It is winter, and the winter boat show cycle is happening. But the days are starting to get longer, so it will soon be time to start thinking about getting the boats ready for spring launch. Early signs seem to be pointing toward another good boating year. Let’s hope so.
Susan Campbell of Campbell’s Boatyards in Oxford, MD, reports on a busy winter in their shops. “Campbell’s has several projects they have been working on to include a 1000 HR CAT service, servicing of six Hamilton Jets, a generator replacement, fabrication of a custom bench on a 29-foot Dyer, painting the exterior aft cabin and pilot house of a 1966 41-foot Penbo Trawler, and soda blasting and new bottoms on eight boats. The painting and restoration of two small Boston Whalers are being completed at our Jack’s Point and the Bachelor Point shop, and we will be painting a 29-foot Hinckley over the winter months as well. As always, over the winter we will be replacing impellers and zincs, prepping and painting underwater drives, and servicing sail drives. Our slips at all three marinas are getting full, but we do have a few floating and fixed dock slips available ranging in size from 35 to 60 feet. We also have a few covered slips available at our Jack’s Point location. Yamaha motors are in stock from 9.9 hp to 300 hp.
Kevin Parks completed training and is a Certified Cummins Technician. In order to receive this certification Kevin completed over 90 online Cummins courses and attended the Cummins Marine QSB6.7 & C-Command course in Albany, NY. More courses will follow. Campbell’s Boatyards has been a full-service dealer since 2000. Our Yamaha mechanic, Nate Dunker, will be attending a Yamaha Electrical Systems course in early February, working towards his Master Tech Certification.”
Andy Dize of Roudebush Yacht and Engine Works in Dundalk, MD, is also anticipating a busy winter. Here is this month’s report. “Good news for us to start out 2025 at RY&EW is the landing of a new construction project to build two 28-foot aluminum workboats. This is a good lead in for us as we are looking at a new boat project this coming year to build 18-foot aluminum workboats for the US Coast Guard. Also, now that the Wave Rover II has completed her journey to Ireland, we also are looking to get this started up as a new production fiberglass build project. Lots to look forward to in 2025!”
From Trappe, MD, we get a quick update from Composite Yacht’s Facebook page: “A perennial favorite, the CY32 Chesapeake is a traditional Chesapeake Bay Deadrise hull that was historically used for work but lends itself very well to recreational use. Whether with the pilothouse or as a center console, these hulls move well with inboard or outboard power. Call or email now to discuss your new build!”
Mabry Yachts of East New Market, MD, posts a weekly bulletin to interested readers on their Facebook page. Here’s a sample: “Hello to all our Boatyard Bulletin followers! This week at Mabry Yachts, our team has been busy making major strides on our current builds, and we’re excited to share the latest updates with you. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
- A 43-foot Cougar: Bathroom and storage under console compartment installed, and we’re getting closer to the next big phase.
- A 245 C-Hawk: Fish box with livewell and stern built—this boat is shaping up beautifully!
- A 23-foot Sea-Ox that’s getting a new overhaul currently.”
Thorne’s Marine in Stockton, MD, is a dealer for Mercury Marine, Honda, and Suzuki outboards. They recently partnered with Evans Boats of Crisfield, MD, to repower a rebuilt 42-footer. Here’s what they had to say: “Finally got this 42 Evans out for a water test! This boat has been through a very extensive rebuild by Evans’ shop. It’s turned out awesome. We repowered it with triple 350 Suzukis; definitely a big difference from the stern drives it used to be powered with!”
And, speaking of Evans Boats, David Jr. sent us a neat photo of Classy Lady, a bay-built restoration. “Check out the process of restoring this beauty! Fresh out of the shop! One of the best ways to preserve the life of your old boat. Call us today for a facelift.”
Brown Dog Marine in Easton, MD, sends us this enthusiastic report. “We put the word custom in a Pair Custom 27. We installed a Yamaha Helm Master joystick and autopilot, two Garmin 1243xsvs, a Garmin Fantom 24X radar, a FLIR M332 thermal camera; a JL Audio stereo system, Garmin VHF 21 AIRMAR B175HW transducer, and a Garmin GT56UHD thru-hull transducer.”
George Hazzard of Wooden Boat Restoration, LLC in Millington, MD, reports, via his Facebook page, a story that exemplifies the challenge and satisfaction of boat restoration. “Look what I found. I couldn’t be happier. We had this 1958 Sea Skiff come in a while back; it has a rebuilt 1971 455 Pontiac that the owner’s father installed 47 years ago. Apparently, the project never got finished for the lack of manifolds. Having never seen a marinized Pontiac, I knew the task of finding a set of manifolds might mean that we wouldn’t be able to use this motor. I checked eBay and found one manifold, which wouldn’t really help as we needed two!
“Thanks to good friend and former race boat enthusiast, Ralph Cattaneo, for making the suggestion to look to Southern California for the parts. I checked Marketplace in an area that encompassed Los Angeles and south to Tijuana, and to my delight, I found a two-year-old ad with all that we needed and more. These parts were for a project started over 50 years ago that never came to fruition, that sat on a shelf for all that time. The stars definitely aligned for this stalled project. Sadly, the owner’s father is no longer with us to see his dream become reality…”
That about wraps it up for this month. Regardless of what the groundhog says, we do still have some cold weather ahead of us. So, if you are going to be around the water, be careful. Docks get slippery and cold water is dangerous. Spring is not too far away, so if you had your boat shrinkwrapped in the fall, check now on how to dispose of the wrap when you take it off. If your marina doesn’t have a plan, contact your local Marine Trades Association to see what they recommend. See you next month.
By Capt. Rick Franke