• 1946 25' Chris-Craft Express
• 1932 Chris-Craft Model 303 Triple
• 1955 Century Coronado
• 1966 Lyman Cruisette
• 1948 Chris-Craft Sportsman

In my opinion one of the ‘coolest’ post-war boats Chris-Craft ever designed and produced is the Red & White 25’ Express’.  The overall design was quite radical in the boating community at the time and was considered quite futuristic in 1946 when it was first introduced.  These boats also featured a very ‘art deco’ appearance, right down to the Chris-Craft ‘art deco’ logo painted on the hullsides.  They offered a lot of cockpit room, a comfortable cuddy with head and v-berth, ample freeboard forward, and a huge fuel tank (60-75 gallons depending on the specific model) to provide larger than normal cruising ranges.  In other words, a great all around day or weekend cruiser that also provided stunning looks.

This particular model comes to us from Texas.  She was taking on a lot of water and then suffered an accident that broke the port side chine which only exaggerated the water problem.  The bottom had been worked on before with the addition of plywood over the existing bottom and then covered with fiberglass.  Not exactly the best remedy for these wood boats.  As usual, she began to rot from the inside out.  Our only task is to replace the bottom with a new marine plywood bottom in lieu of the traditional planked.  Now, this will not be original but a double planked marine plywood bottom is just as strong as a planked bottom.  And in many cases even stronger.  The fee is also a little less, and as the Express is a painted hull it will not detract from its cosmetic appearance.

As you might expect, it took more time than usual to roll this very heavy boat over.  Only two of us incurred double-hernias but she went over as all of our other bottom projects.  Normally we position the boat upside down on one of our movable dollies, but the Express is just too heavy for that.  So we picked a location in the shop and braced her up there until the project is done.  As you’ll see in the next photos there are multiple issues with the bottom structure.  Both chines are rotted and need replaced, as well as several frames (including the bottom transom frame), the two gripes (yes, this has two gripes between the keel and stem), the rudder plate, and then the keel is cleanly broking through at the shaft hole.  The rest of the keel is straight and in good condition, so we’ll scarf in an 8’ section (about three feet forward of the break) and she will be just fine.  There are other issues as well, but these are the major ones.  Like all Epoxied or Fiberglass bottoms the only way to remove it is by cutting it off.  This may sound quicker but it actually takes longer as you have to be extremely careful not to damage any of the underlying structure during its removal.  Then a lot of time-consuming chiseling and scraping are necessary to remove and clean up what’s left.

It should only take two weeks to get this work done.  Uh…just kidding, I hope you didn’t think I was serious.  It will take at least three.  Ok, really, we have our work cut out for us and will need to take our time to make sure we get her just right.  Stay tuned…

If you’ve been to this site before, you’ve seen the 21’ Cobra we did a while back.  This client has since brought us a second and very rare boat indeed.  The country was feeling the pain of a deep economic depression when this boat was manufactured, and Chris-Craft records indicate less than one hundred of these hulls were built.  Obviously much fewer than that remain today.  It’s too bad, as these models were truly quite stunning with beautiful lines and move gracefully through the water.

This particular boat had already gone through a partial restoration with a WEST bottom and re-planked sides.  Like most incorrectly restored WEST or fiberglass bottoms on these wood boats, this one is also rotting from the inside out.  What happens is boats especially 20’ and longer will flex quite a bit as they move through the water.  If not done properly the hard epoxies will experience stress cracks over time and allow water to wick into the wood.  Then moisture has difficulty escaping, resulting in rot over time.  We’ve seen it many times and have replaced numerous WEST bottoms that were not properly sealed.  I realize there are many reputable shops that still use WEST and have enjoyed success with their restorations, but we prefer to use the 5200 method which remains flexible and allows the wood to move without any degradation to the structure. 

As you will see we had to take a saw, chisel, a few beers, and much time and patience when removing the bottom.  We basically cut it off taking much care not to damage the frames, chines, stem, gripe, and keel.  Hand chiseling is required in many places to insure against causing said damage.  After removing the bottom we made frame repairs, checked carriage bolts and replaced where needed, and then sealed with CPES and painted with thinned bilge paint.  We thought it odd that most of the bottom was attached with steel staples and a very few oval head fasteners.  We’ll finish the bottom then move on to removing the hullside and deck planks.  We are going to glue/screw her back together with 5200 to give the hull more strength and keep those seam separations from occurring. 

It’s amazing how many times we find duct tape on problem areas of these leaky bottoms.  I love duct tape but not for bottom repairs.  The problem when replacing one of these WEST plywood bottoms when they go bad is there are no plank patterns to make new ones.  So we contacted some other 303 or similar model owners and obtained what we believe are pretty darn close dimensions of which to go by.  So far so good.

You can see here how the ‘non-marine’ grade plywood began to delaminate due to moisture getting trapped within the plys.  Once that begins to occur it’s only a matter of time before your bottom is shot.

Making a small jig to help hold the new rough-cut plank in place makes it much easier for fitting.  Sometimes it works better than an extra set of hands.  It never has to get a coffee refill and won’t ever complain about the boredom of holding a plank for so long.  Once you have one side fit the way you like it, flip it over on the other side and it should also fit there.  Then you just cut a duplicate.  Remember, be sure to leave a ‘penny’ gap for the 5200 to ooze and proved that cushion for expansion.   

It’s not recommended on the can of CPES, but a good Macanudo cigar makes sealing the bottom more pleasurable and helps disguise that wonderful odor.  Be sure to cut your intermediate battens and butt blocks now so you can seal all at the same time.  Don’t forget to mark them; otherwise you have a dickens of a time remembering where they go.

All of you know my warm feelings towards the Coronados.  This 1955 model is the first year of this versatile and powerful utility classic.  It will always be one of my favorites.  My own user boat right now is a Cadillac powered ’56.  This particular ’55 comes from my home state of Indiana and is powered with the 331 Hemi…a popular option that year.  The stock Hemi, though, weighing in at nearly 1200 pounds with a rating of 185HP makes it a rather inefficient engine.  Most owners with this engine have had them ‘boosted’ up…some with more than 300HP.  That’s the beauty of the Hemi; you can do so much with them.

Anyway, the owner and I had talked some time earlier about his boat needing some attention when, during vacation with his young family, he called to say the boat took on much water to the point of it being unusable.  After dropping the boat off at the shop it was clear to see why.  As with most original-bottom Centurys of that vintage she had much rot near the transom, including a fairly significant hole on the rear chine plank.  Our task is to replace the bottom, complete strip and refinish, re-chrome, tweak and detail the Hemi power, and attend to any other mechanical issues.  We’ll discuss down the road the possibility of new upholstery…which can be fairly expensive on these highly upholstered Coronados.  So, let’s get started on the important stuff first, then we can decide later on more of the cosmetics.

The Coronados are ‘over-built’ boats in many respects to accommodate for the large power plant options they offered.  In other words…they are very heavy.  Once we got her properly braced up, it took five of us to roll her over, and three got hernias.  (No, not really…it was just one.)  More bottom problems became apparent once upside down.  The photos tell the tale.  As always, we repair what we can and replace the rest.  The chine had pulled away from frames in a couple of areas, so we also had to pull that back in with long bar clamps, and then re-bolt to the frames.  Old battens are never reused and always replaced with new, and then the framework is sealed with CPES and painted with thinned bilge paint to get those in-accessible areas and provide a better surface for the inner Okume ply…which we always do on Centurys.  Again, Century used single plank batten-seam bottoms, but we will only replace them with double planked bottoms.  It only makes sense while you have it in this condition and the cost differential is insignificant.

Allllll-righty-then.  I guess a photo really is worth a thousand words.  And guess what?  Most of these problems can exist without the owner even knowing about them…other than gobs and gobs of water finding its way into the bilge.  It’s clear the Hemi was leaking some pretty major oil as its residue was over everything.  We had to spray the bottom structure with de-greaser and then power-wash to clean it up before proceeding.  Once we could actually see the bottom we noticed a few cracked frames, the always infamous triple-laminated bottom transom frame was trashed, along with the stringer plywood supports, and finally a 1” hog in the keel.  All was dealt with before moving on to replacing the battens.

“Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship.”  Yes, that’s right…it’s the first line of the ballad from one of my favorite TV shows from the 1960s---‘Gilligan’s Island’.  This Lyman is actually one of my own boats.  I have two close boating friends that each have one of these fantastic boats, and the first time I saw it I thought, ‘I have got to have one of these’.  They’re large; twenty-six feet long with more than eight feet of beam, a V-berth, head, sink, ice box, counter space, a dining table, and this one even has the hardtop with ventilating windshields.

Jan and my favorite kind of boating are on river cruises.  You get to run your boat for long stretches, the scenery is constantly changing, and you get to stop at all kinds of interesting places.  So, as we want to do even more of this type of boating Jan asked me to find a Cruisette so we can do more cruising with some female-friendly amenities (i.e. indoor head).  As luck would have it I did find one near Sandusky, OH where the Lymans were manufactured literally sitting in a field left to rot.  Although she was in pretty bad shape it was something our shop could definitely handle.  As soon as Jan saw the white boat she exclaimed, ‘Hey, it’s the Minnow!’  And that’s how she got her name.  Now everyone who visits the shop refers to this Lyman as the Minnow (as in Gilligan’s boat namesake).  Actually the boat on Gilligan’s Island was a 1964 Wheeler…but so what?

Lymans are not all that sexy as far as classic boats go, but they are without a doubt one of the most under-rated boats ever produced.  Everyone I know that has one swears by them and would never consider parting with their lapstrake boat.  The Lymans, probably more so than any other boat, has a rightfully earned reputation of handing even the roughest of water with great ease due to its steep entry and over flared forward hullsides.  Its lapstrake design also does an excellent job of keeping everyone dry.  This is actually our first real experience restoring a lapstrake boat, so we’re on a little bit of a learning curve here…as they are a completely different animal that the standard caravelle planked boats were accustomed to.

Much to our pleasant surprise we found absolutely no rot in the marine plywood bottom.  We kept poking around but just couldn’t find any.  Frames were another matter, however, so we steam bent a bunch of those and replaced as necessary.  The bottom wood was just too good to replace, so we decided to keep it.  We soaked the hogged areas with water for two weeks then made some reverse clamps from the interior and worked the hogs out with little effort and allowed to dry for two weeks.  When we removed the clamps the bottom straightened out and kept its shape.  Whew!  I really did not want to replace it if possible.  The keel fin was just worn out, so we made a new one of those as well.  We replaced some fasteners, sealed with CPES after sanding down, primed and painted.  Now she’s ready to roll over.  Already I can hear the ‘Minnow’ saying, ‘Thanks, my back was killing me and I feel better already’.

This is the second boat we’ve done for this gentleman, the first being a U-22.  Although this particular boat is not in as bad of shape as the first, she is still crying for help.  She also comes with two engines to choose from…both pretty much in pieces and in boxes.  One is a K and the other a KL.  She’s to get what we call the ‘Full Monte’, or everything including new bottom, replace any and all bad hullside and deck planks, rebuild engine, new interior and flooring, re-wire, etc.  In other words, make her beautiful and water ready.  Well, we do indeed have our work cut out for us.

We magnafluxed both blocks and after checking out we decided on the KL, as it’s a little more horsepower and will be appreciated.  While the engine is being done we do what we always do first…the bottom.  We rolled her over and removed the very tired inner and outer planks…and you can see how bad the fabric was in between the layers.  We cleaned up the framework, replaced any worn bolts and tightened up the rest.  No real surprises other than a few minor frame repairs.  The stem/grip were also questionable, but we were able to save both of those with a little work and move ahead.

Once the bottom was completed we proceeded to replacing multiple cracked hullside and transom planks.  It’s always a little tricky when attempting to get just the right fit between two other planks, so we always overcut the plank by 1/8” or so, then hand plane small sections at a time to get it as tight as possible.  It’s old school…but works like a charm every time if you’re patient.

We had hoped to save the decks and covering boards, but they were in too bad of shape so we replaced all of those…with very fine results.  Sometimes the cost of replacing is little more than taking all the time to repair…and the result is always much better.

Replacing fasteners, bungs, fairing, and finally bleaching and now this cute little Sportsman is ready for stain.  We like to make up our stain to a ‘tomato soup’ consistency.  Too thick and it does not saturate the wood well enough, too thin and the color is not right.  Always try the stain out on a sample piece of mahogany prepared just as the boat.  Wipe in on, wait a minute and then wipe off in the same direction as the grain.  We don’t rub…it can leave a blotchy appearance.  Once stained let the boat sit for at least two days before applying the first coat of sealer.  More wood grain will show as coats of varnish are applied.