oldtown

Restoring an Old Town Runabout

This boat came to us after The Ice Storm of 1998 dropped a tree limb onto it.

This is a 16′ Old Town runabout.     Here is the finished project just before she left the shop.

This is the port side of the boat.  As you can see the damage was significant.  The starboard side was nearly as bad.

She was also badly hogged from sitting on the trailer improperly.  We removed most of the hogging by bracing  upright timbers against the ceiling of the shop and actually pushing the hogging out.  The belts that you can see helped to bring the sides back into alignment.  This required several months and considerable soaking of the wood. 

Unconnected with the damage from the ice storm, the Old Town also needed some new ribs. We steamed the wood and bent it over a custom made form and then installed the new ribs into the boat.

Here is the Old Town with the new sheer planks, gunwales and ribs, ready to be stripped and bleached.  This is not a project to do unadvisedly as serious chemicals are involved.  If you decided to strip and bleach wood, please make sure you wear appropriate safety gear … gloves, eye protection and protect your skin. 

When you are done … dispose of the chemical waste in a responsible manner.

The wood was nice and light after stripping and bleaching.  However, it is important not to leave the wood in this condition very long.  Within 24 hours she was varnished and the bare wood all covered.

Here is the completed project.  The entire interior was stripped, bleached or sanded and revarnished. Windshield was repaired and restored.  Seats were rebuilt.

Here is the completed project on the trailer and headed home.

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