We're back!!!

Due to the copious amount of downtime that my job has granted me over the holiday season, I find myself exceptionally antsy to spend countless hours scrapping off sheets of undoubtedly lead based paint from the bottom of the boat (frankly, I feel more like an Egyptologist chipping away at an anthropological dig than anything else at this point - I am just waiting for the day when the wood grain that I am so fervidly sanding towards finds light, reveling strange hieroglyphics of owners past). 

Anyways, with Christmas come and gone, and the temperature no longer Arctic (in all honesty, nothing is worse than frozen fingers. Just saying), progress might be had yet!  So with that, here is a quick recap:

- The transom is attached, fiber glassed in place, and feels rock solid (well, it passed my body weight hanging off of the back of it at least). When the boat is flipped back over, we'll beef it up a bit more by framing it in with brackets. 

- A huge shift in the momentum of this project occurred when a group of friendly faces helped us flip the old boat over. Now, I can hear what you're thinking, "why on Earth would you need to do something like that?!" I get it, it seems a bit counter productive and perhaps a bit insane, but access to the bottom of the boat is crucial for the completion of this project. With it flipped, we have an easy gateway to sanding, fiber glassing, and above all, GRAVITY! It really works wonders - you should try it! 

Flipping in progress

 - Kayleen had carpal tunnel surgery a few months ago, sidelining her to the position of supervisor. From her texts, it sounds like she is eager to grab a sander and join the ranks once again. 

In conclusion, I will leave you with a few Q&A that have been asked by a handful of you.

Q: Why are you sanding the bottom of the boat?

A: Simple. Would you paint over a paint flaked wall? Of course not! By sanding down to bare wood, we are revealing any imperfections (e.g. rot, dings, hidden problem areas, etc.), and giving ourselves a smooth foundation to build upon. 

Q: Why are you fiberglassing the bottom of the boat?

A: Not that Kayleen and I are interested in selling the boat, but by fiber glassing we are doing two things: 1.) Insuring that the boat is as stable and sturdy as possible (the wood is old and too much flex can be a bad, bad thing), and 2.) Insuring that a solid resale price can be secured through proper restoration procedures (no cutting corners here!). 

We think we've counted at least 11 layers of paint on the bottom, but who really knows at this point

Q: I'm worried that you guys are going to sink to your deaths once the boat is completed:

A: Thanks to my parent’s proactive approach via YMCA swimming lessons when I was young, and fashionable life jackets, I'm sure we'll make it out just fine. But just incase, perhaps we should sell tickets to watch the day we launch? Proceeds can go towards the motor fund, or perhaps updating our CPR certification. 

We Love Ron Burgundy

Resin art. It's all the rage. 

Arriving at Kayleen’s house I can always be sure of two things: that I will be greeted by a black Gracie dog, and that her house will always smell of a dazzling dish in the works. Yesterday did not disappoint, as both swirled around the kitchen as Kayleen and I discussed our game plan for the day: wood planing. 

Wood planing became the center of our focus two weeks ago when Kayleen and I swung open the front doors of Edensaw, and triggered an earthquake of onlookers. The heat of their eyes was on us like a spotlight; I swear I could see exotic dust particles floating in the air through their high-beamed stares. Edensaw, is predominately littered by men who reek of expired Old Spice cologne and wet flannel – it’s the last place you’d expect to see two women, armed with boat building knowledge and on the missional rampage with measurements in hand. But there we were, and there was Edensaw, completely out of stock of our rich mahogany. 

The transom is finally attached and fiber-glassing is in progress!

Fast forward to Saturday (go back one blog entry if you missed Kayleen’s recanting of this story), Kayleen and I are standing in front of Jeff’s wood planer, armed with rough sawn mahogany planks. The wood planer reminded me of a Crayola 64 crayon box, with the sweet sharpener built into the back. You know, the one that only the cool kids in the fifth grade had? Kind of the same idea, except this machine promised to sand down our planks to toothpick dimensions if we so desired – after a quick demo from Jeff, Kayleen and I hit the ground running.

As a disclaimer, for those of you who do not know, Kayleen has injured her right hand as she has fallen victim to a severe injury of carpal tunnel (personally, I think she should stick with a bar fight story or something equally as hardcore to blame her handicap on, but I digress). Due to this injury, she is virtually incapable of using her right hand for anything worthwhile, so I took charge of the manual labor, while she supervised and manned the planer measurement guide. Half way through the deafening job, we realized that the planer blades are dull and need replacing – with one and a half boards left to plane, we threw in the towel, deciding it would be best to rectify the blade situation before we continued (I’m told that new blades have been ordered and will arrive this Wednesday).

Flames 8 feet high. We call that progress!

With little progress to make on the boat with the planer being out of commission, Kayleen looked at me and with a crazed look in her eye, and suggested that we burn the heaps of dead wood that have been accumulating in the garage since the project began. Needless to say, Kayleen knows how to build a fire! 

Rich mahogany??

Wow!  Time flies when we don’t think we have anything to report on the progress of the boat in the woods.  Today, we decided we had enough to share with our faithful readers – primarily my mom who asks daily why we haven’t written lately.  

I estimate at least 500 holes were drilled and filled with epoxy resin to strengthen the entire wood floor of the stern, which had become soft in some areas due to water damage

As I contemplate where to start I find myself chuckling.  If there was a video or audio recording of us in the garage at work, or more importantly, of what we say, you would be either convinced that we are crazy or you would be rolling on the floor in laughter – No other emotion would apply. I believe that Emily and I could be more entertaining than those Duck Dynasty guys (yes, our boat currently looks like something they could use on their show). However, they couldn’t pay us enough to be seen out on the water in it right now.

Emily has been busy resining the back of the boat, readying it for the dry fit of our newly fabricated transom.  The transom has been the project that has kept us from adding to our blog.  It just seemed to take forever to cut, fit, cut again, fit again, cut again, fit again…  You get the picture.  After many cuts, trims, and so on, we have laminated our transom and Emily dry fit it this morning.  Guess what?  It fits!  Astonishing as that may be to both of us. Yes, we have some trimming to do, but I view our transom as our most major feat of the entire project – especially since the boat has been looking more like a kayak drydock for the past 4 weeks, than something of recreation.  Whew! It didn’t fall apart!

Kayleen cutting our transom template

While Emily was dry fitting the transom, I was busy running errands including the search for some four-quarter mahogany for a brace we wanted to build to add some structural support to our transom.  The search in Kitsap County was for naught. Not a big surprise.

Through high winds and pressure washing force rains, Emily and I trudged to Edensaw Woods in Port Townsend to visit our new friend, Lou.  While they didn’t have four-quarter Maranti mahogany, they did have five-quarter.  We purchased 15 board feet of rough sawn Maranti mahogany for the transom brace. We laughed as we selected our “rich mahogany” boards and how we would need to buy a leather scented air freshener and smoke cigars for the Anchorman fans in our readership. Lou always looks at us with skepticism. We look forward to our next trip to dazzle him with our surprising knowledge façade.

Finally!!! The transom has been cut and resined together. 

As we departed our dear friends at Edensaw (who probably think we are the most unlikely people to sound like we know what we are doing), we realized that this project is not so much about the boat but it is a project about us – individually.  I know I grow each day as never in my wildest dreams did I foresee myself rebuilding a boat.  I realize that I am happier when I am a learner, no matter what my age. This is a drive that I hope I never lose. As for Emily, she just seems to know what she is doing, but  I think that she is learning patience, patience with me.  For that I am thankful.

Grace, our mascot is tired of the sanding and sawing noises. She just wants a boat ride already!

So…we have our wood, it needs to be planed, joined, and installed to support our transom.  This truly is a learning experience that brings frustration but brings even more laughter!  Laugh on!

Introducing the Comet!

On Sunday, Kayleen, her husband Jeff and I ventured to Port Townsend for the 37^th annual Wooden Boat Festival. As we wormed our way through the plague of wooden sailboats tied together, squeezing past as their owners bantered about in their pirate pajamas, we quickly realized that although 1890 tugboats are beautiful, and locally crafted Devlin cruisers are modern day masterpieces, nothing secured to the Port Townsend docks even remotely echoed the characteristics of our 1950 SkipperCraft. Surprised, we began to ask around hoping that one of our cold calls would resurface a suppressed memory of our beloved barge – nothing! Even the small boats manager at the Port Townsend Maritime Center was stumped. In short, we walked away empty handed, but strong in faith that our 18 feet of 1950’s plywood boat was rarer than we imagined.

Bummed that we didn’t find the information that we were hoping for, I spent a good chunk of time last night chasing my own Internet leads. If college taught me anything, it taught me the art of investigation research. Here is what I uncovered:

Above you will see the official advertisement for a 17' SkipperCraft Comet. Look familiar? Bingo! Here's a little history on the operation: Larsen Marina was founded in 1945 by Harry Larsen, who with a crew of four men began manufacturing 8-foot skiffs, which he later trade marked as SkipperCraft in 1947 - Larsen Marine was established in the small village of Burton, located on Vashon Island. As of 1955, four thousand SkipperCraft’s left Vashon Island and were transported for sale all over the West Coast and even up into Canada. In 1950, Larsen Marine boasted a payroll of $42,000 a year in sales, and averaged two boat builds per day. Larsen Marine’s first debut as a boat manufacturer was in 1946 at the Seattle initial boat show, held in a tent at Bryant’s Marina. 

So for now we know that it is a Comet SkipperCraft, and most likely hull #107 (what we have surmised from the hull numbers Kayleen uncovered). Aside from that, it is highly unlikely that many of these vessels survived as plywood was a new technology for the 50's, and most owners did not understand the care and maintenance required to keep rot at bay. Also from my research, I have uncovered that only three SkipperCrafts have been positively identified by hull numbers. If this is true, ours makes number four, and explains why we have yet to run into another.

Advertisement of a 13 foot SkipperCraft

The largest SkipperCraft option available.