I bought a boat. It was a long time coming, but I did it. My wife is just thankful it wasn't an airplane.
It's a 1962 Clippercraft. Mahogany. Nice. It came with an Evinrude Lark IV 40 HP outboard, which may well be original to the boat, being that the Lark IV was produced only briefly around 1962.
Clippercraft made boat kits in the 50s and then started producing finished boats in the 60s. I'll have to contact them about this one soon. They now make very high-end ocean-going fishing Dories. They are located right here in Portland, OR.
Here are some pictures of the restoration process...I brought her home and stripped and sanded several layers of varnish from the decking, and sanded the epoxy hull paint and then repainted and varnished the whole boat. In addition, I did some trailer work, so she tows better now, and I'm thinking up some plans for a rear bench seat.
I must mention that my 7 y/o daughter, Kate, helped for a couple hours every afternoon after school. The sanding of the seats and side-decking was her responsibility.
Here she is getting ready for paint and varnish. Did I mention about 100 hours of stripping and sanding went into this?
Here's the inside rear all stripped and ready for varnish.
And the cockpit, ready for varnish.
The area below the waterline had some blisters which I smoothed over and repainted.
Here's a view from the stern of the boat, ready for paint and varnish.
Of course, the best part of restoration is the results - the first time I put her in the water, I drew a crowd. One guy asked where I had gotten the boat and who restored it? - My chest swelled visibly as I told him I bought the boat just a few miles up the river, and that I had done the work on it myself.
Here she is, the sharpest looking boat at the dock:
On the trailer, headed for the water.
Here's Jeff looking pretty happy with things.
Here's Kate looking pretty pleased, too.
