DixieCraft Mahogany (?) Advice wanted
 

Doug, sounds like you lack experience but make up for it in enthuisasm :o).
That looks like a worthwhile project. Just try to match the wood as closely as
possible & take your time. There's nothing wrong (IMO) with using superior,
currently available materials (epoxy adhesives, modern sealants etc) to make it
better than it was. One thing to check is the bottom. If it's been stored on
the trailer with uneven pressure on rollers or skids etc it can have bottom
problems (hooks or dips) that need to be adressed, early on.
Good luck & keep us posted
Greg Sefton

DixieCraft Mahogany (?) Advice wanted
 

Before you put a lot of labor in it, check the planking on the inside
back where it meets the transom, around the shaft log and any other sopt
that might collect water. Rot in any of those places will turn what
could be a fun, satisfying restoration into a nightmare. A real
restoration devotee would see it as a challange but that work is not for
a beginner. If that is sound, you have a VERY good boat with a lot of
potential.

Your most valuable information will come as you remove things. As you
take out a rotten deck plank examine the edges and joints carefully to
see how they went together. Sometines the deck planks are slightly
beveled. Once they are all laid the joints were packed with plumber's
oakum or a cotton yarn and then filled with either a white or black
marine caulk formulated for the purpose.

doug wrote:
A while back I inherited a DixieCraft wooden boat, and, this being my
first ever boat, I jumped into educating myself on anything I could find
on it. Extensive netsearching brought up _very_ little on the name
"DixieCraft", but volumes on wooden boats. I've bought several books,
and in general made a nuisance of myself at the local library. I've
followed this newsgroup for some time, and read with interest the
variety of posts dealing with restoration of older wooden boats.

I've had a couple of folks who know wood look at it, and the general
consensus is that it is mahogany. (I unscrewed one piece from the
frame, sanded the weathered surface from it to get a good look at the
"fresh" wood)

I'd like to find a balance between restoring to original condition, and
using materials that were likely not available when it was new, and will
give me better service.

Sources for 1/2" thick, 4" width, and several foot lengths will be
needed to deal with some topside damage, hull seems really solid.

I've read where a "string" is used between the hull boards, caulking,
etc... I don't know what was original, and haven't dissected any of the
hull to see what's there currently. Previous owner sanded whatever was
on it at the time, then stored it in my barn. He gave it to me when the
family moved out of state.

I want to do it right. Pictures below.

And thanks for any advice that will help me get this little craft back
into the water!

doug swanson



http://ellijay.com/users/des/Before1.jpg
http://ellijay.com/users/des/Boat_hull_shot.jpg



--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

DixieCraft Mahogany (?) Advice wanted
 

The only boat I have ever heard of having each seam be a live seam instead
of just a kerf is Ventnor. I think just about everybody else stuck to the
traditional method.

"P.C. Ford" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 17:13:33 -0400, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:


Your most valuable information will come as you remove things. As you
take out a rotten deck plank examine the edges and joints carefully to
see how they went together. Sometines the deck planks are slightly
beveled. Once they are all laid the joints were packed with plumber's
oakum or a cotton yarn and then filled with either a white or black
marine caulk formulated for the purpose.


With very, very few exceptions (in 20 years of runabout restoration I
saw one) the decks on a speedboat are not caulked.

Typically they will be made up of, say 6 inch wide planks which have a
kerf cut into it on the 2 and 4 inch intervals. Thus, each plank will
contain one real seam and two fake seams. All seams are covered with
polysuphide or polyurethane.

DixieCraft Mahogany (?) Advice wanted
 

Doug,

I'm going past what you requested and I hope I'm not getting too much in your
business, but I would like to offer a bit of un-asked-for advice.

I would *strongly suggest* that right now you do the *absolute minimum* rework
that will allow your boat to get back in the water safely. Do this even if it
means that later you'll have to tear out all that to get it "done right".

Here is the reason: there have been many, many otherwise savable boats that
have died because an enthusistic owner kept finding more and more things that
needed rework or repair during a teardown, especially on a newly purchaseed
boat.

If you use the boat for a season or more, you will likely become attached to it
so much that you'll not lose enthusiasm if the later rework or restoration
consumes years. However, if you get into a boat that you haven't used, and find
more and more that "should be replaced while you've got it apart", then it is
easy to become overwhelmed and just lket the project languish until there isn't
anything left worth saving except the hull number.

I've done this on a boat myself, so I know whereof I speak. I know a fellow
who has done this to at least 6 otherwise repairable Centuries and Chris
Crafts. It is so very easy to get into this frame of mind.

Now, if you have rot at the junction of the transom and the hull, or in the
wood that supports the power train or steering, then it must be fixed; but it
you find more hull and stringer rot, and it is stuff that can be temporariuly
repaired with epoxy or sisters, do it the easy way for now and get some use and
enjoyment from the boat before you "do it right".

Just friendly suggestions from someone who loves these old craft :-)

Cheers/The Fader
"LABOR SVGIT"