SEABUDDY
ON BOATS

Posts Tagged ‘wood boat’

That is a car maker's steering wheel shown in this boat photo

The Century Boat Company’s Coronado was a smash hit when it entered the luxury runabout marketplace in the 1950s and into the 1960s. It was recognized for its groundbreaking styling that combined automotive accents from nearby Detroit along with a roomy cockpit. This boat features a lightweight and fast hull shape. Speeds of up to 55 MPH are mentioned for this wood classic.

The selection of engine offerings over the years alone is interesting.  Chrysler 354 hemis were an option, along with the Chrysler 413 wedge head “Golden Lion” engines.  Other choices included Buick and AMC engines as well as the “new” Cadillac V-8 selections.

About 1/2 of the way through their production years, Century boats even tried using Rolls Royce engines in its Coronado as an experiment for a gas engine power choice. It did not work well, however, so the boat had to be re-powered upon its sale.  The boat was such a powerful inboard that it was capable of pulling up 10 skiers at a time.

Cushioned seating inside the cockpit would let you take 8 or 9 friends for a ride around the lake – that was often the feature that sold this boat. Other attractive features included a Pontiac car windshield that was standard one year. Think Lincoln automobiles when it comes to the Coronado’s steering wheel. And lots of chrome trim, just like autos of the day.

The Coronados were wood-hulled boats from 1955-1968. All Coronados had basically the same length (21’- 22’) and width (approximately 8’ on the beam). The 1959 model seems to have been the biggest at the deck line, but was built on the same hull bottom used in the other years.

I mentioned earlier the one Coronado was configured with a Rolls Royce engine—seabuddy remembers seeing one at the NY Boat show when I was in my teens.  In those days you just had to walk into a boat show and ask to see the most luxurious boat on the floor, and you’d be pointed directly to the Century Coronado display.

cockpit photo of classic wood Century Coronado boat

Century Coronado engine box behind second of three rows of seating

see the mix of old and new in this classic wood Owens boat photo

This Owens Flagship is an outboard powered boat. Here the boat has been flipped right-side up. At this stage, much of the selecting, fitting, scarfing, and screwing / securing of the new sections of wood in conjunction with the boat’s existing bottom and hull side work has been done. Note the mix of old and new wood.

www.mywbr.com is just starting to work on fitting the boat’s deck pieces back into their original position. Those sections that are still good pieces will be the beginning of defining a runabout deck, side rails, motor well, and cockpit for this Owens wooden boat restoration. Some of the new wood is being trial fitted as shown in these photos. Much of a runabout’s look and impact on the water will come from the deck. Most Antique and Classic Boat Society boat owners like to be reviewed or judged by experts against a very exacting set of standards. For that and other reasons, this classic outboard powered runabout needs to be restored to the highest level of fit and finish.

The dash board of this Classic Owens outboard was saved by George Hazzard and his crew as much of it can be cleaned, stripped, stained, and finished with many coats of varnish. Wooden Boat Restoration, LLC has a very complete paint booth on site to best achieve that high level of finish that makes for a boat that fellow boaters look at with admiration.

The steering wheel and its assembly are to get their own separate attention for a proper total classic boat restoration. I have seen George’s work on these types of somewhat side issues and must say that his inventiveness and attention to detail is outstanding.

new wood for the transom of classic wood outboard Owens runabout

original wood dash for this classic wooden Owens runabout

Riva Aquarama at just above idle speeds

The best known Riva entered production in 1963 with 21 boats built. Its wood hull was based on the Riva Tritone model. The first three wood boats were carvel planked, but then laminated hull sides were used from all the hulls from then on. These laminated boat construction pieces proved to make for a better looking boat, especially as the classic boat ages.

The bottom shape was changed from the prototype model for all boats, starting with boat 34. By hull #178, built around 1967, the bottom shape was changed again to give a better ride at cruising speeds. By 1969, the hull shape above the waterline, the stem, and a different bow cap were instituted. The first boat with this change was 309. The height of the hull side was raised after #315 at the stern quarters.

Aquarama Riva model boats came in several hull lengths from 26’ 3’, 27’, 27’ 3”, 27’ 7”, and 27’ 9” but are routinely called as around 28 feet long or almost 29 feet in Length over all (LOA). The 29 foot boats are called “long Aquarama”. All of these classic wood boats are just under 8’ 6” in beam.

Horsepower sets a Super Aquarama off from a Aquarama. Figure on from about 370 total horsepower on the low side to most having about 640 total Horsepower with one boat showing as having 800 combined horsepower. All the boats are twin engine boats and feature wood framing as well as planking of the hull and deck of these classics.

Thanks to Riva and MBBW for the photos.

Spray is thrown down and away Aquarama classic wood boat photo

Riva boat framing classic boat photo

New side planking sheets for Classic wood Riva

note the bow thruster inside the circle back from the stem

Here is a Lyman that has lots of; cockpit space, sheltered – open cabin amenities, and enclosed sleeping space. She is a 1967 26’ Cruisette lapstrake wood boat. Especially nice is her being fitted with a bow thruster that used by the skipper makes her into an easy to control single engine boat.

This Lyman is a fully restored boat and now equipped with a newer engine that allows for reliable cruising. Her restoration is several years old. The varnish around the boat has been redone on a regular basis. Her hull color has also been repainted.

Tom Koroknay, the noted expert on all things Lyman likes a 26’ single screw Cruisette best of all the various boat models that the company made over the years. Note that Lyman boat use a clinker built or a lapstrake construction style of boat planking. Each side plank edge overlaps the other plank that are clinched nailed to the ribs and screwed to the frames such that an edge of each plank is shown for its full length along the hull side that helps to get and keep the boat planning on top of the water and cushion the ride. A Lyman is designed to be a somewhat flexible boat so they can twist over the waves a little to also give a better ride than a carvel planked wood boat owner would experience. This year Lyman that is more recent uses Lyman’s sweet-riding hull shape from the waterline to the keel, while using the Anthony Giovagnoli naval architecture for more roomy and modern styling above it.

The keeper of the boat for this fine craft is George Hazzard, call him at 410-928-550 if you have more questions.

Dinette, galley, and helm station of a wood Lyman boat

looking back towards the engine box and rear seat

wood boat photo

The advantage of controlling the bow position and the location of the bow around the marina in a single engine, single propeller boat is an over-whelming experience the first couple of times you are at the helm of a classic wood boat equipped with a bow thruster. Suddenly, anyone can dock the boat. Even in a cross wind.

Most would think that such an option is disrespecting what was made back when the beauty of wood, leather, and chrome over brass fittings on the water was the only choice for boating. If your boat is to sit on a trailer, I agree. If you want to use your mahogany runabout, I disagree. It is like using a modern bilge pump, converting a 6 volt system to one that uses a 12 volt one, having new PFDs, or a safer, better carburetor in a classic that is used for grand touring around a lake or bay.

Hand built, mahogany wood runabouts or bow riders are now being built by master craftsmen and those boat builders often can be talked into including a bow thruster in a new boat for you. Just think, the ride, the feel, the performance of a bright finished, stained mahogany runabout that is easy to captain. All the style and quality of a good wooden boat with the performance ease, and use-ability of the latest functional boating accessories built in.

Here is a triple cockpit wood boat that also has a no-soak bottom. A reliable, modern engine and operating systems in a classic wood boat. One gets the stares and looks from other boaters and from folks just walking around the marina without the troubles of a 60 year old classic.

2012 wood boat photo

2012 wood boat photo triple cockpit

2012 inboard boat wood classic boat

new indoor showroom of wood boats at lake George

Classic design Stauter Built wood runabout boat photo

Stauter-Built boats is a classic wood boat that often has used the same design as they have for many years.

classic wood boat photo from stauter built

Most are pure open fishing boats. A few are somewhat decked over and are used as a wooden runabout. All use a antique or modern outboard motor for power. They are light and easy to power as they use a shallow draft, almost flat bottom hull design to get performance from low horsepower outboards.

classic wood runabout boat photo

Take a restored classic wooden boat like I show here. Its powered by an old, antique motor. The photos show the loving attention to keeping an old boat, a good, useful boat that is an antique and classic boat show standout. She is mostly a plywood boat, glued and screwed together to take on most waters.

classic wood fishing boat stauter built

I show another Stauter Built boat from their promotional material. It is 151/2’ long and 51/2’ in its beam. It can take up to a 50 Hp. outboard engine and weights in around 425 lbs. It is a Vee shaped bow to cut through the chop coupled with a fairly flat deadrise across the transom boat design. Not a deep vee offshore racer.

She is intended for the waters around Dauphin Island in the Gulf of Mexico, which is roughly 40 miles south of Mobile, AL.

This new wood fishing boat is called the V-bottom Cedar Point Special by Stauter-Built. She maybe a classic in design, but it is too new in its date of manufacture to be an antique boat.

classic wood boat photo of a open fishing runabout outboard

wood boat photo of stauter built runabout fishing model

Wood power boat photo classic mahogany runabout

This runabout is custom designed by the famous marine architect Charlie Jannace from Delmar, MD (about 50 miles outside of St. Michaels, MD) telephone 410-883-3059 and hand made by the Hugh Saint boat building company in Cape Coral, FL telephone 239-574-1299.

Charlie designs both fiberglass and wood boats for many boat building clients (some for regular production and some one-off (custom) designs. He is a very experienced naval architect. And his boat designs work in the real world!

The Hugh Saint, Inc. boat building company builds in the WEST system of wood and epoxy. They typically use double planking of mahogany wood matching the wood’s grain where its important, encapsulating all that wood in epoxy so water never reaches it. They are not alone in building wood boats in this manner of construction style in today’s world of wood boat building.

mahogany wood cold molded runabout photo

This custom Gentleman’s Racer is 28 ½ ’ long with a 9’ beam. She is a performance boat, but not a race boat. In a gentleman’s racer strength, luxury, and a good, comfortable seating in the cockpit are balanced by sheer speed thrills. A fast, dry ride is important. Absolute top speed is not. Such a boat satisfies its owner, not a broad audience of boat buyers. She is powered by twin “small block” 350 cu. in. chevy gas engines using a v-drive drivetrain system to get the power to the two propellers to push the one off mahogany wood boat. The top speed is simply quoted as 50 mph plus. It gives that speed in luxury and comfort for its owner.

WEST system mahogany wood power boat photo

wood power boat 1959 Lyman 16.5 foot outboard model

This power boat is shown being restored in Maine. The photo is from Androscoggin Wooden Boat Works (207) 685-9805. It shows the nice work that they do, particularly on Lyman Boats. This classic outboard runabout is said to be a boat for sale and at a very attractive price. Give them a telephone call if this is something that you need for this upcoming summer boating adventure season.

This outboard Lyman boat seems to have been updated with a painted finish rather than a varnished, but not stained, boat hull interior. The seats, deck and other parts show, to me, the correct, as built, finishes. Lyman mahogany filler stain with varnish over that would be the proper choice. Lyman was also known for its use of ribbon striped (sometimes called tiger striped) mahogany veneered marine-grade plywood in its decks. Check for that feature on this boat. Most restorers use a different style of mahogany plywood if they replace the deck on a Lyman runabout.

The 16.5 foot boat was a popular boat model and it was in production from 1957-1960. In 1959 they made 366 of these. It is a 16’ 7” long runabout with a beam of 70”. It weighs 560 lbs. and could take up to a 60 Hp outboard. That is Hp that is rated at the power head, not rated at the prop shaft as outboards are rated today. Use an older motor or drop back to a maximum rating of about 54 Hp. She goes real well with a 35 Hp, by the way.

Lymans are clinker built or a lapstrake construction style of planking. Each plank edge overlaps the other and are clinched nailed to the ribs and screwed to the frames such that an edge is shown at each plank its full length along the hull side that helps soften the ride, and they are flexible boats that can twist over the waves somewhat to give a better ride than a classic boat person would expect. Ride a Lyman to experience this for yourself. I know of several prior owners of carvel, hard chine classic wood boats that marvel at the ride that they get in their Lyman compared to what they are used to.

By the way, get a Lyman model a little older than this model year and you will see a dimpled finish in the planking on the outside of the hull. Lyman used a duck billed clinch nail for better holding strength and sometime (in the mid-50s?) began to completely fair over both the screws and the duck billed nails for a smooth exterior finish.

Want some outstanding color photographs of these storied boats? Get a collector grade copy of the vinyl covered hardback book titled Classic Powercraft volume I. The book is full of color pictures of antique and classic boats taken at the highest quality level for wooden boat photography. It is sold out of print, so a used book or a copy from a personal collection is the way to go for this great book.

Streblow Custom Boats are mahogany wooden runabouts built since the early nineteen fifties that set a standard of quality of design and workmanship for wood boats. These are wood runabouts that are doubled planked on their bottoms and batten seamed planked mahogany hull sides. A special finish technique and secret rot resistant construction techniques make these floating art works different from a regular wood boat.

The boat builder is located in Walworth, WI, (262-728-6898) near the shoreline of Geneva Lake where they are a boat builder, restoration shop, and a marine boat dealer.

While they do several millions of dollars of business each year, expect to wait up to three years in good times for a new boat. They only build up to two boats  in any given year to keep the quality up. Heck, it has been said that just selecting the wood for a boat takes weeks of combing through the choices of planking on hand.

Back to the book, get one for the photography. It is just the best there is out there on wood boats. The cover is even a full color photograph of a Streblow set into a lovely vinyl cover or binding.

This one is a 1954 Chris craft. An ideal mahogany classic two cockpit runabout. With a big flathead Chris Craft she gives a great ride at normal antique and classic boat speeds and a real thrill when the throttle is opened up even more.

Specs on the boat is 18’ 11” in length and she has a beam of 6’ 1”. Her overall weight runs in the 2,100 to 2,400 lbs. area. Chris Craft built 503 of them in a production series from 1948 to 1954.

She is not a bow rider and one must change which cockpit to sit in at dockside, as this power boat is a true runabout and not a utility. She is almost all deck, engine room, two rows of seats and little, if any, walking around room in the cockpit areas.

I got a ride on a Pennsylvania Lake in a similar boat that belongs to a friend that was also lovingly restored and its ride and handling during that fresh water cruise was really a terrific experience. That one had an extremely special Chris Craft engine rebuild by an out of state noted engine builder of classic engines.

Chris Craft offered this wood power boat model in either a natural wood stained and highly varnished hull and deck or as a painted red and white finished powerboat. Most came with the seating areas finished in a Chinese red or red hue, but blue was a choice, as I understand it, but not in all of the model years the Racing Runabout was built post WWII.

The photos are from Moores Marine,  www.woodenboatrepair.com  that did this runabout’s restoration. Great workmanship and attention to detail is shown in the work coming from Moores you can see.

This one is a 1954 model Chris Craft

early on in the restoration work