Friday, February 27, 2009

Rebuild of a Matthews Power Cruiser

The Matthews Company, in Port Clinton, Ohio started business in 1906 building high quality yachts.

Their range of watercraft built over the years included sailboats, mid-range cruisers, and what today we'd call 100+' "Mega Yachts".


A series of Matthews 42's were at the yard within a couple months of each other. Unfortunately, one met the "Knacker" and was destroyed. Like again, so many boats of the era (1950's), these hulls were made of Mahogany Planking over Oak frames, but fastened with Galvanized Iron Screws. This one had very bad damage below the water line, especially up in the bow. A significant rebuild was in order here.





The man executing the repairs was a young German BoatWright who was employed by North Bay Boatworks. http://northbayboatworks.com/

"Anton" had quite a task ahead of him:

Here the stem has already been replaced with a new one (nicely made). All the black you see is evidence the Oak Frames have reacted with the Iron Screws, mutually destroying each other. There was not much holding this boat together and the water out. Long past due for rebuild and very dangerous if not repaired.












Anton had an additional restriction beyond the complexity of the repairs in that the owner had a very limited budget. Getting an accurate estimate of "how much it will cost" is almost impossible without ripping the boat completely open.



While the boat sorely needs a complete rebuild, this go-around was limited just to the bow. But this is the nature of Traditionally built wooden boats, they are repairable. In a few years, with more money saved up, hopefully the owner can get all the major work done and button the boat up for another 50 years.
















Here she is all planked up and faired, ready for corking, caulking, and paint.
















Here is an example of this series of hulls in a better day:


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