Old Boats...Picture Heavy

5-Shot

5-Shot

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I'm not a boat guy but I suspect some of you might be so here are some pictures from a recent adventure. A few weeks ago I accompanied a friend to an old boat show to serve as chief grunt and lackey (a job for which I am eminently qualified). I must admit, even for a non-boat aficionado (OK, I confess I'm a sail boat guy and not a fan of "stink boats") these old guys were pretty slick.

I should proudly add that my friend, due almost entirely to my skill and efforts, took Best In Show with his 1929 Wason.

Ed




 
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Back in 1954 my father bought a mahogany speed boat with a Chrysler 300 engine, in salt water it was a full time job keeping it looking good, that boat is still in the water to this day.:cool:
 
Those old boats sure were crafted beautifully.

Thanks for the pics.

I have a customer that restores old boats. I've only seen him do one wood one.

All of the rest have been fiberglass but they are all unique. Kinda like a '57 Chevy with fins and chrome. He even had one inboard that the whole engine moved to steer. Weird.

I should get some pics to share with the forum. I'll ask next time I see him if it's ok.
 
Chris Craft cabin cruiser

While visiting Seattle in August we stopped by to see the Hiram Chittenden Locks (also called the Ballard Locks) that connect the salt water of Puget Sound with the freshwater of Lake Washington.

Going through the locks was this Chris Craft cabin cruiser . . . they don't get any nicer.







Russ
 
Nice photos and thanks for posting them. Love old wood boats but had one sailboat of wood and it was a lot of work. Sold my 1977 Helms fiberglass sailboat last year and even though I had to about give it away it was too a happy day knowing after 25 years I'd no longer be paying for it's upkeep.
Nice Chris Craft above too. We had one similar in our marina when a tornado came through and flipped it upside down and destroyed it. It was a sad day and I saved a teak flag staff off it.
 
One of my good friends son that is about my age restores the old mahogany boats . He will take them down completely down to the ribs and start over. You better have very deep pockets as he is one of the best on the east coast.
The last one I saw him doing was for the Wriggly family out of Chicago. I believe it was 38 foot or so and had a V12 Wright airplane engine from the late 20's.It was a true work of art.
The boats normally take a few years to restore . he also has a very large building that he will store boats that is climate controlled that has a misting system so the wood doesn't dry out.
 
There is nothing prettier on the water than a well kept wooden boat, regardless of whether is powered by a motor or under sail. Unfortunately they are the biggest pain in the posterior to keep up, while you are just finishing some maintenance on one area there is some you need to begin somewhere else. The best wood was teak, it didn't require the perpetual varnishing, but is very heavy.
I'll never forget the first time I went out to spend some time in a buddies old wooden hulled Cris Craft, I pulled up to his place and saw the boat on the trailer with a hose leading up and into it. Water was dripping from different places on the hull and I asked him how all the water got in the boat, he said "I'm putting the water in to swell up the wood, we'll pull the plug before we leave and it will all drain out by the time we get to the lake." Thats one of the reasons many people have their hulls glassed but that just adds a ton of weight almost literally. Every year they have a wooden boat show over at Couer'd Alene Lake, its always a pleasure to see.
 
Kinman,

You are dead on about the leaking. Take a look at the picture of the Lisa Marie. Right under the Gar Wood name on the side you will notice a metal fitting. Most of the boats in the show had similar devices. I learned quite by accident what they are. I was sitting quietly on the dock trying to keep out of the way when suddenly, with no one else around, one of the boats started taking a whiz out that fitting. Turns out they all have electric sump pumps rigged with floats to turn 'em on.

Pretty shocking behavior.

Ed
 
My Great Uncle Joe and Great Aunt Lee were boat builders in Ballard. I've never seen any of the boats that came out of their shop. I'd buy one of I found one.

I still have some of Joes drafting tools, and an old newspaper article about them.
 
I admire the old wood ones and see a few on the Columbia River:

jetrake8-14-13011_zps1c2ed148.jpg


This mahogany Egg Harbor belongs on the next dock over from my aluminum jet sled and is being restored:

LicensePlateLureSept102013032_zpsb34c314e.jpg


LicensePlateLureSept102013026_zps2e42f5d0.jpg


For lines and class, it is hard to beat this one... I'd love to have a "new" version to row around, this one from Ocean Shores, WA:

oldwoodboat022_zps88d073ca.jpg


oldwoodboat020_zps6b74606c.jpg


oldwoodboat028_zps9dd5e7b5.jpg


oldwoodboat026_zpsf1836006.jpg


Clean Break
 
Actually the last few pics of the last boat looks to be in pretty good condition. You could shoe horn in a small gas or diesel engine or even a 4-5 hit and miss engine with cooling done by through the hull fittings to supply cooling water to the hit and miss engine. But in any even a fix er upper of the first order. Frank
 
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