Funny what you can do when you read the owners manual. The camera has a bunch of settings that do different things and so now it works great. The “point and shoot’” label is a little misleading.

These pictures are of Gordon Roney and one of the boats he built. Rebola was built in the late 40’s for Buck Mullins. She was a fixture around the Island for decades and was used as a guide boat, water taxi, probably as an ambualnce, probably had babies born aboard. I don’t think she was used for water skiing. She’s still here- you can see her stored in the boathouse beside the ferry dock.

Buck’s son Darrel dropped by these pictures yesterday. He’s been wanting to get Rebola back in the water for a few years and got a good look at what we’ve been doing to Miss Marion. the same thing would have to be done to Rebola, but on a larger scale. I think he went to buy some lottery tickets.

Rebola

Gordon Roney

I got a new digital camera, but I can’t get the damned thing to focus or flash. I’ve read all the instructions and have been using digitals for a while, so I know how to use them. I’ll just take it back and see what’s what.

So no pictures today.

I’m going to introduce the guys who work here. They all love boats, all love working with their hands, are dedicated… all the good stuff.

John Goulet has been here for 4 years. I advertised for help the same week he conveniently moved to the Island. He came with a good background in electronics and some woodworking, but I could tell right away he wanted to learn and would become a great asset. It’s great that he lives on the Island- commuting from Kingston every day gets a little taxing. He loves his work and I think he spends more time here than he does at home. He has become very skilled in restorations and is a natural with electronics, so we’ve been able to expand into high tech installations.

Jonathan Morin has been here about a year and a half. He was the 4th fulltime employee I ever hired- all  named John- but he was the first non left handed John. He was pretty green and I had help from Community Futures Developement Corp. to hire and train him. It has worked out very well. He is very keen, has quickly aquired the patience and skills required for this work, and he loves to come to work each day.

Edward Coffey- the first non John- has been here since the fall. I’m getting the same help from CFDC and it’s working out great. He’s getting his hands dirty doing all the stuff that I don’t want to do, and he’s getting pretty adept at stripping and prepping wood work, and getting comfortable with power tools which is a good thing. His girlfriend is a singer and thus keeps opposite hours from what I’m used to- so Ed has a hard time getting here very early. He’s the originator of the afternoon shift at the shop.

That’s it - I’ll get the camera working right and update the projects. We also have to pretty exciting new (cool) jobs in the works that I’ll fill you in on.

Janet is the boat that was built in England in the 1890’s. As you can see, she’s got a bit of a leaking problem. The hull was fiberglassed at some point and consequently, the keel, stem, sternpost- basically the backbone of the boat and all the rib ends were done. Removing the ballast was pretty easy- it stayed on the wagon as the hull was lifted. Not much left for pattern making though.

We’re making the keel out of two layers of 3 inch mahogany. Its almost 20 inches wide on the top surface, so its quite a hunk of wood. We’re making the top layer right now, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

Cheers

Here are some shots of Miss Marion:The main problem with this boat is that it was fastened with regular steel fasteners. We ended up replacing all the timbers, frames etc rather than try to get the rusted screws out. We also replaced the bottom cedar planking with 5/8ths marine ply. Some judicious use of 5200 and silcon bronze screws gives a nice bottom.

Next step is flipping the boat- I’m not using that plywood contraption again, to scary- then we get to replace the decks, fit out the interior, installations and out the door.

Hi

My name is Mike Corrigan and this is the blog for my shop- The Wolfe Island Boatshop-  where we build and restore wooden boats. I’m going to (try to) update the progress of the  projects we’re working on. I’ve tried this before on my previous site but the technology eluded me and I think I got one update done in three years. This new site is supposed to allow someone like me who works in one of the oldest professions - (not the oldest)- to be a bit of a techie.

We are currently working on three major projects, and we have a few smaller ones under way in various nooks and crannys throughout the facilities. The facilities being a large former dairy barn where the 30′+ boats go, the former horse stalls which were converted into the main (heated) shop, and an out building which houses the woodworking machines in one side and room for a 20 or less foot boat in another. In other words, a donation of a beautifully spacious, climate controlled, state of the art kind of building would probably be accepted

Anyway, we have some cool projects going on right now. One of my favorites is a 24 foot day cruiser that was built here on the Island some 50 years ago by a guy named Gordon Roney. I don’t know much about him other than what the old timers tell me- a bit of a curmudgeon I guess, but he built some good solid boats that were used by the local fishing guides and plied the local waters admirably- not easy at this end of Lake Ontario.

This boat, MISS MARION was inherited by the grandson of the original owner and he has determined to get her back in the water after 25 years in his Grandfather’s shed.

We also have a Morecambe Bay Prawner, built in England in the 1890’s and restored there in the early 1980’s by the late Jonathan Watson who brought her over to this area where he set up office as a marine surveyor of some renown. The current owner bought JANET from Jonathan’s estate and brought her here to gain another lease on life.

A modern cold molded sloop is in getting the bottom area under and  around the ballast rebuilt. I haven’t done much cold molded work before, but I’m quite familliar with West System epoxy having done the “West System Bottom” on a number of Chris Crafts, fiberglassed decks, hulls of cedar strips and so on. SHAWNAWDITHIT poses an interesting challenge, and the work is moving ahead nicely.

We are just finishing up a 20′ Duke utility which has recieved many new ribs, engine stringers, keel, and a whole new bottom. It’s my brother in law’s boat and he sure would be happy to finally have it in the water. This might be the year!

On my next posts, I’ll talk about each project- where we started, where they’re at now and have some pictures to prove it.

Well, this was fun- talk to you soon.