Once again you all have treated us to a bounty of amazing images that let us peek into your workshops and see what you’ve been working on. There were so many inspiring submissions and some amazing accomplishments, and as is typically the case – we could not choose just one winner – so we chose three in three different categories. Congratulations to Lance Turner (Best New Build), to Douglas Cygan for Best Restoration, and to Carl Pittman for the Best Woodworking Project. You can read all about these amazing projects and how these talented craftsmen were inspired and assisted by our team here at TotalBoat and JD. Each of you will have a $50 credit added to your Jamestown Distributors account. Thanks to all who submitted!
FROM LANCE TUNER: The McIntosh Canvas Boat – This double-ended tender was designed by Ned McIntosh while working in a local boat shop around 1942. Ned had a cutter STARCREST and needed a lighter boat to get back and forth from the cutter to shore while anchored. Experimenting with various designs, Ned finally settled on this fixed-frame, canvas sheathed dinghy, which did work. Ned continued to turn out many more of these useful little crafts, and after he ceased building them, one or two other local builders began turning them out.
After seeing some of these little tenders, Maynard Bray longed to build one but there were no plans available for the boat itself. So, it came down to finding a boat that Maynard could measure and a man by the name of Karl Webster offered his. Maynard Bray jumped at the chance and created a drawing that included a building jig he thought would work. Well, I was reviewing some of my older Small Boats publications by WoodenBoat Magazine and came across the 2014 issue. Inside was an article written by Maynard Bray describing this neat little boat. I just couldn’t resist the challenge of building one of these tenders for myself.
This is a skin-on-frame design that uses 10-oz canvas stretched over a skeleton of inner stringers. The canvas is stapled to the stringers at the sheer and chine. There are 5 inner stringers (one keel, two chines, and two sheers). After the canvas is applied, there are 5 more outer stringers that glue and screw to the inner stringers. These outer stringers not only hide the staples but seal the canvas and really stiffens up the boat. Then after all this is complete paint is applied that shrinks up the canvas and makes the boat waterproof. Relatively high freeboard and double-ended symmetry, Ned said that it’s surprisingly seaworthy for its size. Being so very light and with a single person aboard, it rises quickly to the oncoming waves.
Products used to build this boat:
- TotalBoat 5 to 1 epoxy was used for scarfing the stringers and gluing.
- TotalBoat Topside Primer (gray) undercoat
- TotalBoat Wet Edge Sand Beige one-part polyurethane topside paint.
- TotalBoat Special Thinner 100 for the above paint and primer.
I must say that this was not an easy project even though I have completed four other wooden boats. Steam bending the white oak stringers was quite the challenge, to say the least. I was very satisfied using the TotalBoat products and your staff was most helpful whenever I had a question on how to go about solving some of my issues. So thank you very much!! Sincerely, Lance Turner – Austin, TX
Carl Pittman from Pisgah Forest, NC worked from 2008-2011 with various boat products before finally dialing in the way to make wood sinks waterproof from the inside out. Pittman writes, “A lot of help was obtained from your friendly staff and in 2017 I won the ‘Made in NC’ Award for my wooden sinks. I use penetrating epoxy and varnish for complete waterproofing.” Carl sent us this photo of his beautiful maple burl sink. We want one in all of our bathrooms and heads!
Douglas Cygan sent us these before and after photos of a 1957 Starcraft Ski Champ Runabout that he restored/converted. It originally had an aluminum covered deck over plywood and Cygan replaced all of that with Sapele Mahogany, which he coated in Total Boat Epoxy to protect it from the elements. Cygan made all of the upholstery, as well as the windshield and frame, which he cleverly mimicked from a Chris Craft Cobra.
You can see all of the submissions to the 2019 Summer Photo Contest in our Facebook album. (NO! You don’t need an account or login with Facebook to see the photos! Have a look! )
We thank all of our amazing (and amazingly busy and handy) customers for their great submissions!