This may have fell into my lap... What to do?

[Lyle]

I know I have been kind of quiet and my Lee-Craft is just sitting around in pieces, but I have not been idle. I have no Garage / Shop for the Lee-Craft at my Marysville house so we decided to find a place that had a garage / shop for me and a larger kitchen for my wife. We found it... We are hopefully closing by the end of April / first of May with any luck. Two car garage that has a space reserved for the boat with a decent view of Utsalady Bay.

My neighbors son came over and asked if I wanted an older boat for free that is the same color as my Lee-Craft. How could I resist, lets see a photo. They are looking for the title now Am I sick? I will drag it home this weekend possibly.

[61_express]

I like them. Very cool sleek design.

[Lyle]

I have a problem... I do solemnly swear that two boats are my limit and that if I drag another boat home... I must finish one first. At some point I may need to contact another member to talk me out of dragging a boat home. I leave that up to you to volunteer.

[Helmar]

I have a problem... I do solemnly swear that two boats are my limit and that if I drag another boat home... I must finish one first. At some point I may need to contact another member to talk me out of dragging a boat home. I leave that up to you to volunteer.

I wish I could help but can't.
We used to have a 5 or more step program that was NMB which ment, No More Boats.
I get that confused and caved as I took it to be Need More Boats. I had 12 at one time and finished one and two others were work in progress.

One of my Keeper boats is just what you have there. I got it from Chuck Carey who bought it down in California were it was built and designed..
If you look at the hull, you will see that the lowest portion of the keel is just under the cabin window.
This boat was designed in the San Francisco Bay area by the same fellow that designed the Studebaker Avonti?

It was designed for the Chop water in the Bay area and one of the smoothest riding boat built in my opinion. The only other boat that I can think of is the Glasspar Seafair Sedan like Steve Kiesel owns

My Dorsett Catalina will be one of the last boats I restore and possibly the last keeper due to the ride.

I have Skagits, a Bell Boy and the Uniflite and they all are like a barn door with a motor on them up at high speeds.
The Dorsett Catalina trimmed up right to help keep that bow in the water will out preform almost all PNW built boats from the early 50's
Mine is a 1961

[John Berg]

I have a 1960 Skagit 24 that is full of water. NEEDS EVERY THING. And I have spent hours over the years enjoying it. Its just art.

[Lyle]

Can you move this post to the restoration area please?

I am thinking that the Lee-Craft will get bumped down a project but not forgotten.. I have to figure out stringers and bulkheads for it and a few other custom designs. The Dorsett comes with a lot of stuff I can use for patterns which will help my learning curve immensely! The fiberglass over all seems to be in good shape with a few areas that will require some attention. The stringers have been exposed and left to sit in standing water, but I think I can get them out in one piece for patterns. Transom at first glans seems to be solid but a more thorough investigation is coming as soon as get the boat cleaned out.

[Helmar]

Can you move this post to the restoration area please?

I am thinking that the Lee-Craft will get bumped down a project but not forgotten.. I have to figure out stringers and bulkheads for it and a few other custom designs. The Dorsett comes with a lot of stuff I can use for patterns which will help my learning curve immensely! The fiberglass over all seems to be in good shape with a few areas that will require some attention. The stringers have been exposed and left to sit in standing water, but I think I can get them out in one piece for patterns. Transom at first glans seems to be solid but a more thorough investigation is coming as soon as get the boat cleaned out.

I can walk you through every step of that project, With pictures.
I can send you pictures of the type of tools you will need such as a cheap laser (20 bucks) that you can use to measure from.

IF, the transom needs replaced and its a short shaft transom, might think about raising it for a standard motor. Mine is for a short shaft which will not do for me.

I am not pulling the whole cabin top off so this is how I did one before. The trick is you need to be able to See and Access ever cut from the inside to glass her back. Once I got done with the one I did, you couldn't tell I did the cuts.

Remove.jpgoutsidecut.jpgreartub.jpg

[Lyle]

I don't want to remove the top on this one too. Transom has some dead spots around a few holes as expected and a small dead spot about 2 inches in diameter. As a precaution...(see photo) I set this off in the cabin.

Been digging all night and I noticed that there are a ton of photos buried in old threads...

[Bflaherty]

I need a couple of those for my boat and my shed!! Even though we use our boat several times a year I am always fighting spider infestation under the bow... ��. There is nothing as terrifying as having a big, fat, black spider with red triangle on its back fall on your bare leg while running across a lake at speed!!

Sorry to hear about all the soft spots but at least you have a little more experience this time and repairs should be a lot easier and faster!! While I've never ridden in a Catalina before, I saw Rick Love running his around a few times and it always look so comfortable compared to the Skagits and our little ski boat... When he put his up for sale Michele and I really thought about buying it but he ended up selling it for more than we could ever hope to get for our Chris Craft!

[Bflaherty]

By the way, Lyle... I like your new avatar photo!! That's creative!

[strobee]

I probably had the most ill handling 17 ft Skagit. It came with a 175HP Johnson v-6. It would have put Flipper to shame when porpoising. It steered like a truck without power steering. I got 41MPH and that was real scary with the 175. I have put a 140HP 6cyl Mercury with power trim, taken the 200lbs of lead out of the bow, and added step and trim tabs to the stern. The Skagit tops out at 37MPH and cruises at 24 to 26MPH and is a pleasure to run. The key to a Skagit is being able to bring the bow down. Skagits run bow high and using the trim to bring the bow down makes a world of difference. I have ridden in a Dorsett that maybe wasn't properly trimmed out and was not impressed. I have run through chop and used the trim to lower the bow an inch and the bow would cut through the chop. I have torn apart some of the other fiberglass boats of the 50s and 60s and none of them were built strong like a Skagit. It takes some doing but a Skagit is one fine boat. Clint

[Lyle]

Thanks. It keeps me occupied until we can get into the new place. The Dorsett is going directly into the garage and the Lee-Craft is going to be parked awaiting its turn.

[Helmar]

Thanks. It keeps me occupied until we can get into the new place. The Dorsett is going directly into the garage and the Lee-Craft is going to be parked awaiting its turn.

I have two Skagits, had more at one time, 1959 14 foot Sportster, 1959 16 foot Skimaster, 1958 17 foot Skagit and a 1959 20 foot Offshore.
I still have the Skimaster and the Offshore.
These boats were Built to Last for Damn sure.

I have seen all kinds of fixes that people have done and yes, putting weight in the bow was one way to keep it down as these things are Flat Bottom boats and were not designed for the big engines that we have available today.

I remember Chucks Farallon boat too well. I put Automatic Trim tabs on his boat for him. If someone got up and moved from port to starboard, the trim tabs would auto adjust for it (came with a gyro).
For some reason, he was never able to trim it to put the bow down like she would set at rest. Might have been because two much weight was added to the back. (pretty sure that was the issue, Bigger motor, extra fuel tanks)

Once these boats made it to the water, I could see, hmmm, something is wrong here.
To me adding a heavy motor, extra fuel, batteries as well as stowing all the rest of your stuff in the back of a boat only means she was not designed for that.
Then adding lead to the bow to help keep the nose down works as its how everyone did it back in the old days with the PNW hulls (even Uniflite).
If your looking for fuel efficiency, you are pushing more weight around.

Once my Skagits got up on plain, they it became a flat bottom boat. Like a barn door with a motor on the back.

Then I seen the early Dorsetts, built in the very early 60's and someone figured that with bigger motors and flat bottom the Bay area would beat you dam near to death.
That is why the lowest point in the hull is right under the cabin bulkhead. Might look different but if your looking for a smoother ride at higher speeds, that hull was designed for it..

I had both my Skagits and Dorsett all parked in a row and you can see the big difference.

With my bad back, I just figure I can last longer in the boat.
I also remember that Don and Sharon Lee sold his Skagit Skimaster as it was just to rough of a ride.

This is more than my two cents huh

[strobee]

Don Lee sold his Skimaster because Sharon had serious back problems where any boat ride was a problem. Your skimaster with a 55 Hp homelite anchor on the back may not ride well, but my Skimaster with 100Hp Johnson and power trim rides pretty good. Ask Doug how the water was in Deseption pass with the Skimaster. I had 200 lbs of lead and my 300 lbs as far forward as possible in the cabin of my 17 ft Skagit and it still rode terrible so I am not a fan of adding weight. The boats of this era had to be flat bottom because outboards were low Hp and Flat bottom gets on plane easier. I am very happy with my Skagits; using trim to bring the bow down makes a big difference. Clint