Some of you who have ventured over to the boats and blinds forum may have seen this but I really felt it worthy of a post here on the main forum. FYI, this thread is going to be picture heavy so I'll post it in several installments due to the pic limitation per post. So if you're reading soon after I post, give me a few and there will be more.
Back in November of last year, I had a chance to pick up a scull boat that had made its way from VT to CT. The gentleman that I purchased it from delivered it on his way down to FL for his holiday vacation. She was in pretty rough shape cosmetically but overall sound condition.
I received the boat on the 21st of December where I began a game plan for restoration. The owner had actually got the boat for free from another gentleman off of eBay. The eBay ad described the boat as "circa 1890 and believed to be factory built".
Here's what she looked like when she arrived in my shop. The coaming was rotten as was some of the decking near the coaming on the starboard side. I could tell from initial examination, that some of the ribs and cockpit braces were cracked or deteriorated. All of the original bronze hardware was still with the boat including half rounds for the hard corners, bow and dagger board. The bung plug receptacle is copper (or at least I believe it to be as I haven't cleaned it up yet) and the original bung plug was still attached. She had seen some rehab over the years. At some point a motor board had been attached but was no longer there. It had been fiberglassed with poly resin, including a piece of fiberboard glassed over on the decking. The solid board that acts as the keel and bottom of the boat had been saturated with some type of resin or epoxy in order to halt the board from rotting completely away. I later learned what it was in my quest for her history but I'll get to that shortly.
Continued...
Back in November of last year, I had a chance to pick up a scull boat that had made its way from VT to CT. The gentleman that I purchased it from delivered it on his way down to FL for his holiday vacation. She was in pretty rough shape cosmetically but overall sound condition.
I received the boat on the 21st of December where I began a game plan for restoration. The owner had actually got the boat for free from another gentleman off of eBay. The eBay ad described the boat as "circa 1890 and believed to be factory built".
Here's what she looked like when she arrived in my shop. The coaming was rotten as was some of the decking near the coaming on the starboard side. I could tell from initial examination, that some of the ribs and cockpit braces were cracked or deteriorated. All of the original bronze hardware was still with the boat including half rounds for the hard corners, bow and dagger board. The bung plug receptacle is copper (or at least I believe it to be as I haven't cleaned it up yet) and the original bung plug was still attached. She had seen some rehab over the years. At some point a motor board had been attached but was no longer there. It had been fiberglassed with poly resin, including a piece of fiberboard glassed over on the decking. The solid board that acts as the keel and bottom of the boat had been saturated with some type of resin or epoxy in order to halt the board from rotting completely away. I later learned what it was in my quest for her history but I'll get to that shortly.
Continued...