Tales of Restoration

Some Boats I Have Known
Some Records of Pacific Northwest Maritime History:Reinell Boats
Restoration of a Century Coronado

Some Boats I Have Known
Tim King

It's approaching the end of the year, most boats are put away for the winter, and the Holidays are coming, ready or not. I was going to do the usual newsletter with dates, facts, and locations, when someone suggested talking about how I came to boating and about some boats past and present. My immediate thought was, "Gee, who cares about that." I was assured that many club members would rather hear about boats than see dates and locations of events. So, here goes...

I became involved with boats about fifteen years ago. (Relatively late in life compared to many club members.) It started with a small outboard fishing motor found at a flea market. After hours of dismantling, cleaning, swearing, and painting, I had it running. This first outboard eventually lead to about 12 to 14 subsequent outboard motor restorations. I joined the Antique Outboard Association and attended their meets for several years. The thing that was missing was, a boat. My first boat was a 12 foot, 1936 Grandy lapstrake. It had a tree branch though the garboard plank! After replacing the plank, hours of striping, sanding and painting, the boat went in the water with Johnson 1.5 horse single clamped to the back. That boat was so dried out that it was like trying to float two sets of Venetian blinds attached to a keel! The boat had a beautiful line to it, and it always got plenty of attention at the boat ramp. It was a fun boat and I had many happy hours on the local lakes. I sold the boat to a man in Alaska. It's now a tender for a Blanchard sailboat somewhere in northern waters.

Boat number two was a 11. 5 foot, 1960 Howard Holland plywood slough racer. Howard Holland built these boats in Bothell and sold them in Lynnwood. The boat cost about $200 built but not painted and $250 if Holland did the painting. They were specifically designed for the Sammamish Slough races. The boat started life a half foot longer than when I got it. Over the years, overpowered outboards had torn several transoms out. (I had to take a couple inches out too during its restoration.) I ran a Mercury Mark 30 on that boat. This was a REAL change from the Grandy. It didn't leak! It also went FAST! That boat seemed to be out of the water as much as anything when you ran it wide open. I can still hear my now 83 year old father, laughing the loudest I've ever heard him laugh when we hit a boat wake, went airborne and spun the prop in mid-air. Someday I hope to have normal kidney function, now that I've sold that boat.

Next up was a 1950, 14 foot Wagemaker Wolverine, cold molded plywood boat. I found this boat while I was house hunting. It had the most beautiful crown to the fore deck! Since I was buying the boat from the son of the original owner, I thought I'd finally found a boat that 'just needed paint and varnish. WRONG! The hull cracked diagonally near the front about a month after I got it home. This boat wound up being a full restoration. Hull repair, transom refastened, all new decking and carlins, seats, upholstery. I hung a 1957 Johnson, 18 horse twin on the back. I still have the Mercury Mark 55 1 was go to rebuild for that boat. That's a "someday" project. (I'll bet none of us have too many of those projects, do we?) I sold this boat about six months ago.

Well, after going from lapstrake, to sheet plywood, to cold molded plywood, the next logical stop would be a mahogany planked boat. (An inboard - those outboard engines were getting too heavy for this aging body.) I started looking for a pre-war boat. It had to be a 17-footer since my indoor shop space is restricted. I found my 1938 Chris Craft, 17 foot Deluxe when a club member called me. During the last two years, the boat has had a new bottom, and the side planks replaced. Most of the side frames could not be saved. I've also completely re-decked the boat and built all new interior wood. The Hercules K is being rebuilt and the boat should be in the water this late spring or early summer. I can't wait for the first ride! It will be my late Christmas present to myself..

Tim King

Some Records of Northwest Marine History: Reinell Boats
Ron Stevenson

It started in 1928, or so. No one seems to know for sure, certainly not me; but the records do. A couple of guys wanted to build some boats-- sound familiar? And the story goes on from its' beginnings on Lake Stevens in a boat house that we think is still there. The odd stories surface about how a couple of us ended up with some of these boats; and we find ourselves becoming more and more interested in one chapter of the Pacific Northwest's marine history.

Alan Thomle, a boat-builder and ship wright, has one of the first ones built, sometime in 1928; acquired by the company to commemorate it's beginnings. His Reinell is 18 ft, carvel-planked with steam-bent white oak frames. Back then the company was known as "Adams & Reinell" and they built a bunch of plain, simple "blue-collar" boats that the average Joe could use to go out fishing. A lot of them were sold unfinished- paint 'em yourself. The records show that. The next thing we know for sure is that Les Baunsgard went to work for Nick Reinell in 1938. Sometime previous to this Nick bought out his partner Adams, and was on his own, located on Ebey Slough in an old shingle mill in Marysville, Washington. By this time, they were building "resort-boats" as Les calls them; again being used by regular folks who wanted a taste of the water and the peacefulness that seems to come from "messing about in boats". We know that some of these "deep-V" boats wound up at the Bush Point resort on Whidbey Island, and some would end up at the Cama Beach Resort on Camano Island. I don't know how many were built, the records show that. Reinell made the "deep-V" models in 14, 16, and 18 foot. They also made skiffs, in 14 and 16 foot . A few lap-strake models rounded out the line. Most of the later boats had sawn spruce frames, and of course cedar planks. The Pacific Northwest was a great place to get all the wood you needed. These were carvel-planked and had a batten behind the seams. Some of the 18-footers were powered by a single cylinder air-cooled inboard with a tunnel-type transom. The records have all this information. Alan even has an early brochure that shows all the different models.

Amazingly enough, forty-one of these Reinell "resort-boats", still reside at the defunct and semi-deserted Cama Beach Resort. Their grey hulls are neatly stacked upside-down like cord-wood; the galvanized nail fasteners giving way to the salt air, the redish-brown spots looking like Chicken-Pox. None of these will see water again unless they are disassembled plank by plank and frame by frame and refastened. Since the State of Washington now owns the Cama Beach Resort; and leases the boat-house stuffed with these boats to The Center For Wooden Boats, maybe someday that might happen. A few other Reinells are around-- one 18 ft painted white hull resides in Marysville, it is repowered with a Chevy V-8. Another was used at Mission Beach, a resident of the family's summer cabin. The Center for Wooden boats has a couple I've been told, I haven't seen them. A woman and her husband have one in North Seattle, it's for sale; been in the family since the sixties. I have the 18 ft cedar-planked, 1947 "Albatross" model, painted white, outboard utility version, which Les thinks sold for around $300 when it was new. I was fortunate to revive it from a twenty-five year slumber in a garage from the widow of the original owner. Somehow it has made me feel like a part of the Pacific Northwest marine history, and the boat has earned our family's affection and respect. I should add that it has also created an infectious desire for Reinells. We share one of the 4 or 5 built 28 ft sedan cruisers with Alan and his family, ours being the 1947 "Lady Fay". Les remembers working on the "Lady Fay"; built for Chester Beard from Beard's Shoe Store in Everett. Alan used to work on Chester's boat many years ago. One of these cruisers was built for Nick himself; we don't where any of the others are. Of course, I have to mention that upon Alan's discovery of a 1953 18ft mahogany runabout recently I had to have that, too. Divorce papers have not been filed, after all it is a family affair. Les doesn't remember how many of those were made, but the records do. Alan owns a few more boats in various condition, the most noteworthy is the "Rocketeer", rebuilt into a go-fast little gentleman's speedster. The records tell us who the original owners were.

A jump forward in time takes us to the early fifties when the Reinell flagship was built. A forty-two foot Reinell Custom was created in 1961 for son Ed who had worked his way up and took over from Nick. A beautiful piece of wood-work that still resides in a boathouse in Everett. It's appropriate that Alan still works on the "Honey Bee" once in a while. It has seen three owners since Ed was at the helm. After that in 1967, the company was sold to the then President of Alaska Airlines. After all, he had a son just coming out of college that was going to need a job. Les was in charge of production in those years, I'm guessing that after thirty-some years Nick and Ed taught him a few things about building boats The new boss had some different ideas about how money and boats should be made; and Les said goodbye to Reinell Boat Works. It wasn't too many years later that we said goodbye to Reinell Boats; their reputation for good quality boats got lost somewhere. The records can tell us about that I'm sure.

All of the assets of the company were auctioned off by the bank after it took over. Included in this auction of death for the company, was all of these records that would show us every plan, specification, design, sales record, brochure, picture; every scrap of paper. All of this and more that would take us back to the very beginning of Adams & Reinell. All of this went with the auction-gavel, we hope. We hope this because, if not; a part of our Pacific Northwest marine history is gone. We hope that somewhere, someone has these records. There isn't any record of it at the Marysville Historical Society or the Everett Library; it just doesn't seem to be anywhere.

A few of our club members have some of the history in the form of boats. Bob Booth has a 14ft, and Dennis Johnson has a 14ft out of the '50s; his still has the original Reinell Boat Works decal on it. He also owns a lap-strake version. Mike and Mary Evans have a 14ft fiberglass Reinell, complete with tail-fins that so well identify its creation in 1957. This was the first year the Reinell used fiberglass, the company had to keep up with the times you know.

I know of two more of the "resort boats" that Les speaks of from Bush Point. One resides along side the highway on Whidbey Island and is used as a yard decoration. The other one is used out of Langley, bought by a local when the Bush Point Resort closed down. We happened across it When we were aboard the Lady Fay one weekend on a short cruise. He uses it for setting crab pots, goin' fishing, and "gettin' out in a boat"; just like we were doing and just like Nick would want it. The records would show that.

Restoration of a Century Coronado
Karl Hoffman

It began in 1983 when I purchased a 1966 Century Resorter. The boat was used for three seasons with just a refinish but when cleaning the bilges before the 1985 boat show I discovered what plagues many old Centurys, rotted oak in the frames, chines and stem. During the winter of 1986 1 decided to repair the boat myself because I couldn't afford a professional to do the work for me. My nephew and I started disassembly of the boat and when I saw how Century constructed the chines and stem, I panicked. I didn't have a clue how one could build such an optical illusion.

Curt Erickson happened to stop by and suggested that I hire Julius Marinacci who had just completed the 20 ft. Fairliner Torpedo. Julie was a semi-retired boat builder who had worked on wooden boats since 1946. Julie agreed to come to my shop on the weekends and work with me on the framing and planking of the Resorter. The time that I paid Julie was the best money I could have invested in learning how to do the woodwork of a boat restoration. Not only was Julie an excellent teacher, he was also much faster than I will ever hope to be. The woodwork on the Resorter was finished in six weekends and the Resorter was ready for Opening Day 1986.

A year went by and I was enjoying the Resorter; but making sawdust was fun and I could feel the need for another project. Fellow club member Bruce Barnes came to the rescue. For a modest sum I could become the owner of a 1955 Century Coronado. I picked the right project for making sawdust because this boat needed virtually all the wood replaced. Its one redeeming value was that it had 99.9% of it's original parts.

The first project attempted was to make the original Gray 140 Fireball run. This was accomplished in a relatively short period but, wanting to do the job right, I took the head off to check the valves for rust. One thing led to another and before the winter was over the Gray had been completely rebuilt.

The boat arrived on a cradle that Bruce had built and the bottom had already been removed. The first woodwork attempted was the transom beam and quarter beams. After this the frames were removed, copied and reinstalled one at a time. Twenty sets of bottom frames were constructed. At this time I began to realize that during this project by myself was going to take exponentially longer than it took for the 16 foot Resorter. By this time two winters had passed.

The work resumed after taking another year off to put together a 1972 Nova for my then 16 year old son. Two attempts were made at building the new stem with the second one finally being successful. With the knowledge that I had gained from Julie, the chines and keel were constructed next. At last the planking could start. A total of 54 hull planks were constructed and the entire deck was replaced. My best pace was two planks built and installed in a day.

When the last hull plank was installed it was already February of 1994. We did take time to have a whiskey plank party. Julie had also taught me that it was the custom that all involved must have a shot of whisky when the last hull plank is installed. I bought Crown Royal for this occasion. The fun task of fairing and sanding the hull then ensued. My arms still ache when I think of the hours spent at this task.

At last it was time to turn the boat. On December 24, 1994 at noon 20 friends gathered and the job was accomplished in short order. By March of '95 the decks were completed and Joe Frauenheim demonstrated how to drill the shaftlog hole at our restoration workshop. That summer three deck planks cracked because I didn't have any finish on them. The next Fall I decided that the boat need to be finished by the boat show in August of '96. The deck planks were replaced the boat was given a final sanding and by Christmas of 1995 there was varnish on the boat.

Over the years of working on the boat I decided that 140 hp 3,200 LB Coronado would not perform well with a load of passengers aboard. The Gray Fireball was traded for an original 200 hp M45-S Chrysler Hemi. Of course the Chrysler was seized and I had to melt one of the pistons out of the bore. On Memorial day of 1996 the Hemi roared to life. I now had 10 weeks to finish the boat for the Carillon Point ACBS show.

The boat almost didn't progress beyond this point because whilespraying the final coat of hot vanish it caught on fire and soon the entire comer of the shop was ablaze. Luckily a garden hose was close and the fire was extinguished before any damage occurred to the boat. - -

By the 20th of June the engine was installed and the shaft was aligned. On July 5th the distinctive white paint was applied to the hull and the assembling of the remainder of the boat began. The upholstery kit arrived from A & A marine and, with the help of Oscar Lindahl, was installed in one week. Before the end of the month the chrome plating was completed and, as it was being installed on the boat, I knew that the boat would be completed by the August 10 show date.

Five days before the show the boat was trailered to Lake Tapps. My wife poured a small amount of champagne on the bow as we backed it into the water. The engine was started and we drank the remainder of the champagne while on its maiden voyage. Two days later the soft top was completed and installed on the boat.

The boat arrived at the show on Saturday on its own power but one of the carburetors was not cooperating. This was the only major problem that needed to be sorted out later. At the banquet the trophy for the best non professional restoration was presented to the boat. Julie passed away in the spring of 1996 but the boat building skills that he taught me are now being passed on to my son who has discovered that making sawdust is fun. If you have a project boat available give me a call. My son and I will soon need to make some more sawdust.