Woodie photos today

[The Bigfella]

Nice clear day here today. I've been under pressure from BrianW to actually take the camera to the boat - so here's a couple of the local woodies in my locale. These boats are all in the 1 km commute from the marina where I keep my small boat, to the mooring where I keep Grantala:

The double-ender was built in 1956 and is powered by a 6V Detroit - a 53 IIRC. The converted trawler is a bit ugly in the cabin department, but she gets along just fine.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p37b5718d919baa40b573766afbe84a84/e96590a7.jpg

A nice putt putt:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p321bfe8ed938cc2bc38ca9e6b24625e3/e965904a.jpg

A nasty putt putt - the fibreglassing over the timber clinkers on this is just terrible:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p6c4967f067e6fc6a3742cf09642cd07c/e9659039.jpg

Grantala - from close to shore:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p595d4178bf7bd87cd57cb64019522684/e9659056.jpg

This is what the shore looks like behind where the previous shot was taken:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p082f8a77ca56222d9eaa345ad1fdf287/e965909d.jpg

The totally different scene just another 50 metres along - and about that distance from Grantala to this shore too:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p65f72c431d8f335a35e3ec55940a82a3/e9659087.jpg

I could hear the Lyrebird in there today but have never seen one in here. I almost ran over one (had to avoid it) last week not far from the marina.

Ian

[brad9798]

AWESOME!

Tell us about Grantala?

[skuthorp]

The 'nasty' put-put looks like she might have been a sailer once. With that beam and shallow freeboard definitely a fishing boat. Reminds me of the boats they built at Lakes Entrance. Like her lines, pity.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Cool, love Grantala... beauty boat

[The Bigfella]

Brad - Grantala is a Holmes Bros. sundeck cruiser - built to an AM Deering (of Chicago) design - featured in Rudder mag. in July 1937. When I bought her, I was told she was 1938 - but we uncovered plenty of 1937 dated items during her rebuild.

Here's a thread I posted a while back detailing some of what we have done with her:

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=62237&highlight=Grantala

I've done a few other threads on her too -

Fuel tanks:

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=4937&highlight=Grantala

a progress update:

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=5115&highlight=Grantala

A few more shots of the transom replacement:

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=2424&highlight=Grantala

I'm almost ready to install the skylight up for'ard - I used a combination of designs from Woodenboat mag to come up with a design that gives flow-through ventilation at all times unless I choose to block it off. I'll probably wait till installation to photograph it, as I haven't put the chrome trim on yet (its floating around the house somewhere).

Here's some more shots of my mooring locale yesterday and today:

A closer one of Blossom:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p56268c045e44ce833ba7f97963d1f701/e9614ac5.jpg

A bit sad eh?

A Halvorsen Sea Skiff with a Yammie 140hp hanging off the back. This one used to be down at the Gut where I had Grantala a few years back and she sank at her berth.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p23c1eb63ec6e38ec9206fa1c1cc5861d/e9614ace.jpg

A local cormorant. IIRC we have 7 different species in Oz.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p17bfce3b575c11afd177a6bbaa89dbf6/e9614ac1.jpg

Finally, a nice little half cabin:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pf33e3ee5596bc6119a0283cdc23addd5/e9614ac0.jpg

I was happy with progress today - produced some more teak flour, got four sticks down and some more prepared. I'm more than half way down the king plank - only three short boards to fit and I can do it, then fit the skylight and most importantly - the anchor winch. I've got a nice grunty new-old stock Maxwell-Nilsson sitting in the shed.

Ian

[brad9798]

VERY NICE! Not sure how I missed all those threads.

Thanks again.

[Nanoose]

Are boats out on moorings more common than in marinas there?

[martin schulz]

Where are the sails?

...nevertheless - nice pics.

[The Bigfella]

Are boats out on moorings more common than in marinas there?

Boats on marinas probably now outnumber moorings overall, but not at Berowra Waters - this is one of only two marinas taking large boats down where I am, but there are lots more in the Harbour and Bays. Without checking a map, I'd say that I'd be roughly 22 - 25 nautical miles in from the ocean - but a convenient 20 minutes from home.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pa86344471cf1cbabd7863a01e52bfe62/e95fed7a.jpg

I also have my tender / workboat on this commuter marina - again there are two of these locally:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pf18b85b9ef9c199032d52c833be95b9b/e95fee9b.jpg

(sorry for the lousy image - it was a quick snap through the windshield whilst on the car ferry - that's my nice orange boat which has been a real workhorse).

Cost is a pretty significant issue - I would be paying over $600 a month to have Grantala on the marina, but pay $550 a year on the mooring - plus an annual service that costs around $200. I pay $133 a month to be on the commuter wharf. I'll take the orange boat out when the work program is finished. I used to trailer it down every time - but that got a bit wearing after a while.

The other issue for me is working on the water. Almost all of the rebuild has been done on the water (deck, cabin, bulkheads, etc). I create a fair amount of dust and noise and that just wouldn't be tolerated on a marina. I have an air compressor on board and the dust goes over the side each day.

On hand electricity would be nice, but my genset is pretty frugal - it only needed a 10 litre top-up the other day after many weeks and I use the inverter where possible - so fueling is done with a 20 litre jerrycan. Tap water would be the biggest blessing of being on a marina - although there is a public wharf I can fill up at.

Where are the sails?

Thanks Martin - for reminding me that I used to say that I'd never own a stinkboat. If Grantala had been a yacht, I'm sure that there's a few times in recent years I'd have thrown some food on board and disappeared to the islands (Bora Bora, etc).

Ian

[Lew Barrett]

Wow! I'm with Brad. Somehow I didn't connect Grantala with you; missed that by a mile! Quite an effort. And I of course am familiar with large late '30s powerboat efforts!

There's a Deering design here in Seattle (Class Act; tric-cabin, 1938) that's a very nice twin screw 42 foot tri-cabin design. House is a bit different than Grantala, but the hull is virtually identical looking. Nice boat! Yea for power!

[The Bigfella]

There's a Deering design here in Seattle (Class Act; tric-cabin, 1938) that's a very nice twin screw 42 foot tri-cabin design. House is a bit different than Grantala, but the hull is virtually identical looking. Nice boat! Yea for power!

Lew - any chance of a photo of the Deering designs if you ever go past them? Please? I've never been able to dig up much on him - but did get a photocopy of the Rudder article from Mystic.

Yea for power!

Ian

[Lew Barrett]

Ian,
I don't see many Deerings here; possibly because he was a mid-west designer and we're out here in the far west. I do have (somewhere) in one of my old magazines, an advertisement offering his design services. If you can be patient (ask Shane what that means when dealing with me) I will dig it out and copy it for you.
However, I do see Class Act regularly, as she's a member of the Classic Yacht Association. I checked the CYA album pages just to find her photo and put it up here for you, but damned if she isn't in the on-line registry. I'll see what I can dig up on her. Organizing a photo couldn't be too hard.
Her hull form is very like Rita's but she's 8 feet shorter. Semi-displacement, round chines. Nice working layout onboard with an owner's stateroom aft. Sh'e a good cruising boat, very traditional tri-cabin with somewhat more rounded lines than my boat; more like an early Chris tri-cabin. I liked her well enough to suggest to my wife that we buy her about twenty years ago when she came up, but for whatever reason, we didn't jump on her. We'd probably be dollars ahead if we had, as she had a pair of good Perkins 130HP sixes that are still running strong.
I'm sure I can get a picture of her. This is the album I was refering to, but no Deerings in it. I believe they're a bit rare.
http://classicyacht.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=11

[The Bigfella]

Wow - I've just been going through your Rita photos - fabulous. I haven't visited that site for ages - my wife used to say that it was what kept me inspired to keep going with Grantala (and she was right).

Sorry for the lack of connection - I used to post under my own name until the first attack on Joe, (and a few on me) and that was when I changed to the nickname given to me by one of my clients. I don't know why I bothered - the lowlife still gets his knickers in a knot all the time and posts my full name along with a bagful of slurs - but hey - that's life, and I'm happy with mine.

Ian

[Lew Barrett]

Thanks Ian. No need to apologize. I'm on your side! Just a bit further north.....

[Lew Barrett]

Heading out this weekend to go through the locks.....

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pf1ce93b5ea34b57c664d3be417ab861b/e94f0e03.jpg
I love that smile, and have for 27 years


who do we pass on the way in but......
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pe758c7e85c6daf74bec8b95849df3272/e94f0de8.jpg
Class Act, the Deering I spoke of the day before we left!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p08deab891c7081fe867bdda027c60c32/e94f0ddb.jpg
Coincidence?

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p2e0c0e02962920d08c393df38c627887/e94f0dd3.jpg
I think....not!

So there you go! Speak and it shall be done.

Class Act is a 1946 42 foot Deering design built by Hubert Ellis (of whom I have no information) and belonging to Mike and Lassie Jordan of Bellevue Washington. She has twin Perkins Diesels, I'd say about 12 foot beam.
Seen in these photos, she is coming into Lake Union from Puget Sound through the Hiram Chittendon locks, just as Rita was preparing to go out on Saturday morning. A complete coincidence but as my camera was handy, I was able to grab these shots of her to keep the Deering conversation alive.

Our destination later that afternoon:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p39d2a759303e051c79e069c2f4f12933/e94f0df3.jpg
Saturday afternoon, gathering of a small clan at Manzanita Bay

Then it rained all weekend. Left early this am and got home early enough to hang out and nap....some more!

[The Bigfella]

Excellent - many thanks Lew.

Those photos firmed my mind up about something - I had been wondering whether the rear-opening ports that I found on Grantala had been original. That shot of the panel under the transom of the dinghy seems to confirm it.

When I removed the equivalent panel from Grantala, I found that they had been filled in:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p087f9b6fd6de1937f65c0885c8ca8e50/e94e63dc.jpg

They would add immensely to comfort levels in the master's cabin. I don't want airconditioning - so will put a couple of these opening ports back in.

Ian

[Paul Pless]

Not to steal Lew's thunder but if you look closely a certain Mr. & Mrs. Forumite just became the proud parents of spectacular little Chris Craft that Paul and I got to meet while visiting Allen (S/V Laura Ellen) in Sarnia yesterday.:D

Kat

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p754222cf221328ecf1bb515f1522f4c0/e94e5307.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p005c3458d3e6fc6322bcd86f29fc918a/e94e5304.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pf22897c5d4410365c85ccaa824061bcf/e94e52fd.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pe251521b52d5136bab9b90f3a881b461/e94e52f3.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p814a2ac680f672f641fa38c0126e18e9/e94e52f0.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

[Paul Pless]

And now for a short photo update on Laura Ellen. :)

Kat
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p0283d89ad952b5ce0acf12587ec62046/e94e5317.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pb069a20e08e45a558dd4be0fa55973bd/e94e531a.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p87251a8a9889a1d52e4d250248a4aaf8/e94e5319.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

[Lew Barrett]

Class Act has a nice interior arrangement. The aft cabin is dedicated to the owner, something I've always liked. The more control over airflow you can put in the boat, the better in my view. I'm glad this could be some help.

[Lew Barrett]

That's a sweet, clean Connie, Paul! Looks like a great boat for going up the river...or wherever it is you guys go! I've always like the bullnose Chris look.

[S/V Laura Ellen]

The formites are Sandy, Bev and Calico.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pf22897c5d4410365c85ccaa824061bcf/e94e52fd.jpg

[brad9798]

Nice clean Connie INDEED! LOVE those Bullnoses!!!!

[The Bigfella]

Great photos - thanks Lew and Paul. Calico looks nice and it is good to see the progress on Laura Ellen.

On the subject of ventilation - I should have a lot more going through Grantala in a week or so. I must have started building this hatch at least a year and a half ago - its been floating around the house , getting in the way....

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p7e55722d373adb05dca35e8f481c2158/e94c8577.jpg

It has a 10mm thick toughened glass panel that goes under the front section and under the rear section is open. The front acts as a dorade box - with a divider at the back of it to keep the water out. The wire mesh duck excluder is inlaid into a timber panel that is held onto some silicon bronze bolts with brass kitchen knobs and it is replaceable with a solid panel if required (heavy seas, cold nights - not that it gets that cold here).

I might do some better photos when I finish mounting the glass covers.

Ian

[skuthorp]

Lovely pix to see here, thanks all. Hatch is V. impressive! Do like the look of blossom's lines, there's a similar one I've been interested in at Corinella swinging on a mooring. No cover, similar condition. More rot than I can see I bet. You can see where the centerboard case once was still. Probably rigged like a couta boat originally.