Glass over bondo salvage

[Ira Strouse]

Earlier this year I was talking to a friend that I tie flies with and mentioned how I couldn't wait for duck season. He told me that he had an old duck boat and that I was free to use it like it was mine. I went over to pick it up and found that it had laid dormant in the weather for years and needed some work - starting with the removal of a five pound paper wasp nest. I got it back to the barn and started assessing the damage.

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[Ira Strouse]

Started looking around and the damage was more extensive than I had thought but still within my skill set.

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[Ira Strouse]

After a lot of sanding and cutting I epoxied in a new keel and patched several holes.

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[Ira Strouse]

Next I did what I could with the oar locks that had seen better days.

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[Ira Strouse]

Finally got some paint on it before her maiden voyage.

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[Ira Strouse]

I have loitered around this site for a long time and this is the first major project that I have undertaken. All of the advice and experience that everyone here has given so freely made daunting problems a little easier to deal with. I ended up having a great season and I really just wanted to thank everyone that unknowingly helped bring it to fruition.

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[Eric Patterson]

Ira, very nice work. I'd be proud to have that boat in my fleet. You do nice work.

 

[Mike]

Beauty of a boat Ira. You've done that old double-ender justice by saving it. Nice jewelry.

 

[Huntindave McCann]

Ira,


A fitting reward for your hard work.
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[Steve Sanford]

Ira~

Beautiful work on a beautiful boat! Those Shell Lake boats tug at the heartstrings all the way over to the Atlantic Tidewater.....

And, I was relieved to see that you were not epoxying all those fieldstones on as your new keel!!!!

May you enjoy many happy shoots with her!

SJS

 

[Tom Scholberg]

Ira, You have a dandy one there. Nice work on a classic. Also the restoration must have good karma.

 

[Capt Rich Geminski]

Nice to see you guys restore some of these beauties from the past. Congrads... Well done...

 

[zane Every]

Ira,
That is such a cool boat. I wish I could find something like that around here.

Best,
Zane

 

[Ira Strouse]

Zane,
You never know. This one was hiding out on the East shore of Lake Ontario. I appreciate the kind words.

 

[Rick L]

Ira - great boat

nice save.

 

[bob welsh]

Nice seeing those old boats floating again. I think when the time came for shell lake to go fiberglass they took the old Mallard Queen model and used it as a mold for the new glass boats. They ended up making quite a few runabouts over the years too. I did a rebuild of a wooden queen this past summer check the older posts.

 

[Dani]

Ira, you did a great job restoring that boat...very very nice....

Dani

 

[MLBob Furia]

Great project & result. Thanks for taking the time to put that up.

 

[Paul Meisenheimer]

Nice job on restoring that beautiful boat.