Where did the summer go? As we slip into autumn in Chesapeake country, the dry, hot summer will be remembered as good boating weather. Area shops remain busy as the haulout season approaches. Interest and participation in boating remains high, and most shops are anticipating a busy winter season.
Smokey Glover of Lake Assault Boats in Portsmouth, VA, reports that the re-engine job on the Virgina Marine Resources vessel was completed. He’s sent us some pictures of their current job. “Attached are pictures of the US Army Corps of Engineers vessel Harrell at our dock in Portsmouth for driveline coupling replacement and engine alignment.”
Tim Kraus of Annapolis Gelcoat and Restoration at Bert Jabin Yacht Yard in Annapolis, MD, sends us some neat photos of a recent job. “A beautiful Marquis in Anthracite Gray. It’s a gorgeous color; gorgeous paint job—wow! The crew did a great job on this one. We have openings for paint crew this fall/winter—who’s ready?”
We got an enthusiastic report from the crew at Osprey Marine Restorations in Tracys Landing, MD (a sister company of Annapolis Gelcoat and Restoration). “We paint present day boats often, so it’s a special honor when we get an opportunity to paint a Classic like this 1966 58-foot Chris-Craft Roamer. This is an amazing boat with an aluminum hull. Final coats seen: Arista Blue/Oyster White, Awlgrip—Awlcraft 2000.” J.J. Williams adds that he anticipates a busy winter season.
“We are gearing up for it, and we are starting to schedule. We have a couple of big paint jobs signed up and we can still fill up our bays. We are not completely booked for the winter yet, but we soon will be, and it’s going to be a busy winter. We are still doing a lot of collision repairs. We have a 50-foot sailboat that was coming back from New Jersey and ran hard aground. That’s a big repair; we have to take the keel off and re-bed it. Oddly enough, we have a slip holder here with a Catalina 47 who ran aground in the same area of New Jersey. Didn’t do quite as much damage, but still requires repairs. If you need something, make sure to call us up early because we will be booked up soon.”
Andy Dize of Roudebush Yacht and Engine Works in Dundalk, MD, checks in with a comprehensive report. “Now that we have exited the dog days of summer, our workload is picking up nicely to fill our shop for the fall and winter. The customer has approved our moving ahead with his Sea Otter 18 conversion from a Mercury I/O drive to a 170-hp jet ski propulsion system. This project will include not only the engine/drive train swap but also a complete keel to deck refurbishment for the paint, teak, cushions, and canopy.
“We recently completed the rebuilding of a bow damaged Bayliner 2200. When we first started the project, it went quickly until we got to the final fairing and gel coating stage. As the boat is only two years old, paying attention to the fairness and finish required many hours of massaging to bring the boat back to a like-new finish. We also completed two small repair jobs, one for a 20-foot Cat Boat which was leaking through the rudder shoe bolts and the other for the repair of a broken forward access hatch on a Sea Ray 42.
“In looking forward to our future work, we are optimistic about our submittal of a proposal to the City of Annapolis to design and build two new fiberglass harbor ferry boats. The boats will use an electric drive propulsion system and will be able to carry 15 passengers. Estimated delivery of the boats is October of 2025. Although not a specific powerboat project, the Andy Dize-designed Wave Rover 650 completed a transatlantic single-handed crossing from Norfolk, VA, to Baltimore, Ireland via the Azores. The Wave Rover Adventures are available on YouTube and SpinSheet will be reporting on the project in an upcoming issue. If you are interested in stopping by our shop, please reach out to Andy to discuss your new construction, repair, or refurbishment needs.”
There has been a lot going on at Chesapeake Shipbuilding on the Wicomico River in Salisbury, MD. According to their latest news releases, two additional Coastal Cats, American Liberty and American Legend were delivered to American Cruise Lines mid-summer and are already going into service. Early in 2024, Chesapeake announced that American Cruise Lines had ordered three additional Coastal Cats for their fleet with delivery in 2025. To accommodate all of this increased activity, the shipbuilder contracted for a major shore-side expansion with Gillis Gilkerson Construction. The state of the art, new, two-story, 10,000 square foot office building is located on the grounds of the shipyard on the banks of the Wicomico River.
It has been a while since we visited with boat builder and marine electronics expert Richard Hawse. We caught up with him working on My Way in his back yard in Pasadena, MD, “A lot of the summer was spent building the foam hardtop. It’s hollow and it’s got a pod up top and a recessed area for the electronics. All the rigging and the rigging area are inside of it, so you don’t see it. I also had to run all the wiring through it. In the cockpit I finished the fish box, and I’ve been working on the mezzanine.”
Richard also had some observations about this summer’s business. “My summer was very busy. I have been spending a lot of time in Ocean City. That’s why I haven’t got a lot done on the boat. I’ve been doing a lot of electronics work. I put an Omni (Furuno Omni-Directional Sonar) in a Freeman 47 catamaran. That was a very interesting project. I had to snake the Omni in the console and also in the sponsons. Other than that, just a lot of stuff; installing lighting here and instruments there, just takin’ care of business. I have a lot lined up in the fall already. I’ve got one big Omni installation in North Carolina and another here in Annapolis.”
Allen Flinchum of Cypress Marine in Severna Park, MD, reports a busy summer with no big projects, but a lot of routine repair and refinishing jobs. He also reports that his tenant Peter Norman is continuing to work on his catamaran. The hull is now right side up and Peter is putting in some bulkheads. According to Allen, it’s starting to look like a boat.
Eric Hittle, owner of Marine Engines Unlimited, Inc in Galesville, MD, has also been staying busy. “I bought the shop three years ago, but the shop has been in this location for 26 years. Since we spoke last, (spring of 2022) we have expanded. I have two more technicians. So, there are four of us now working, and we are as busy as ever. This season we’ve seen a lot of cylinder heads. I’ve got several engines in the shop now, and the phone never stops ringing.”
We asked if Eric had seen any changes in the business from the big four-cycle outboards. “Mercury wanted me to be a Mercury Outboard dealer, but when I took over, because of supply chain issues, they didn’t have enough outboards for their regular dealers, let alone a new one. I brought on Aiden, he has outboard experience, and I know that eventually we will expand into outboards. My Merc reps have said that that is now 80 percent of their business. Around here though, there are still enough inboard outboard boats, enough inboard boats, sailboats, and big inboards to keep us busy.”
That’s it for this month!
By Capt. Rick Franke