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. 

I Found the Golden Ticket!

Manufacturers ID numbers

Hours invested to date: 22

Willie Wonka would be disappointed that the ‘golden ticket’ was not in the wrapper of a chocolate bar. This ‘golden ticket’ is the key to the origination of our boat and I found it! As we were removing the decking on the bow today, I looked inside the bow and found the original metal identification tag. If our understanding of boat identification tags is accurate, this boat was built in 1950. Indeed, this is the third time we have thought we knew what year the boat was born but this time it is official (we think). 

Port haul side completely sanded

Over the past two weeks we have been sanding the sides of the hull.  The last owner used house paint on the hull and it has preserved the wooden hull amazingly well.  It took us several hours to finish one side. The other side awaits as we embark on the removal of the bow decking.

We started our day measuring the transom so that we could visit Edensaw Woods in Port Townsend on a mission to find the perfect piece of marine grade plywood for the transom replacement. We also took a piece of the rail to match to the right piece of mahogany (yes, the smell of rich mahogany). Emily had never visited Edensaw and was immediately taken with the selection and the friendliness of the staff. 

The adventure of removing the bow begins!

Our first task was to find the mahogany.  We found five different kinds and started to doubt that the rails were in fact mahogany.  We walked up to the counter to be greeted by a nice older man who offered us a cookie and immediately identified the piece we brought with us as Philippine mahogany. From there we determined what it will cost us to replace the bow with the correct type of mahogany and also what it will cost to build the back bench and side seats out of the same material.

The nice older man also steered us to talk to the “Prince of Plywood."  We went to another building to find the prince and hear about the different grades of marine plywood for the transom – the original reason for our visit. The Prince of Plywood helped us select the piece that will become the transom.  As we look at the wood, we cannot help but think that it is so beautiful we may just need to varnish it and not paint it at the end of our project.

As our day wound down, we had some visitors stop by to see The Boat in The Woods.  We were given sage advice by someone whose profession has surrounded boats (Emily’s dad), Emily’s mom and sister, my parents, and my husband, Jeff.  Without the watchful eyes of so many, we may make mistakes. That’s how we learn.

Willie Wonka may not be impressed with our golden ticket but we believe it was the piece of information we had been waiting for since the start. It is truly the golden ticket that will allow us to trace the roots of this boat. On a side note, Gracie went with us to Port Townsend with us today!  She wants the boat finished so we can go for a ride.

- Kayleen 

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All you need to deconstruct a boat is a screw driver and a hammer

As to not deduct from Kayleen's recanting of today, and discredit her sacrifice of the WSU game, which she sidelined (like the Huskies will repeat on the Cougars at this years Apple Cup) to update the blog for you all, I will add my brief two bits separately: Edensaw has easily taken over the spot as my new favorite place. The moment you walk through the door, the smell of hardwood hits you like a sucker punch to the senses - you're instantly overcome with project after project of inspiration. I cannot wait to return. Once back at ground zero, Kayleen and I began the amazingly fun task of destroying the bow. For those of you unclear as to why we had to deconstruct, heres the short end: rot, rot, and more rot. Plus we can make it look better!

The bow is gone! Clean slate ready for new mahogany planks!

Tomorrow Kayleen, Jeff and I will embark on a mission to Port Townsend's wooden boat festival, where we hope to find educated souls who are familiar with our Vashion Island Skippercraft. Next year, we hope to showcase our intriguing and curious vessel in the lineup with the best of them. Next week we will begin the task of constructing the transom and will continue on with prepping for fiberglass.  

- Emily