Lyman Islander

[ishmael]

Norske's Lyman thread has me dreaming about one of the best little power boats ever built. 17-18 foot, a four cylinder Gray inboard gas. Maybe MKIA will repost his pic, my ham-handed Firefox use doesn't allow it.

It's a skiff. Lapstrake ply, earlier solid planking. Mostly open, with a decked forepeak. Driven right, they went all over the U.S. Great Lakes. Built before speed and power became the norm, the four gave just enough oomph to plane. Bouyant, lovely at hull speed, which is where it was meant to be driven in a seaway. Harry Bryant took a cue or two with his skiffs. Properly handled, very able.

P.S. The transition boats, when they put big motors in but hadn't figured out the hull, weren't so good. I'd say 1957 to 1960. The ply hull could take the power, but they didn't build enough flare in to make it livable.

[ 02-14-2006, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: ishmael ]

[Dan McCosh]

A friend has one he runs out of a canal on the Detroit River. Has the little trolling wheel in back, so you can steer, hand-line for pickeral, and still reach the beer. Sorry, don't have a picture.

[rbgarr]

That Islander model was pretty popular on Nantucket Sound years ago for striper and bluefishing.

[Alan D. Hyde]

http://www.lcacbs.com/Lyman_Islander.jpg

Here's a link to some Lyman Islander restoration photos---

http://www.lcacbs.com/Restorations/L'anni.htm

*.*.*

Alan

[ishmael]

That's a later one, Alan, and I'll bet over powered(IMO.)

The one Kevin posted was pre-war. You could tell because it had an outboard rudder, which Lyman did away with in post-war boats.

Dual side wheels let you know you were running a boat, and not an automobile. smile.gif

Lovely, sensible, creations. They did everything a small powerboat should do, and did it well. Unless you were a skier. Our neighbor in Michigan had a circa 1950; kept it smart.

[ishmael]

Com'on Kevin. That pre-war Islander was just what I'm talking 'bout.

The problem with the transitional boats, like the one Alan posted, is they had too much power for the hulls. That boat is probably 1958. It had a big engine, at least a straight six, and if you look at the hull it was designed to not be driven so fast.

The change to big motors was fairly easy, because the ply planking was stiff and resilient. But the best Islanders were, essentially, widened rowing skiffs. Not to say a big motor, well used, doesn't have a place. But splashing into a chop at twentyfive knots with a hull form twenty years from the design board wasn't it.

They figured that out, and post-1960 both Lyman and Chris Craft had flaring bow sections to shed the water. Not as pleasing, to my eye, but practical given the power.

The original Islander is a grand boat.

[michigangeorge]

Just saw one this afternoon at Sunburst Marine in Boyne City, Mi. She's a proper little girl compleat with the outboard rudder. Priced at a firm $24,000. There may be a photo on their very out of date website: www.sunburstmarine.com (http://www.sunburstmarine.com) . Most of the inventory has been sold.

[Keith Wilson]

There's a 1950 Islander for sale here (http://www.lymanboat.com/brokerage.php3) for not too much money. Looks like a reasonable job to restore from the pictures, but God knows. Here ya go, Jack; guaranteed to keep you out of trouble for the forseeable future, and only $2750! :D

http://www.lymanboat.com/ochenas.jpg

[ 02-14-2006, 05:50 PM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[ishmael]

Not right. I'm telling you a sorta secret here. The boat Keith posts is uncertain, like Alan's, in that trans period. Look at the splash rails someone pasted on, an attempt to make a boat not designed for 100 plus HP, capable of it.

The forty HP Gray in a round skiff was very good. Very beautiful, too. Fish a party of six, take the baby out in ten foot waves on the lakes. Very good stuff.

The later love of big motors in the skiffs had a place, but it wasn't in that Lyman Islander.

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

Great little boats eh? ;)

http://www.clinkerbuilt.com/images/17runbr01s.jpg

[ishmael]

There it is! Sweet music to the eye and the ear! I can hear that little Gray burbling from here. smile.gif

It may not look much, but where I grew up that's what the people who knew drove. LOL. You get a lesson in hull form looking at the various pics. This one is pretty fine forward, but bouyant enough, driven right. At or around hull speed, with a careful eye to quartering the wave form, people drove those little skiffs all over the big and small lakes, in some rough weather. Sweet. Thanks, Kevin. If I were to have a powerboat again, that or its close cousin would be it.

[ 02-16-2006, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: ishmael ]

[Norske3]

Heartsick here....found a 23 foot Lyman..built 1963..flaring bow..excellent condition....350 Chevy (over powered)....average selling price is about $10000.....this one was going for $3000!.(everdently the man died and the wife was in a big hurry to get it off her front lawn)....and just what I and my son wanted for fishing...trailering around the New England Coast....the post turned out to be a year old...boat sold last Summer....and the thing was ONLY TWO BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE!! :(

[ 02-16-2006, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Norske3 ]

[ishmael]

The right boat will come along.

Just to clarify, when Chris and Lyman designed the hulls right, starting about 1960, the hulls took the power just fine. A BLAST, if a gas hog. Not the original idea at all, which was a fishing and pleasure skiff that could make it home relatively quickly if the weather threatened, or the wife had to pee.

And the transition boats weren't awful. We had a '58 Chris Sea Skiff that was pretty good. Just not the best design decisions. With 120 ponys it was too fast in rough weather. Wet as a barnyard goose in a downpour. You didn't need to drive it that hard, but people did.

Good luck finding your dream boat, and consider the early fifties Islanders. If I had an itch to restore a Lyman...

[Norske3]

There is a boat restorer in Edgecomb ,Maine....specializes in these boats.....he was featured in WB Mag a few issues ago.....now he could lead someone to a boat in need of help....he advertizes in the Mag...forget his name.

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

Michael Maynes Edgecomb Boat Works.

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

This one is up near your way, Norske.

http://lymanboat.com/etcheverry.jpg

1959 Lyman 23' Inboard/Runabout Price Reduced $ 3,000 B/O
Newly restored open Lyman -- lapstrake construction with bronze screw fastenings. Excellent condition - must see!!! Powered by a single 350 Chevy gas engine. New carburator. New gas tank. New swim platform. New custom-made blue mooring cover and canvas top.
Contact: Miren Etcheverry metcheverry@alum.mit.edu
50 Grozier Rd. Cambridge MA02138 (617)- 497 2327

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

This ones in Boothbay, Jack.
18 foot outboard.
They want 16,000. :eek:

http://lymanboat.com/rapelye.jpg

They're alot cheaper here on the North Coast. ;)

[ 02-17-2006, 12:07 AM: Message edited by: Mr. Know It All ]

[ishmael]

If you want the later boat's flash and power, the flared bow with a Cheby you posted, Kevin, is first rate. 1958. I was a little off in my dates. Nice price.

The earlier outboard...are they going to see anyting like that price? I don't know the market, but I doubt it. I wouldn't pay anything close. I don't, as I've said, like the boat.