

I am not sure how this blog works.  Really just getting into it so, that it will improve my site’s traffic. My first web-site had tons of traffic until Google took over everything and now it seems they can decide who has the traffic and who does not.

Anyway, Gotta Go.

I’ll try to get some pics up and let all you know how things are going up here in the great Canadian white north.

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