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1890s VT scull boat resoration

11K views 44 replies 5 participants last post by  NCSUDucker 
#1 ·
Back in November I lucked out and purchased a vintage scull from a gentleman up in CT who was kind enough to deliver to me on his way to FL for the holidays. The boat came out of VT, I know its a shot in the dark but would love to be able to find out more history about her. She is a phenomenal float that needs some TLC but nothing I cant handle. It still has all the bronze hardware including the oar locks and half rounds on the rub points and keel. It is believed the bung plug is the original and the amount of work that went into her by hand simply amazes me. I only wish that it could talk. To think that there is a good chance that she took part in the market gunning days and the men who used her. Regardless, I'll be pulling the deck over the next couple of days. The lower hull is in relatively good shape but I'll have to replace the coaming and decking as well as few ribs. I apologize for linking to FB for the pics but its a royal pain and kept deleting what I typed on the ipad as I tried to navigate back and forth posting pics.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 7938434885

Hope everyone is having a great season.
Brad
 
#6 ·
Been getting a little work done. The inside is faired and the lower ribs that needed replacing have been replaced as well as a few of the cockpit braces and board that ran the length of each side. Got a little bit more sanding to do, but the cold weather makes for some slow cure times on the fairing putty. Took the opportunity to flip it over and do some sanding.



Here she is flipped prior to any sanding.




Should have my lumber for the top decks, coaming, and rub rails in a couple of weeks.
Brad
 
#7 ·
You know, if interested.... you might want to contact the Shelburne Museum about this project, they might have an interest in what you are doing since this boat is from Vermont and Lake Champlain duck hunting is part of this area's history. I think it would be cool to have some type of display of this...along with the story of the boat and the whole restoration process.
 
#8 ·
RangerX said:
You know, if interested.... you might want to contact the Shelburne Museum about this project, they might have an interest in what you are doing since this boat is from Vermont and Lake Champlain duck hunting is part of this area's history. I think it would be cool to have some type of display of this...along with the story of the boat and the whole restoration process.
I may do that and they may still be of some help. I've been searching as best I can into the history. I was able to contact the owner prior to the owner that I purchased it from. He actually bought it off a guy in New Hampshire who had kind of an old junk yard/yard sale type deal. This boat was outdoors with a couple of other boats. He said when he bought it from the guy it was covered in old fiberglass and some type of fiberboard underneath it. It was so waterlogged that it took four guys to get it into the back of a truck. He said that he stripped the fiberglass and fiberboard off of her and put it up in a barn for well over a year to let her dry out. Its amazing, as she's dry as bone and light as a feather now. I'll definitely have to coat with epoxy before glassing, as I imagine, she'll suck it up like a sponge!

Brad
 
#9 ·
Talk about a blind stroke of luck!! I have been researching the history of this float. I managed to contact the owner previous to Mike, he gave me a little bit more information and made me realize how close this boat was to being lost. When he acquired it, it was sheathed in glass and poly resin which also included some kind of fiberboard that was glassed to the top. It was outside and so water logged it took 4 people to load it into a pickup. Regardless, he stripped the glass and let it dry in his barn for over a year.

Well, stepping ahead to yesterday. I started delving around Mystic Seaport's online resources where I typed in the search string scull. There were 147 hits with most of them being text links. I scrolled for a minute and then clicked on sort by pictures where this was about the 5th pic to come up!!



[url "http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/detail.php?t=objects&type=all&f=&s=scull&record=17"]http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/...=scull&record=17[/url]

I am 99.9% certain, that they were the maker of the boat in my possession.

First, Brooks Boat Co. was based out of New Haven, CT during the 1880s. Making it quite fathomable for the boat to wind up in NH and matching what the previous owner had passed along, that the boat was "factory built circa 1890".

The cover is the exact same shape and built with the exact same locking mechanism.

The boat in the picture was obviously canvas decked and it looks to have some type of rail holding the canvas around the edges. My boat, has no cotton caulking between any of the decking seams (while still having plenty between the hull seams) and there are screw holes in the decking consistent to what would have been a rail.

Next up, my coaming has these little blocks with notches for a board that served as what I assumed to be for a seat mount. The seat in the picture would fit into them perfectly.

Lastly and one of the big ones for me, you can see in the photo some kind of rope going around interior of the coaming. I assume it was for placing vegetation, although I'm not 100% of its purpose. However, my boat has several bronze eyelets with the remnants of some type of shockcord (obviously a later replacement to the rope) and there are also holes in the coaming that match up with where the missing eyelets would have been.

Regardless, I'd love to hear what you guys think.

As for the restoration, I'm keeping the boat as true as form to possible but still making her a functional, lasting float. The inside is done minus a little more sanding. The center board had deteriorated some prior to the previous owner saturating it with West Systems epoxy. While extremely solid when I received it, the port side of it needed to be built back up to height which I did using cabosil thickened epoxy. All of the seams, gouges, nail holes, screw holes and cracks have been filled. Assuming the last of my fairing putty has set, I will do a final sand on the hull this evening and it will be ready for glass. I've looked into canvas decking but am probably going to go the faux route which involves using 8 oz glass, squeegeeing the epoxy after applying the layer of glass and not filling the weave.

Still waiting on my kiln dried cypress for the decks and have the ash & white oak for the remaining braces and coaming.





Brad
 
#10 ·
Fairing is for the most part done. Need to shape up the keel and sand it a bit. Put a coat of epoxy on and she soaked it up like a sponge!:yes Weather is kicking my tail on drying times and of course its blushing like crazy making things even more of a pain. Regardless, should get a little sanding done tomorrow or the next day and maybe some glass work.







Brad
 
#12 ·
Little bit of work in between hunting and honey-dos.

Faired out and a coat of epoxy before beginning glass work.




Well, thought I was done fairing, after sanding found a few more spots that needed to be touched up.


Lastly, spots touched up and center board getting glassed.

Brad
 
#13 ·
Here's the latest I've found out. Mind you when I bought this boat, I knew virtually nothing about her history and never expected to find this much. The pictured boat is actually in the possession of the Mystic Seaport Maritime Museum. It has been in storage since 1989 but can be viewed by making an appointment. This isn't so much about my boat, but about it's design. After looking at this picture, there is no doubt mine was built by Brooks Boat Co.

http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/Impage.cfm?PageNum=92&bibid=36560&ChapterId=7

 
#15 ·
Here's the latest. Center board is glassed and weave filled. Sides are now glassed and waiting on a second coat of epoxy.





Also, a little more info from a member of duckboats.net Oarlock sockets are identical to those on this boat. No doubt she's A Brooks Boat and that legendary decoy carvers, Albert Laing and Chang Wheeler, had something to with her design.



Brad
 
#16 ·
Thanks guys!

Got her flipped back upright. Ran all the cockpit braces. Makes me admire the work they did by hand even more. The ends of each are compound cuts. I have a template of ply that i made of the cockpit opening. My plan is to lay it out on the braces and mark it off. I can then come in and add the curved braces of the coaming. After that I will install the decking and come back and cut the opening out, thus having a nice flush opening. I also added some support at the bow so that I can mount a bow handle securely.



Brad
 
#18 ·
Once all the braces were in I marked what was left of the shape of the cockpit opening onto a piece of 1/2" ply. One side of the cockpit framing was in good shape so I marked the middle of the would be opening and cut down the middle and the good side, thus giving me a template for the deteriorated side. Once done, laid it on the boat and marked where it lines up on the braces.



Started working on the frames last night. Should be able to finish them up today. It will be a week or two before my decking lumber is ready. In the mean time I'll work on repairing the section of coaming I'm going to salvage, coating the interior with epoxy, painting the interior and polishing some brass.



Brad
 
#19 ·
Here's my stopping point for the day. May add the two boards on each side that were on the original that serve as support and reinforcement for where the oar lock blocks mount.



Brad
 
#21 ·
Once I started eyeing things over especially the flipped over deck there was much more crown than I originally believed. If you remember when I first got it, the deck was cracked, sagging and rotten in several places. As I examined things a little closer I figured out there was about a 5/8" crown at the cockpit back to the transom and it tapered from the front of the cockpit down an 1/8" at each brace to the bow where it ran out to nothing at the tip of the bow. So wanting to keep things as true to form as possible, I went back in an added a curved shim to mimic the original braces. It was a ton of tedious work with a lot of sanding. What's funny is, I'm not 100% sure you'll be able to tell it when the decking goes on, but at least any water will slope off the sides.

On aN unrelated note, In the past week I have figured out I can work on a boat, watch a ballgame, or kill time without a dip! Here's to one week of being tobacco free after dipping for almost 30 years! Haha! Anyway, I installed the blocks that act as support for the oar lock blocks that my step dad is cutting from cypress. The two boards between the braces towards the bow are going to be for a set of pad eyes. There will also be a set towards the back of the rear supports. Combined with a rope harness, they will be used to hoist it up to the ceiling in the garage. Will probably go pick up the needed lumber to finish her up next weekend.

Going to work on rehabbing the piece of coaming I'm going to salvage today.









Lastly, I picked up this bow handle off of ebay, not sure if I'm going to use it or not. Looks to be roughly from the same era and hand forged. Figure once I get it, I'll flatten out the "wings" and see how it looks.



Brad
 
#22 ·
So I'm going to salvage the bent piece of the coaming. It was partially covered in poly resin and some remaining glass, a ton of screw holes, a few cracks and a couple of soft spots but overall it was quite sound and worth saving. Not to mention I don't have a steam box set up. First task was to remove the remaining part of the backer that originally covered the butt joint between the curved piece and the two straight pieces down each side. They were held on by 5 copper rivets so I used an oscillating tool and cut between the two pieces and cut the rivets.







So after a lot of sanding and removing the soft spots, I filled all the voids and cracks with cabosil.







Almost time for paint on the interior. Let her soak in some epoxy last night, once it cures it will be time for a light sand and paint.





So as I've been working on her, I've been searching for something to use as a bow handle. I'm not a 100% sure she ever had one. And most likely, if it did it was an pad eye and ring. It has a bronze half round on the front of the bow that folds back over onto the deck for about 2". Anyway, I polished the old bronze half rounds enough to remove any paint and poly resin but leaving the patina.



Regardless, I've been scouring the net and waiting for "something" to speak to me as well as listening to the old girl as restoration progresses and I can better see her lines. These are the options I've come up with so far. I have a poll/post going on the Toller Facebook page but feel free to post up your favorite.


No. 1 - I found this one on eBay and bought it as soon as I saw it. It is likely from the same time period and probably hand forged. I'm leaning towards this one but the plate will either need to be flattened or some type of mounting block will need to be made. While it looks large, it is only about 6" wide at the widest point.


No. 2 - I really like this one even though it is fairly modern with styling from the 50's. However, I would have to by the set of 5 pieces and it would be rather pricey considering I would probably only use the bow handle.


No. 3 - I like this one as well. It's simple and readily available as a Sunfish sailboat bow handle. Inexpensive at under $30.


No. 4 - Should have bought these even if I didn't use them as they went for a song. Regardless, they come up semi-often and if past prices stand they are moderately priced.


No. 5 - I bought this one on a whim and will either use it or hang on to it for another project. Regardless, I like this one as well but again, it's a fairly modern piece.


No. 6 - Lastly, this one is pretty cool although it isn't really meant to be a handle. It would present some issues with the faux canvas deck finish but nothing I couldn't work around. Also a pretty pricey piece.

Keep in mind, all with the exception of No. 1 would be sand blasted, primed and painted to match the boat color, while No. 1 would be polished enough to remove the corrosion/scale but leave the patina.

Brad
 
#23 ·
I am either going to use 1 or have my stepdad, who is an excellent decoy carver who was diagnosed with Parkinson's about 5 years ago, carve one these.

The gentleman that carved this was kind enough to send the drawing pattern for a canvasback handle. My hopes are to have my stepdad carve it and to have a bronze done of it.

I see some light at the end of the tunnel!

After giving a light sand to the epoxy coated interior, I laid down a coat of Lock, Stock & Barrell's Flat Marine Enamel in MLB Gray. The color is off a little in the pictures, its greenish gray and it matches the color the float was first painted quite well.







Now I just need this weather to get out of here so I can make it up to the mountains to pick my lumber for the deck, coaming and rub rail.

Brad
 
#25 ·
Lavman said:
WOW! What a great thread, I am very impressed with your work and this scull. Thanks for sharing :beer:
Thanks Lavman! :thumbsup:

Well finally got the cypress for the decking last weekend, however, lots going on with some honey-dos and our DU banquet. On a side note did win a Kimber Stainless .45 which was the DU pistol of the year!

Anyway, started putting the decking on this morning. Didn't take to long. Dry fit everything and cut it all strong. Came back in and glued it all up. Will come back with the router and a flush cut bit to take off the excess.





Came back in this evening and began the fairing. Not too much to do, mostly filling screw head recesses.



Going to sand and saturate the cypress with epoxy tomorrow. From there, I'm going to do a 1/4" round over to the edge of the decking. This will let me let the Dynel lay over the edges to create the faux canvas deck. Once the rub rail goes on, it will will seem as if it is holding the "canvas" on. After that I will cut the temporary cross braces from the cockpit and install the coaming. There will be a piece of quarter round that goes around the coaming where it meets the deck to appear like the canvas is being held down by it.

Can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel. Amazing how far she's come along from the state it was in. A member off of Duckboats.net was kind enough to offer me one of his custom built ash sculling oars for the cost of shipping. Its steam bent and very nice work and amazingly enough, the paint color is almost identical to that I am painting the boat in. I will most likely order a Shaw & Tenney as well, although, it may take a little bit for me to save up for it!

My step dad has been working on the canvasback sleeper handle and cut some new oar lock socket blocks out of some really nice white cedar. Everything is shaping up nicely. Should be moving over into my new shop within the next 3 weeks!

Brad
 
#26 ·
Going to finally get to cut the temporary cross braces from the cockpit today! Laid down the Dynel the other evening. Very easy to work with, drapes well and doesn't unravel at the edges. I was amazed how much it it looks like painted canvas once it was done. I'll install the coaming next. In order to make this look more like a canvas covered top, I rolled it over the edge and it will look tucked behind the soon to be installed rub rail. At the edge of coaming will be a piece of 1/4 round that will look as it is there to hold the canvas down as well.







Brad
 
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