Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Pat's re-post of his "Duck Boat Heaven..." ( http://www.duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=83314;search_string=duckboat%20heaven;#83314 ) inspired my title for this post. I had originally called it "Death of a Duckboat". And, seeing all the gorgeous vessels in Pat's post re-inforced my executive (pun intended) decision with this boat.
You may recognize this boat from my posts about building White-Wing, a 2-man Scooter (what Great Lakes gunners call a layout boat) I built from a cut-down O'Day Daysailer hull.
http://stevenjaysanford.com/white-wing-2-man-scooter/
Long Island friends Craig Kessler (retired DU rep) and Red Oster (bayman and guide) had found this "free boat" a few miles from Red's house. We put her on my trailer and hauled her north for the ministrations of Pencil Brook Boatworks. Here is how I found her in front of Red's. We three discussed numerous options for her future. We all agreed she would be a bear to tow, had precious little seaworthiness, and certainly would not fit 2 gunners. I hauled her north on my trailer, thinking maybe to tear off her decks and build high-crowned decks with a one-man cockpit.
But - truth be told - as I drove the NYS Thruway north, I was already contemplating an alternative: abandoning this craft altogether and starting from scratch with a beat up Daysailer hull that resided in the "Pencil Brook Marina". My inclination became a decision when I flipped her over and saw the hollow in the bottom and the hard spot behind the bow.
I try not "to throw good money after bad" - and so this Scooter was relegated to the waiting list at the Pencil Brook Wrecking Yard. Demolition commenced this spring, before the wildflowers had bloomed....
The heavy work was done mostly with the Skilsaw - and a heavy, coarse blade on the Sawzall...
Th exploratory surgery is always revealing and enlightening. I pretty much expected the mouse nest - but was surprised that the decks were carvel-planked - and not plywood.
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The 3 "runners" (for ice? skegs? strakes?) were through-bolted and had to be cut out piece-by-piece. All the bottom planking (1/4" plywood covered with chopped-strand mat) was cut into manageable squares. I could peel the 'glass off most and then put them into my stove. The 'glass itself was destined for the trash bin.
This shows the upper hull with her deck planks and sawn frames.
I resisted the temptation to keep her as a "planter"....
Here she is almost ready for her Final Voyage to the transfer station.
Now everything is either in the firewood pile - or in a trash barrel. Only her 5/8" plywood floorboard has been salvaged for some future project. Now the site of the carnage can be left to heal...
And here she is today.
All the best,
SJS
You may recognize this boat from my posts about building White-Wing, a 2-man Scooter (what Great Lakes gunners call a layout boat) I built from a cut-down O'Day Daysailer hull.
http://stevenjaysanford.com/white-wing-2-man-scooter/
Long Island friends Craig Kessler (retired DU rep) and Red Oster (bayman and guide) had found this "free boat" a few miles from Red's house. We put her on my trailer and hauled her north for the ministrations of Pencil Brook Boatworks. Here is how I found her in front of Red's. We three discussed numerous options for her future. We all agreed she would be a bear to tow, had precious little seaworthiness, and certainly would not fit 2 gunners. I hauled her north on my trailer, thinking maybe to tear off her decks and build high-crowned decks with a one-man cockpit.
But - truth be told - as I drove the NYS Thruway north, I was already contemplating an alternative: abandoning this craft altogether and starting from scratch with a beat up Daysailer hull that resided in the "Pencil Brook Marina". My inclination became a decision when I flipped her over and saw the hollow in the bottom and the hard spot behind the bow.
I try not "to throw good money after bad" - and so this Scooter was relegated to the waiting list at the Pencil Brook Wrecking Yard. Demolition commenced this spring, before the wildflowers had bloomed....
The heavy work was done mostly with the Skilsaw - and a heavy, coarse blade on the Sawzall...
Th exploratory surgery is always revealing and enlightening. I pretty much expected the mouse nest - but was surprised that the decks were carvel-planked - and not plywood.
The 3 "runners" (for ice? skegs? strakes?) were through-bolted and had to be cut out piece-by-piece. All the bottom planking (1/4" plywood covered with chopped-strand mat) was cut into manageable squares. I could peel the 'glass off most and then put them into my stove. The 'glass itself was destined for the trash bin.
This shows the upper hull with her deck planks and sawn frames.
I resisted the temptation to keep her as a "planter"....
Here she is almost ready for her Final Voyage to the transfer station.
Now everything is either in the firewood pile - or in a trash barrel. Only her 5/8" plywood floorboard has been salvaged for some future project. Now the site of the carnage can be left to heal...
And here she is today.
All the best,
SJS
