This Old Boat Part 2

So the hole in the boat became slightly bigger once we tore away all the rot. All in all it was fixable. I then made the trip to the lumber yard to pick out some cedar boards. I spent the day milling them down. We replaced the bowplate with a piece of quarter sawn oak that I had been carrying around since 1994. It was taken out of a house in Minneapolis that Angie and I restored, but was too good to throw away. I finally got to say to Angie, that yes it was worth keeping it, when after 5 moves she questioned my judgement.

We later flipped the boat over to get at the hull and allow us an easier task of repairing the ribs and shear line.

Here you can see the first layer of cedar being glued and screwed at an angle..

We then glued up long boards of cedar to the side of the hull. Doing it this way makes the hull stronger and more water tight.

This Old Boat Part 1

So, one day in April I answer the phone, and it's Jamie and he is so excited.
Jamie: "Honey, guess what I got us for free? A sailboat! For FREE!!!"
Me: "That's so awesome! For free?"
Jamie: "Yeah, but it has a hole in it. But it was FREE!"
And so begins the love affair with this new little sweetie. Our friend Brad just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Some guy was actually going to carve it up and burn it. Lucky for us Brad said, "yeah, I know a guy who would love this boat!" Now she is in our care, in the garage, getting a major facelift. Here is Finn welcoming her home.


Upon close inspection of the boat, we found a date stamped on her, 1956. She was made at Johnson Boat Works in Whitebear Lake, MN. She's an X-Boat, and after a little research on the web, we discovered she's one of the first X-Boats. 1956 was the first year these boats were built. She came fully loaded, with the original gear, hardware and sails.


It's a family affair, as you can see below. Piper wants to check it out.


Finn and Jamie work on the deconstruction of the damaged area. Part of the deck and the side need to be taken apart so it can be rebuilt.




Here, Finn is using a hole punch and hammer to chip off the old paint from the screws so Jamie can remove them.






Who's gonna love learning to sail this boat?


Follow us and watch our sweetie get a facelift!