The spring shows are over, the weather is improving, and it looks like a good boating season is coming our way. Gas prices are a concern, but we will just have to wait and see what happens as time passes.
I stopped in to see Keith Gunther at GPS Marine at Holiday Point Marina in Edgewater, MD. Keith says he had a good winter and has plenty to keep him busy well into the summer.
Right next door is Joe Reid’s Mast and Mallet shop with its usual busy crew. They have completed a lot of the cabin and deck work on the 1954 German Frers 41 wooden sailboat that has been in the shop all winter.
Andy Dize of Roudebush Yacht and Engine Works (RY&EW) in Dundalk, MD, sends us this report.
“Hope all are well into a successful boating season. We have seen a slight uptick on repair work as the weather has warmed up. The 41-foot Utility Boat engine replacement for Aberdeen Proving Ground has moved quickly towards completion. During this effort, several new items were found which extended the finish date. We are also buttoning up a major repair to an Egg Harbor 38 that included a new generator, air conditioning, transmission overhaul, and a new hot water heater. For a Seafox 197 we replaced the shifter cable, fuel filter, and performed a general tune up on the outboard. A project being discussed involves repair work for the Marine Solutions 44-foot dive support boat, Jillian, to repair the propellers, shafts, install new shaft bearings, shaft log replacement, and painting the bottom. RY&EW is a full-service repair yard able to build and repair boats up to 45 feet. For inquiries, reach out to Andy to discuss your repair or new construction projects.”
Alex Schlegel from Hartge Yacht Yard in Galesville, MD, sends us this comprehensive update.
“Friends who do not know much about our boatyard ask if winter is a slow time for us. Quite the contrary; we are always busy. The crew that works on hauling, painting, and launching has outdoor work on boats when the weather permits and maintenance to the Travelifts, trailers, forklifts, and scissor lifts, but they mostly work on brightwork, Awlgrip paint jobs, and helping other departments on boats in our heated tents and buildings. The mechanics, carpenters, riggers, electricians, and composite techs always have plenty to do.
“We have space inside for eight boats or more, depending on the size. The bigger jobs are as follows: a Hinkley Picnic 40 had outside brightwork stripped and sprayed with 16 coats of Awlgrip, and a Hatteras 65 is getting Awlgrip painting top to bottom which means prep work including removing hardware that has not been off since the boat was new. A Wasque 32 is getting prepped for Awlgrip to the decks, cockpits, and cabins in the fiberglass bay after spending time in the carpenter shop. In addition to the normal winter exterior varnish work on a Herreshoff Nereia 36 ketch, it is also having an extensive amount of varnish work completed to the interior this year.
“The carpenters made a teak windshield for a 32 Wasque and wooden spar repairs for a schooner. On a 55-foot Trumpy, new overhead panels for the aft deck are being completed. The owner doesn’t like to see fasteners, so we will glue them in place. A striking Dutch designed and built Hoek 51, that we have done extensive work to in the last couple of years, is having a sole built of sapele and maple, a variation on the traditional teak and holly. The talented carpenters who also work with plastics are making new plexiglass windshields for the Hatteras makeover. On a 61-foot Buyboat, we have planed off the old deck covering consisting of various materials including Hypalon paint. As the weather has warmed, Dynel and epoxy covering is being applied.
“The mechanics were busy with many maintenance and upgrade tasks. A Sea Ray 38 with 8.1-liter Mercruisers got a new exhaust manifold, risers, raw water and circulation pumps, serpentine belts, and pulleys. A Caribe RIB once steered by outboard with a tiller, has a new jockey seat, control fuel system, and outboard. On a Hinckley 50, new 12-volt and 110-volt breakers were installed. Several boats needed new exhaust mixing elbows. A Sabre 42 received new hot water tanks, repair of the freedom dinghy lift system, and a number of other repairs. A Catalina 47 had new fuel tanks and bottom paint redone after soda blasting.
“Also, one of our riggers/electricians redid the wiring under the helm console of a 1950 Trumpy. A completely new electronic package was installed on an Amel Super Maramu 2000 due to a lightning strike here on the Bay. Another rigger had a winter full of running and standing rigging work on a number of masts. Spring is here; Hartge Yacht Yard is busy working away on many projects, preparing vessels for fun on the Bay.”
Readers may recall that I did an interview with Jeff Abell of Abell Marine back in September. That was when we learned that he had purchased Casa Rio Marina in Edgewater, MD, and moved his company there on October first. I stopped in to see Jeff and my first question was, “Was it a good move?”
“It absolutely was a good move,” he answered. “It was overwhelming. It was a lot to take over; I’ve run marinas and been in the business my whole life. But just getting acclimated to a different process, a different marina, took a while. We’ve merged two businesses and both have grown nearly 100 percent. Abell Marine is primarily powerboats, fiberglass work, mechanical work, and so on. Down here it’s primarily hauling, blocking, painting, a little bit of sailboat work and outboard work, so it’s a new field for us that we have kind of moved into and made it work out,” he explained.
I complimented him on the changes he’d made and on how good the marina looked. “We had bigger plans, and we have already done a lot,” he explained. “We put heat in the shop and set off an area to use as a paint booth. We’re adding 50-amp services all over the marina. They never had that before. We’re putting 50 amps on the docks for liveaboards and big boats. We had to put in a water treatment system for the whole marina. There was rusty iron well water throughout the marina, but we now have treated water. That was an expensive endeavor, but we feel it was worth it. I’m a boat owner and I don’t want rusty water on my boat.”
I asked Jeff if he thought the current political and economic news has affected business. “I have not seen anything to indicate that anything is slowing down yet. Now, when the season comes and they go to the gas dock, that might be a different story. But people aren’t going to sell their boats; they just won’t use them as much. We’ve been through more than a few ups and downs in the boat business, but we’re still here. Boating is the most stable business in this county, I think.”
At Marine Services LLC at Pocahontas Marina in Edgewater, MD, Hank Reiser also commented that he had a good winter and spring and looks forward to a good season this summer.
In his shop right now, Hank has a 1947 Chris-Craft Racing Skiff being restored and repowered with a Marine Power V-6 with 165 horsepower; just a little more power than she had originally. The crew is working on a 1955 Chris-Craft Continental. It’s being wooded down as part of a full restoration—new interior, internal and external varnish, and a new gas tank. The engine is a Chris-Craft MDL in good condition, so they are keeping that. We walked out on the dock so Hank could show me a recently completed project.
“She’s a 1968 Bolger 30,” he said. “They are a New England boat. You don’t see many down here. She came in for some structural work on the floors and the sole. In addition, we did some paint and varnish work, and she is ready to go back to her owner.”
And one last time, I promise: Recycle your shrinkwrap.
By Captain Rick Franke