TOPIC: mid 40's Hydro plane? For sale down the road.

This is for sale around the corner... so to speak all wood, mid 40's been in a barn for 30 years aside from the winter its sat out.. been eyeing this. However i have too many projects as is. They want 600 for it no idea about registrations ect... cool though.. maybe... 14 feet if that..

Grab it and hang onto it if you can.
Looks like it may have a neat history.
May be able to track the #.
Neil

Jesse,
I'm with Neil. that looks too cool to let go. It would look great with a Tower of Power on it.

Bob

It would need to be a short stack... probably 50 would be too much for that little guy. 18 or 20 would do more than enough. Its cool though.

STASH: Good Catch.. Great to know my old area , TROY , has a few gem[s left. Any more top pics.?? The bow & white sides has a 1st look of a RAVEAU,! Which would be a great score. Did you get history from owner.?? Could be mid 50's.?? This pic is of the reproductions that were offer by Bob W. Brian S, Crosby-boat would know the design, but history here COULD be more valuable than soft wood condition. . I had pulled a De-Silva out of a barn in Poughkeepsie, so all that area was RICH in activity from mid 40's with the famous ALBANY- New York City marathon racing. ..Side # of 36-N..?? ChineWalker would know...Could be SPEED-LINER..?
...........................

I am going to stop by latter tonight and make an offer I think, I just dont need another project I think it would clean up easily though. And would fly with my 1955 Johnson 25.... . But it is from the Southern Albany area as best I can tell this one is up in Berne NY. I will keep you posted.

I'd certainly grab it. If it is indeed 13-14 foot, a 25hp Big Twin Johnrude would be a nice set-up, ala the old 36 Class. Looks like someone moved the steering wheel into the fore cockpit. If you want to live, move it back to the rear cockpit!!

See if it has any hardware. The deadman throttles are nice finds!

If you can grab it before Saturday, drag it down to East Sidney Dam, near Unadilla, just off I-88 and you might be able to resell it, if it's not something you are interested in personally. The AOMCI, NYS Chapter is hosting a swap/wet meet at the Recreation Area at East Sidney Dam all day Saturday. Even if you want to keep it, the meet might be a good place to find out more about it, as there'll be some ex-racers there...

- SCott

I will look into it more, I didnt notice a dead man throttle but it may be there, Planning to look closer tonight.
Thanks for the input.

Ok so I probably shouldnt have but I got the boat... cool little thing very solid. I just vacumed out all the water from todays rain, it was full of old corn cobs from the barn it came out of that the fellow i got it from pulled it out of. Well here are some pictures. If any one has some leads as to find its history the number on the hull is 36-B and the number stamped on the transom is 0503.

Good for you! Another one saved.
Neil

So the plate says 1969 last time the trailer was on the road. Does anyone know if these would have registrations? If not is there a way to get one for a classic barn find? The boat is 13 foot long and 4'3" wide at the transom.

Jesse,
Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's going to be one sweet little ride when it's done! Good for your for saving it.

Bob

That is an old D-Utility, going by the dimensions. Styling is typical of the early 1950s. Could have been raced with a Mercury KG9H or Mark 40H. Maybe even a Mark 55H if it was still raced in the later 1950s. All were 40-cubic inch racing motors for APBA Class D.

The guys over at Scream and Fly's History Forum might have an idea of who's boat it was. I'd love to find one of my Dad's old boats. His numbers were 12-P, 12-N, 112-P, 112-N (also my number), and 222-N. The ones he built also had a stenciled "Smith-Built" on the deck.

The boat in the picture is one he raced in the mid-1960s and we know where this one is - in the Antique Boat Museum collection. It is a Sid-Craft "Hornet". Also a D-Utility, although my Dad raced it in 36-Class with a Johnrude 36-cubic inch 1956 30hp.

Thank you For the info, I am trying to plan to go over to Afton on Saturday, I wont take the boat along having I dont have the Registration for trailer or boat but I will see if I can get some input there as well.
Thanks
Jesse

Random Question... What would these turn buckles have been used for?
Thanks

S: CONGRATS on the racer. Looks like your turn buckels are on the INSIDe of the transom. (?) Should be a way to HOLD DOWN the high performance outboard motor on the transom during a race. & not vibrate loosen up & fly off the back of boat.

Did the owne have any info on brand .? SPeedLiner.? Or the names of relatives that raced the unit. ?
L.

Unfortunately I got it off a fellow that got it out of a barn not too far away but I dont know exactly where.. too bad really it should clean up well but spent the winter out in the elements so It now needs all new varnish, cleaned it ... or started to clean it last night and found some frams that need replacement (Cracks) but overall very sound. Definately wanting input on how to go about spruceing this up. I have more better pictures to post but not with me here. I have no idea of manufacture the only identification is the number in the above pic. no logos anywhere else.. I will keep looking though.
Thanks for the idea on the turnbuckles.
Do you all think I should fix this to use of just refinish and hang it safe and sound but relatively original?

Well I have been working on sanding patching and replacing parts here all week. Going to just throw some pictues up of what I have done... May take a while today low cell signal for the internet... so check back. Heres some pictures after cleaning and draining the inside of water and.. corn.. and dust... and mouse nests..

Here a some pics of Patching and some of flipping it over to work on the bottom.. it certainly is a flat bottom boat!

Jesse,
Cool, that's going to be a great project. She looks to be in pretty good shape overall. Sanding paint and varnish and she'll look awesome. Keep up the good work.

Bob

Are you seeing pictures that don't show up for me?

outstanding Jesse!!!!!!!!

DaveK,
Don't know if your being facecious but point being, there's no major rot inside or out, she's completely intact, so it's mostly cosmetics. So for most wood boats getting one in that condition is a score in my book.

Bob

Good morning, No its in great shape there are a few things that needed replacing and I will have to do a careful.. grafting... on the exterior transom boards.. cant see a good way to take it out without dis assembly of the entire stern but the drain hole rotted about 3 inches off the bottom the inner and ply transom parts are fine.. so its just the outside should come out ok though.
Thanks for the comments.
Jesse

Took some time to just clean the bottom. I wonder if the whole thing looked like this when it was taken out of the barn, what a shame!

Just a little progress here. I chose not to re-do the whole transom just do a "Dutchman" to the bottom sections on the outside layer it is very solid within, But had been cut down from its original height to fit a short shaft engine. I will be runing my sea king 25 on it I thinkn so it will work well with that engine. If I Feel more ambitious at some point I will disasemble the stern and raise the transom to the original height.
well heres a bad picture with some polly on it.

Jesse,
Looking good so far keep up the good work.

Bob

Hi Jesse,
We ran our 30hp Big Twin at about 18.5-19 inches transom height on our utilities. We used a bracket consisting of four pieces of 1x1 angle iron with a laminated motor board to achieve the extra height. That way we only had to drill a few holes in the transom rather than build it up. Makes it removeable, too, so you can run a short shaft (Mercury H unit) should you come across one. Run the angle iron full height from the auxiliary board down as close to the bottom of the boat as possible. Bolt it through the transom, through both inner and outer brackets. Use stainless bolts.
Be sure to track down a good Michigan 2-blade for your Gale as a stock aluminum 3-blade won't cut it...

- Scott

Something like this:
cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Cary-Brass-Boat-Prop-10-X-15-1-2-/170651053348?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bb986d24#ht_1178wt_842

or

cgi.ebay.com/OLD-10-INCH-BRASS-BOAT-SHIP-SAILBOAT-PROPELLER-PROP-/120726857681?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1be1a7d1#ht_500wt_1090

Thanks! I am not to the motor yet but compression is good all around. I was just trying to figure out the pitch on those two props? .. At work prolly shouldnt be looking any how.. lol but thanks.

Not sure why, but I can't see any photos. All I get is boxes with red X's. I want to see this thing. Not too far from me!

Huh not sure why they arent showing, I can see them here on fios and at home on dial up and with my verizon five spot. Its in need of more work... wait its a boat arent they alwyas in need of more work? but you are the master please be gentle! LOL I will just have to swing by with it when I get further along on it.

LOL.....go figure....now I can see them. And I like what I see. Classic utility. What a great find!

So its only been seven months since we started to work on the old Hydro, I have been working on the engine as most of you know... and my father (Gerry) has been working on the boat. So here are some pictures of what he has done .. A little heavy on the 3M5200.... I will let him fill in what's going on in these pictures. Well here they are.
Jesse

Hi: I'm Gerry, Jesse's Dad. I have been around boats since I was an infant, and owned a 12 foot PenYan runabout when I was a teen. This is my first wooden boat project since then.


Here is "Little Dipper" in our workshop.

The lower frame members (numbers 4 through 9)were deteriorated. The boat had sat outside through a NYS winter, and the accumulated debris was hard on the spruce boards.I intended to make patterns, but there wasn't much left! White oak will be used here.

We tested the engine hieght by temporarily mounting the engine bracket to the transom. Jesse was satisfied that the Mercury cooling inlet would be submerged at speed.

We decided to use white oak for the new transom inner and outer boards. I eliminated the old drain holes, which were bored through the stern with cork plugs.

The various pieces of the stern were used as patterns and duplicated. Stainless steel fasteners were used to replace the steel ones we removed. The 3M #5200 bedding compound was used liberally. Jesse and I had "differences" about the resulting white lines at joints. I am concerned about water infiltration and maintaining flexibility...Jesse is going for the appearance.

We added a wooden brace between the keel and transom. This won't interfere with the rear floor or the engine, but should add a lot to the rigidity of the stern. This will be bedded and fastened with stainless steel screws through the transom, floor/keel and last frame.

There is a bit of fairing and sanding to do.

Jesse has located a steering bar and proper pulleys for the boat.

you guys are awesome!!!! can't wait to see her when done. Nice project.
Jim

I agree Jim, great stuff! A big thank you to Gerry and Jesse for sharing the progress pics, helps keep us all motivated and moving on our own projects. Doing it as a Father Son project makes it even more special, IMHO. Thanks for sharing guys.

Nice project there!! I had a similar boat in the early sixties running 56 mph with a Mark 20H Merc with quickie lower unit.

Wow, what a nice boat! Did anyone ever figure out what it is? As previously said, a Raveau would be an amazing find. There was a really good article about Raveau in Wooden Boat Magazine last year. All my copies are at my lake house, so I can't do any comparisons.

Thank you for all the kind words every one! No we have not found out who built itas there are no makers marks on it aside from the above stamp in the transom of 0503. So with no real guide to go off we decided to rebuild form the existing pices and use our best guess from other boats on the web from that time period. We hope to have it in the water by spring.

Once again thank you for the input it is always welcome and if any one has ideas as to who the maker was or the previous owner that would be great!

Sorry Jesse, late to the party again. She's coming a long great. You guys are doing a wonderful job and she's going to look awesome when your done!

Bob

I'm not sure if they keep records that old, but have you considered contacting the APBA to see if they can tell you who had the 36-N number assigned to them?