Old boat gets new life

[BaySport]

In 1967 my grandfather purchased a 14' Gregor Aluminum boat. Pops was a career naval man and an fisherman in the true sense of the word. We spent many happy times in that boat catching rockfish off the kelp beds of Cambria, California. About 1971 we loaded it on top of his suburban and went all the way to Victoria Island, BC. camping and fishing the entire trip.

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Nice boat! Moro Bay. Ca, about 1970, on a clam digging trip. That's me on the left, Pop to my right, my brothers in the bow.

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Posing on the beach.

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What a great time to be a fisherman.

When Pop passed away in 1990 my cousin hauled the old boat away, never to be seen again. Anyway, about a year ago my cousin asked me if I wanted the old boat. It was stored in a barn in the Napa Valley and he was no longer interested in it.

This is the story of its rebuild.

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Yuck! Years of salt water made a mess of everything wood and steel on this boat.

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Some of the old hardware.

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New marine plywood on all seats and transome. Also foatation in front and back seats.

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Clearcoating (encapsulation) of all wood with two part epoxy.

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All clearcoated wood primed and painted with marine oil-base paint.

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New stainless steel!

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New seats, hardware, cleaned and restored brackets, bow handle, and stern handles.

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Ready for the 15 hp merc.

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Gov't Wash, Saturday, 11-12-11. My daughter and I launch this old boat for a morning of fishing.

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Loaded and ready to go. What a great day to be on the water!
BaySport
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[the_agent]

very nice refurb []
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[wolfs4evr]

Awesome!
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[Willy7o2]

what a great story, nice work on restore...
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[flygoddess]

That is awesome. We just scored the same boat. Not the same salt water damage though.
How did you replace the wood in the back? The Transom braces are welded to the bottom of the boat.
We are in the process of replacing the wood seats in ours.
We just have a Merc 5 on it right now but it moves it great, then a 45lb Thrust Minn Kota.
Great Job, thanks for posting
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[gnelson651]

Hey, I saw you guys out at Gov't Wash yesterday afternoon. You came in as I was ready to launch the kayak. I was the quiet guy but I did say "hi" to your daughter. Just can't resist saying hi to a cute girl.

Nice looking boat, I would have never thought it was 44 years old. You did a great job restoring a boat and a memory.
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[TheWhizzle]

You give me good motivation to spruce up my old Valco. It hasn't gotten the attention it needs. I just beat it up and fish out of it.
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[Undurtow]

good job baysport []
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[BaySport]

Hey, I saw you guys out at Gov't Wash yesterday afternoon. You came in as I was ready to launch the kayak. I was the quiet guy but I did say "hi" to your daughter. Just can't resist saying hi to a cute girl.

Thats right! Next time we run into each other we will have something to talk about. [] It looked like a tough time to lanch a kayak.
BaySport
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[BaySport]

You give me good motivation to spruce up my old Valco.

You should, it was a fun project. It is still an old boat but it is now sound and seaworthy and ready for a lot of fun. The Merc15hp is perfect for it. The plan is to use it on the river.
BaySport
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