The days are short, the ospreys are long gone, the rockfish are big, and flights of geese join the southern migration of the mega-yachts down the Chesapeake Bay. Shrink wrap and blue tarps are blossoming in boat yards. Autumn is drawing to a close on the Bay, and the winter lay-up season is fast approaching.
Meg Roney of Mathews Brothers in Denton, MD, sends us the following report. “We brought Mallard, the new Patriot II, up from Palm Beach in September. She is getting into ship shape for the Annapolis and Ft. Lauderdale boat shows! We’ve also been finishing up a couple of small projects in the shop: an Awlgrip job, rigging a Honda outboard, hatch repair, and our first winterization of the season! Speaking of winterization, the guys are also getting everything ready for the upcoming storage season.” The Patriot II is a further development of Mathews’ popular Patriot 29 design. According to Mathews Brothers’ website, the change to a tunnel drive system has reduced the boat’s draft by nine inches and provides increased maneuverability and speed.
Michael Gorman, Boatshop manager at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD, reports the Edna E. Lockwood was recently hauled out on the rail for her annual maintenance and repairs to her log-bottomed hull. Every year the 1889 bugeye receives fresh paint top and bottom, sails bent on, and push boat readied. Shipwrights and apprentices have put copper sheathing over some troubled seams in her stern, which will stop any leaks until a future repair.
Built in 1889 by John B. Harrison of Tilghman Island, the Edna E. Lockwood is a registered National Historic Landmark, and the last sailing log-bottom bugeye. Just as Native American dugout canoes were formed by carving out one log, a bugeye’s hull is constructed by pinning together a series of logs and hollowing them out as a unit. She’s regarded as queen of CBMM’s historic floating fleet and can be seen dockside at the museum along the Miles River.
Next up on the rails this season is the 1909 crab dredger Old Point, which will represent the last of the haul outs this fall. Old Point is a seven-log crab dredger built by J.G. Wornom in Poquonson, VA. She represents yet another variation on the log-built hull, in an engine powered application. Crab dredging is permitted in Virginia from December through March, using two large dredges resembling oyster dredges with longer tines. Heavy metal rollers protect the rails from wear, as the dredges are reeled in by mechanical winders. These “deck boats,” as they are known in Virginia, were also used for freighting produce and as buy boats in the off season.
Dave Hannam with Classic Watercraft Restoration in Annapolis, MD, reports that he “just completed the transom work and delivered the unique (and rare) tiny 1927 Lyman 13-foot lapstrake runabout for the owner, ready to use. A new arrival in the shop includes a vintage 1950s Flying Dutchman 20-foot sailboat with extensive pedigree. This old woody is under full restoration including structural integrity and a new cold-molded bottom and will remain a family heirloom, to be passed on to the next generation by Grandpa, who requested the work to be done. The 16-foot Gar Wood Speedster replica build has moved forward greatly with 300 feet of inlaid milled mahogany added to the deck, revealing extensive bookmarking and plank matching. Next step is to finish mechanical and electrical installation. Ground breaking has started on the new Classic Watercraft Restoration building, which we plan to occupy by end of year.”
Britt Lilly of Lilly Sport Boats in Arnold, MD, brings us up to date on recent projects in his shop. He describes a boat that just arrived at his shop with severe damage to her port bow. “This is a 33-foot Typhoon Canyon Runner that had a close encounter with a day marker, a green one as we can tell. It punctured a hole through the side and broke a lot of bulkheads, requiring extensive fiberglass repairs. We’ll have to cut out the hull side. We’ve already started cutting out the inside to be able to see everything that’s broken; we’ll put it all back together and vacuum bag a new core in and make it look like it (the damage) was never there.”
Not all of Britt’s projects are big ones, as he proudly points out. “This is a 1973 13-foot Boston Whaler, wood side console and all, totally restored, all Imron paint, all new wiring. We redid all the wood in Imron. They make a whole wood line of Imron marine, just awesome stuff; it lasts like that uncovered all season. We were very pleased with the whole set up. It’s a very cool little boat.”
Buster Phipps of Phipps Boatworks in Deale, MD, has had a 42-foot 1957 Mathews Sedan Cruiser named Keeper in the shop for two weeks to redo her varnish. Buster explains that he’s been maintaining the boat for owner Peter Askew of Baltimore for at least four years. The boat is almost all original. According to Buster, her owner is very careful with the boat; he even keeps a cover on the deck when he has his dogs onboard, so they don’t scratch the deck with their nails. Buster says, over the years, that they replaced the original plate glass windows with safety glass and installed a new teak deck on the aft cockpit, but otherwise the boat is as she came from the factory, including spotless twin 354 cubic inch, dual carburetor Chrysler Marine (first generation) Hemi V-8s.
George Hazzard of Wooden Boat restoration in Millington, MD, sends us this newsy update. “By the time the issue hits the stands we will have a 1935 40-foot Consolidated in the shop for varnish and paint work to get her spiffed up for her 80th birthday next year. We are also going to squeeze in the 45-foot Bugeye Chesapeake, which was built by Dickerson Yachts in the late 50s. She will be receiving a new deck and cabin top. We finished up the 23-foot 1956 Chris Craft Holiday after a full restoration. The 30-foot 2003 Hacker Craft will also be in for some varnish on her hull sides.” George also reports that he has a fully restored 1960 23-foot Chris Craft Sea Skiff looking for a new owner.
Patrick Mertaugh of Choptank Boatworks in Denton, MD, sends us his latest news. “Here’s the latest project to leave the shop, restoration of a late 50s Elgin outboard runabout. We restored and re-chromed hardware, restored woodwork, new power, new electric, updated steering, and new paint and varnish. Elgin was somewhat of a subsidiary of Penn Yan that sold through Sears catalog.”
Laura Shackleford of Tiffany Yachts in Burgess, VA, brings us up to date. “Tiffany Yachts recently purchased a hydraulic trailer. The 88-ton Marine Travelift is great for lifting boats, but can be cumbersome when moving boats around the yard. The trailer will be making this process easier and expand the space available for boat storage. Tiffany Yachts also completed painting the hull and portions of the topsides on a 52-foot Seahorse Marine Trawler and is working to complete the overhaul of a 56-foot Tiffany that is for sale.”
Tim Floyd of F&S Boatworks in Bear, DE, reports that hull number 23, a 75-foot convertible Sportfisherman is nearing completion. When we first reported on the construction of this boat in June, her scheduled completion date was December. Blue Time, as the owner has named her, will be finished and delivered almost two months ahead of schedule.
By Captain Rick Franke