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Just wanted to introduce myself as the owner of a '57 Bell Boy which we recently acquired. I've been looking for a Bell Boy for several years in Washington State, but found one right here on Vancouver Island. It has a history, as does every other '57 Bell Boy, but the most recent part of the story is that it's been sitting in storage for three years after being used and loved continuously prior to being sidelined. It was owned by a fellow whose brother-in-law and he enjoyed it until his boating partner died and he was unable to face going solo.
The boat was in great shape until it was in storage where a snowfall crushed the 'pillar' between the two front windows and wrecked the mahogany dash. The window gasket has come off and the canvas no longer attaches properly at the front, but the previous owner made some attempts to straighten things out. What it needs is to have the support rebuilt and re-fiberglassed, and then the windows will need to have new gaskets and may need to be replaced altogether. Then we'll re-do the dash and the other water damaged areas and she truly will be Skookum- the name we re-christened her as soon as she arrived at her new home. My son has rewired the whole thing, the Evinrude V4 90 hp had been winterized and was brought back to life immediately and with the addition of a few electronics we have already been able to enjoy fireworks on the water and a couple of short trips. Despite the jiggly window (which has been jerry rigged until we can get to the real repair) it's a wonderful boat and we're planning to do some marine camping when my husband has a week off later this month.
I'm hoping to get some inspiration and some direction on doing the repairs from those of you who are old hands, but meanwhile we'll be taking a look at all the other boats that are being brought back to life.
The boat was in great shape until it was in storage where a snowfall crushed the 'pillar' between the two front windows and wrecked the mahogany dash. The window gasket has come off and the canvas no longer attaches properly at the front, but the previous owner made some attempts to straighten things out. What it needs is to have the support rebuilt and re-fiberglassed, and then the windows will need to have new gaskets and may need to be replaced altogether. Then we'll re-do the dash and the other water damaged areas and she truly will be Skookum- the name we re-christened her as soon as she arrived at her new home. My son has rewired the whole thing, the Evinrude V4 90 hp had been winterized and was brought back to life immediately and with the addition of a few electronics we have already been able to enjoy fireworks on the water and a couple of short trips. Despite the jiggly window (which has been jerry rigged until we can get to the real repair) it's a wonderful boat and we're planning to do some marine camping when my husband has a week off later this month.
I'm hoping to get some inspiration and some direction on doing the repairs from those of you who are old hands, but meanwhile we'll be taking a look at all the other boats that are being brought back to life.
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