This winter Ernie Dieball and I hit the road for New England to lay claim to a couple of old, wood Thistles in search of a new home. The idea was that we could put in a little effort and with any luck, find some new fleet members and enhance Fleet 37, our home fleet.
The trip out there and back is a story in itself packed with Monster Energy Drink hallucinations, bad hotels, New England Patriots traffic, locking keys in vehicles, etc. We made it back to Toledo in about 36 hours with 2 boats.
My dad (known by thousands as just Denny, AKA The King), a highly talented boatbuilder (retired), has been keeping busy with projects to keep my mom happy, but I could tell he needed his boat fix. He's been there, done that with all things plastic and fiberglass. I presented him with a deviation in wood boats. His only reservation was with "brightwork", which I assured him I had neither the time nor the talent to keep up with over the years. The 2 boats are/were/will be painted interior & exterior and all bigtime mods had already been made (glassed bottoms, beefed up chainplate areas, etc.).
So, I will attempt to update this blog with the boat's progress. I am truly amazed how quickly The King has gotten one of them ready for new wood and interior paint. The other is not far behind and our goal of having these things ready for June 1st launch is laughable at this point....should be more like April 1st.
Check out some of the progress:
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