Search results

Dennis, This is Craig Carter. I am longtime member of this page, but haven't posted much since I moved to Texas. I sent you a PM. Thks/Craig

Bob, You sure have a nose for finding those Shell Lake Mallard Queen's. I had Rollin Thurlow restore mine, and she is still going strong. She has followed me all the way down to Texas now, but fewer marshes here for sure. These are the best designed poling boats you can find. Thanks for...

Hey Bob, Thank you for the suggestion, and good to hear from you. I don't have a planer, so I think I will just take Kenneth's suggestion and just have a local shop do the millwork. I am not using glass on the boat (because it was not built that way originally), which is why I have ruled out...

Hey Art, Great to hear from you! Think of you everytime i sit down down to work on the boat. Bound and determined to get it on the water this fall. Actuallysd I have decided not to canvas or figerglass it. I stripped all the wood down to a bare surface front and back and then have treated...

All, After about 4 years or working on this restoration, I am determined to get this boat finished for this season. The boat is a hand-made classic 12 footer I acquired from Art Atay, a member on this site, a number of years ago. I am down to the last step, which is replacing two sections of...

Bob, Just tagging on to Lou's email. Marty buiilt me a Devlin Bluebill in 2000. Did a super job. I actually bought two boats over the years from Marty -- the Bluebill and a Cackler. Both were very well built and were sold to people who were regulars on this page. Marty is out of Bay City...

Restored interior. Shawn, good luck with your Shell Lake. Fantastic boat. Trust these pictures are helpful. /cc

Boat ready to be shipped from Maine to the Midwest. Side view of the completed boat. Rollin did not convince me to keep her red, but I did go with his recommendation to stain the coaming.

At this point canvas cloth was stretched and cut to fit the boat . . . then the cloth was filled (the filling is blue -- see the previous posting with the other boats drying out on the rack) and then painted with a base coat . . . and the combing re-installed. Rollin called and...

Then there was the matter of removing deteriorated planking. Reframing the cockpit and structural elements. Rollin redid this area to strengthen the top of the boat. This allowed him to eliminate the supports on either end of the boat, freeing up extra storage space underneath to haul dekes...

Rollin began by removing the cockpit and replacing the outside stringer. Here she is readied for "open heart" surgery. Note the 1X4's notched into the sidewalls to provide a secure platform for the oar locks. As suspected, age and past repairs had taken a toll on some hidden areas...

The boat as prepared for shipping. Note the support in front of the cockpit. During the restore Rollin removed this piece and actually elongated the cockpit by about 5" on each end. This created extra storage space under the decks, a handy benefit. Most of the topside planking was weak or...

The boat as I started to examine its structural soundness. There were no broken ribs, that I could see, but I could see where some of the top planking had deteriorated. What I could not see concerned me the most -- especially the breasthook area. You can see in this picture how the ribs...

After hunting the boat hard for a year, it started to leak a bit, so I began the work on the restore. First, I bought Rollin Thurlow's book, "The Wood and Canvas Canoe," and read it cover to cover (as I read Devlin's book when I found out about it from this forum when I first joined). I had...

Shawn, Art is correct. I bought this boat and two others from Art. I cannot say enough good things about Art and his wife. I baited my wife and three of our six kids into driving up to Art's from Kansas City with the promise of a fun afternoon at the Mall of America, or whatever that large mall...

Well maintained (2006) 9.8hp Nissan Outboard Model NSF 9.8A3. Motor literally has just short of 10 hours on it (to break it in). *short shaft *4-stroke *light -- 81.5 lbs *electric start *3.1 gal fuel tank *primer bulb fuel line These are great little motors. You can still find them...

Oh, and I did follow-up on your idea when I replaced the transom. Shaped a piece of wood on the back of the transom -- used 1/2" fir marine plywood. I ended up have to epoxy together 1/2" fir for the transom itself to get it to the right thickness. This was a great idea of yours and was...

Hey Bob, Yes, this is your former (not going to call it old) boat. It is a classic and I hate to part with it. Too many kids in college though, and economics dictate putting it on the market. Stripped it down to the hull, replaced all they styrofoam flotation, flipped the woods seats over...

Hey Tim, Is this dekes still available? I am interested. thks/Craig

Dan, It is a great little classic boat -- so willing to bet you have a keeper. Good luck with it, Dan. Had a lot of fun hunting out of mine with my son. /cc