1964 Chris-Craft Constellation Project Boat For Sale

1964 Constellation For Sale

2009-07-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

If you'd like more information, please email me.

Brief details:
34 foot 1964 Chris Craft Constellation.
Perfect project boat for someone looking for a liveaboard with a lot of character. Included with the boat are several thousand silicon bronze screws, original shop drawings, all fixtures.
Much interior work complete, bottom mid-restoration, electrical, plumbing and engine work yet to be done.

Price is negotiable. My main objective is to find someone who will see this project to completion and give this beautifully designed and built boat the second life it deserves.

Bottom Progress Report

2006-09-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

After a tough weekend of work, progress to report.

About a third of the port side bottom is now back on, refastened with silicon bronze screws and 3M 5200. In other words, it ain't coming off again. Ever. As my mother used to say, "It's from here to the retirement home."

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before the new plywood could go on, I needed to replicate a replacement for the badly rotted section above the keel, which I have since learned is called the keelson. (removing the keel is the highlight of the previous post).

I used a fairly intact piece as a template to fashion a test replacement out of pine. I didn't want to risk any Philipine mahogany until I was sure I had the angles and dimensions down. As it turned out, the test piece wasn't exactly right, so this was time well spent.

From left to right: the pieces of the original keelson, the test piece, and the finished piece.

The second eight foot section of keelson, which will go on after the bow section of bottom is removed.

I mounted the first section of keelson using, silicon bronze fasteners and 3m 5200. Once it was cured I was able to block up the boat again, easying my nerves about letting that much weight float free.

New keelson meets old. I also replaced the block immediately above, which was badly rotted. I then sprayed on some bilge paint, for the factory-fresh look. I needed to see some progress over what this was looking like just a few weeks ago:

Ugh.

Now, on to the real work: getting some planks back on. First, we glued and stapled the plywood into place.

Seven planks on, many, many more to go.

The Doomsday Machine

2006-08-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

For those who don't think the keel of the a cabin cruiser can resemble an intergalactic planet killer, I offer this photographic evidence:

The keel

The Planet Killer

And coincidentaly enough, the name of the ship the Doomsday Machine laid waste to is, you guessed it:

The Constellation.

Not to get ahead of ourselves. Keels do not remove themselves, nor do they often need to be removed. But this Constellation, like its Starfleet counterpart, is a mess.

Segments of the keel were collapsing into the hull at the points where it was blocked up. This told me there were some serious rot issues at the top of the keel. Falling back on first principles, I decided to take the most invasive (and time-consuming) approach to ensure that the problem is fixed properly. That meant pulling off the entire section of bottom along the keel, which revealed a whole whack of ugliness, as addressed in earlier posts.

To drop the section of keel in question, I had to remove blocks from a fourteen foot length of the middle of the boat. To improve structural integrity before I shifted the load of the boat to such a significant degreee I elected to first reattach the entire port side planks above the chine with 3m 5200 and silicon bronze fasteners.

Before...

...and after. The numbers written in black above the waterline are reminders of which screw length to use. Earlier mistake, lesson learned.

Shifting that much load is an exercise in structural engineering, and I am not a structural engineer. After much thought, I used four three-ton jacks at the chine to carry some of the load midships. I also blocked the keel at the bow and immediately aft of the section to come off. Removing the blocks midships took some work with a six-ton hydraulic jack. Some scary creaking, but no limbs lost.

From that point, it was a relatively simple matter of loosening the bolts and gentling prying the keel loose of its caulking.

The keel coming off. One of the three ton jacks can be seen on the left. I bought these at the beginning of the project, for what seemed too much money, but they have proved invaluable.

Next, it was time to see what exactly the trouble was. It became pretty apparent pretty quickly. The keel sits on another section of Philipine mahogany that essentially forms the bilge. After forty years of life and too many years on blocks, it has rotted and warped into a mushroom shape. Fabricating a replacement will be a challenge.

Not a great photo, but this is a section of the rotted upper keel (should I be calling it another name) on my WorkMate bench.

I realize this warping is caused by a gap in the frames at the point where the meet the keep. At first this seems like a design flaw, but then I realize: it is a channel for bilge water to flow to the lowest point in the boat. No wonder it rotted; this wood has been soaking in water and oil four forty years.

There is more damage to repair, and it takes priority, because it forms the structure between the keel and the chine. Two frames have badly deteriorated. I removed them and reassembled them on fresh, thick (1 7/8) lumber. Rather than cut the lumber down to match the original, I choose to keep it thick. I don't want this happening again.

The scale of the new wood may seem like overkill, but it was the thinnest I could find in these dimensions. I'm saving every piece of scrap, it's sure to be needed later.

Next, I address a very scary sight: I significantly deterioated centre section of frame. There is no way for me to remove this; instead, I decide to scribe a support piece and use 3m 5200 to join it to the damaged section.

Scary crack, waiting for...

...new wood to the rescue

Some CPES, 3m 5200 and silicon bronze threaded rod later, this section is repaired, and after it cures, I can get about removing and replacing the first section of upper keel.

Summer Season in Full Swing

2006-06-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

...which for most boaters means days and nights of cocktails on the high seas. For me, humble, naive restorer of rare cabin cruisers, it means days and nights of dirt, grime, grit, sweat, cursing, weeping, and of course (wait for it!) gnashing of teeth.

But on the positive side: I have a new table saw, a General 350:

More good news: mucho progress on the bottom and the cabin windows.

Helper Amanda works on trimming the excess 3M 4200 from around the reconstructed front windows. These windows are totally rebuilt, based on photographs and some fragements of badly rotted plywood.

More detail on the windows to follow in the fall Brass Bell.

Here are some photos of the bottom work. First, the big success born out of many hours of labour: we pulled a big section of bottom off.

Helper Greg and I compare... waistlines. Behind us is the section of plywood bottom, with some planks still attached.
Again, the stated goal for this year is to have the port completely removed, inspected, repaired, epoxied and reattached. That includes dropping the mid-section of the keel for some much-needed repair of very, very ugly stuff.

This section of keel will have to be removed so I can replace the piece that sits between the keel and the bottom of the frames. It is badly rotted along about a 14 ft length. This have obviously spent a lot of time under water.

More ugliness in two of the frames. Both are badly cracked and will have to be replaced. (the previous owner had repaired them in place, none too well). The good news: the pieces fit together like a puzzle and will make excellent templates.

Now, to end on a high note. I have replaced a 10 ft section of chine milled to match the original as closely as possible. To tie it into the existing chines I used more silicon-bronze threaded rod and 3M 5200. The new chine is also tied into the existing frames with more rod and 5200.

Okay, this has nothing to do with the boat...

2006-03-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

but I finally finished the kitchen, officially, with the installation of a stained glass transom light. The weather side is protect by a double-paneed low-e glass pane caulked into place.

Salon Bridge Station

2006-03-22T15:49:00.000-08:00

For another fun winter project, I pulled the bridge station out of the salon and hauled it up to the workshop. It stands about the height of a lecturn.

It was in fairly rough shape, with a fair amount of water staining. I stripped the surviving varnish, bleached it several times, then pulled the screws from each section to remove it from the black interior frame. I painted the frame, then stained and varnished the mahogany pieces. The finished result turned out nicely.

I've given it a place of honor in the workshop. The instruments and panels are next.

V-Berth Cabinets

2006-02-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

Another winter project almost complete. The v-berth cabinets are stained with Cordova filler stain and varnished with Interlux Goldspar satin varnish. The new and old side match pretty well. I'll now store them until they can be installed in the boat, hopefully next fall, after the port bottom work is complete.

The v-berth the way it looked at the beginning of the project.

The wood cut and bleached. The section on the right is original, the section on the left new. .

The wood stained and varnished.

Restroring the Flybridge Instrument Panel

2006-01-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

Pulled the instrument panel from the flybridge yesterday during a break in the winter weather. It needs a lot of clean-up.

The surface materal is a layer of vinyl. I'm guessing it came from the auto industry, like so many other Chris-Craft finishing materials.

Update: Went to an auto reappolstery place. They didn't have a material that matched exactly, but the pattern is similar and it's black, which looks good. They applied it with heat-resistent glue and coated it with a UV blocker. I cleaned up the guages with fine steel wool. So this is one winter project completed.

Matching the Original Wood Finish

2006-01-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm using ribbon cut tiama to replace all damaged Philipine mahogany. The natural colour is quite a bit redder than it should be. Now, it was suggested to me that I could bleach the colour out. In my ignorance, I thought that meant to take some Clorox to it. The result wasn't very satisfying. A date with google later, I found this article on bleaching wood using two-part wood bleach. I had to special order it from my local hardware store. It's so noxious, they don't like to put it on their shelves.

The instuctions recommend testing different ratios of the A and B portions. I divided up a piece of scrap (left over from the windows, my first great boat carpentry success).

The ratios, clockwise from top right: 1:1, 1:1 plus a second coat of 2:1, 2:1, and 1.5:1. The the very top right is an untreated section showing the original colour.

The next step was to apply the Cordova filler stain. I've premixed it with Turpentine to the consistency of varnish, brushed it on, and wiped it off against the grain. All per instructions.

The results with stain added. The 1:1 ratio looks too red still, but that may change when the stain dries and the varnish is on. (The wood bleach is on the left).

Next step is to apply some clear satin varnish. I'm using floor urethane, just because I happen to have some. To the left is a sample of the original stain.

From this test, the top right sample is looking like the closest match.

Winter Interior Work

2005-12-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

Time to move inside to the workshop and get going on restoring and replicating the interior cabinetry.
First up, recreating the sill that sits under the window at the bow side of the head. This was a marginal call, as the original plywood was in decent shape after years of water damage and could have been bleached. But I decided to use a good section of partially-damaged plywood from the salon bulkhead to create a replacement

The original is on the bottom, the replacement above. The diagonal line shows the water damage from the leaking window.

The v-berth has also taken a beating from water damage cause by outdoor storage and good, old fashioned neglect. Here I used marine grade ribbon-cut tiama as a replacement. I've been told finding Philipine mahagony plywood is next to impossible, and ethically questionable given the overharvesting post-World War II. Some at Noah's Marine in Toronto suggested using ribbon cut tiama. It's much redder in colour than the orginal, but bleaching should take the colour out, leaving a grain pattern that's a very close match for the original. More on that later.

The original is one the left, the replacement on the right. The rotted bottom is gone. This is from the port side of the v-berth. The starboard piece was salvageable, but having new wood beside old means I really do need to match the look.

The salon has also been subjected to water damage, so the port panel must be recreated. Here, I used 1/2 inch to replace the original 3/4 plywood to save on some weight. The door are orginal. After stripping, sanding, bleaching and restaining, they should look as good as new. Again, I could have easily replaced them, but I'd like to reuse every piece I can.

The new port salon panel. In one conceit to modernity, I've left the left side empty to eventually mount a flat panel television there.

Refastening the Bottom - Part II

2005-11-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

At the boat conference in Virginia last May I met a couple from Iowa named Paul and Marge Morris, who run the Cedar Tree Boat Shop in Des Moines. I asked them about their approach to refasten the bottoms of wooden boats. They encouraged my to pull the entire bottom off and inspect every inch of every frame, stringers, plank and plywood. They warned me that I be somewhat disheartened by what I saw, but the devil you know can be fixed.

My approach to this entire project has been to undo the damage and neglect this once-beautiful boat has endured - the paint over mahogany, the water damage, the wholesale destruction of some key features - and return it to as close to its orginal state as possible. One area that doesn't apply to, however, is the bottom. Because of technological advances in adhesives, fasteners and epoxies, I have the potential to restore this boat once and for all (at least my lifetime). I'm in no hurry to get it in the water. But I want to do it right.

So, I'm pulling the whole bottom off. Also, I've decided to replace the plywood and reattach the planks with a layer of 3M 5200 in addition to CPES and silicon bronze fasteners.

And it's a good thing I did, as this photo shows. I found a fairly significant area of rot. I replaced the rotted section with solid Philipine mahogany coated in CPES. I attached it with countersunk screws and 5200.

Another great plus of pulling off the bottom and the side is the fact that I can retighten the chine batten. It had pulled away from the frames by about a quarter of an inch. I reattached it using 5200 and clamps.

The chine batten was in good enough shape to reuse, but the bolts had pulled into the wood at several points. After cut them out with a reciprocating saw before the tighted up the frame. After the 5200 dried, I pulled off the clamps and repaired the damaged wood with CPES, and after it cured, Smith's Fill It wood filler.

I then set in new bolts and waited for the filler to dry before tightening them down.

I couldn't find silicon bronze bolts, but I realized it would be cheaper and easier to order threaded rod and cut it to whatever length I need anywhere on the boat. So I went to the McMaster-Carr website and found 1/4 inch threaded rod with matching washers and nuts. I oversized the washers a bit to prevent them from pulling through the chine again. The original bolt and screws fastening was clearly underengineered. Bonus: McMaster ships from inside Canada to Canadians, so no custom duties. Other plus: the package was at my door in less than 24 hours. This may be my new favourite company.

The original bolt is below the replacement threaded rod.

The plywood and two planks reattached. I used brad nails to hold the plywood in place until the 5200 set up. This is as far as we're going to get this year on the hull. Now it's time to move into the shop and start some interior wood restoration for installation next year.

The last day of outdoor work for the season.

Refastening the Bottom - Part 1

2005-09-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

There's no more putting it off. Since I'm now the proud owner of 6000 silicon bronze screws, it's time to start wailing on the hull.

Deciding what method to use is like deciding what is the one true faith: ask ten people and you'll get ten answers. I have heard everything from "Leave it the way it is and let it soak up" to "Epoxy and 3M5200 everything."

I've thought long about it and have decided on a modified approach. I want the bottom soak-proof to make the boat as low maintenance as possible. Also, I've decided to replace every fastener with silicon bronze. The existing screws are #8 brass Phillips head (original, and deteriorated) and #10 stainless steel Phillips (replacements put in by the previous owner). The screws I'm using are #10 silicon bronze Robertson head (or square drive, as they're called in the States) from McFeely's. They'll sell in quantities 0f 3000 are a significant savings over boxes of 100. Check out a great article on the advantages of the Robertson screw here.

I know many people, including professional restorers, are comfortable using stainless steel. I'd rather not take the chance that they'll oxidize, even though the boat will live in the fresh water of the Lake Huron. Here's a good thread from Don Danenberg's forum on the potential problems with stainless. Also, I have no way of telling what grade the stainless is. Since I'm doing the project for the long haul, I'd rather not take any chances.

Regarding 3M, I've decided to use it to reattach new sections of plywood and to caulk between the planks, but not between the planks and the plywood as a moisture barrier. I'll rely on Smith's CPES and a good barrier coat to keep the water out. My worry is that if I ever have to remove a plank, I'd end up ripping the plywood off.

(Canadians can buy CPES from BCS in Millbrook.)

Enough with the theorizing, it's time to get to work.

Step 1: Epoxying the back side of the planks and the new section of marine plywood with CPES. Good time to own rubber gloves and a repirator with an organic vapour filter.

Step 2: Injecting CPES into the old screw holes in the frames.

I emailed Steve Smith asking if I should wait until the CPES dries before I insert the new screws. Here was his response:

"Interesting question.

It will definitely soften the wood fibers where the screw bites in, and the screw threads in wood may strip more easily. on the other hand, it should seal off the damaged wood fiber bundles and make it more rot resistant, and to do that it needs to be wet when you run the screws in. Just do them carefully, with the drill clutch [if you use one] set to not-quite bottom them, and seat them all by hand. wood varies a bit in its texture and resistance to screws, and silicon bronze screws can break if overstressed, as a mindless drill clutch can."

This is precisely what I did, and it worked great.

Step 3: I applied the 3M 5200 to the bottom of the frames, then used a brad nailer to tack the new plywood in place.

The end result: the first plank in place. The chalk lines on the keel indicate the frames.

Now, repeat about fifty more times.

Sanding Party

2005-09-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've been putting it off with interior cabin work, but now is the time to get on with refastening and expoxying the hull. My goal is to have the port side done before the snow flies, which around here could mean next month.

A couple buddies offered to help with the sanding. I supplied the belts and beer; they supplied the labour. Not so much of a fair trade, but hey, they offered. This is what the sanding party did to them:

And this is what the sanding party did to the hull:

More V-Berth Restoration

2005-09-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

The new window frames in place, with the screw holes plugged.

The right side of the closet (centre of the picture) was totally rotted away. I've replaced it with the same 1/2 inch plywood I used to recreate the front window frames. Wood filler will cover the seam. Since this is painted, I'll get away with it.

To the right is replaced masonite siding. Cutting this to size took a few attempts and one wasted piece. I mounted it in place with brad nails. The seams will be covered with a strip of wood, as it was originally.

Repairing the Windows

2005-07-12T07:03:00.000-07:00

I fabricated a piece of new mahogany to replace a rotted section (top right of the picture). Because this will be painted, I can use Fill It to blend the pieces seamlessly. I used a lot of 3M 5200 behind the wood and the exterior fibreglass, which had pulled off the hull. There was quite a bit of water damage so I soaked everything in CPES. I clamped everything together overnight to let it set up.

I put on the respirator and slathered on the Fill It.

With the new window frames in place, this is starting to look like progress.

2005-07-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

At the bottom of the picture is a rotted piece of frame from the port v-berth window. I used some spare mahogany that came with the boat to fabricate a replacement piece (directly above). At the top of the picture is another rotted frame that I've repaired with Smith's Fill It epoxy. All pieces will be coated in CPES before they are remounted. This is obviously a common place for water to get inside the boat, especially if it is left neglected, as I suspect this boat was.

The new port window frame in place. I filled the seam with Fill It epoxy.

2005-07-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

Making this cut was difficult, for me at least. Because it's a 60 degree angle I couldn't do it on the table saw, so I constructed a kind of mitre box. This is the one cut that will show when the frames are mounted.

2005-07-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

I used the spruce templates to make the finished window frames out of 1/2 inch ribbon stripe Meranti marine plywood from Noah's Marine in Toronto. It isn't an exact match to the original Luann for colour, but the grain is close. I've bleached it down a bit. Here I've laid the surviving piece on top to match the placement of the screw holes.

2005-05-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

With the chrome trim on. I approximated the size of the window holes from the original frame, and confirmed them by putting them back in place before I took a jigsaw and cut them out. Now, I can use these templates to cut the final mahogany plywood frames. Also, I'm sending the templates out to a glass company to have new windows made.

2005-05-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

The window frames back in place. You can see one of the new mahagony pieces to the left.

2005-05-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Back to work. I pulled the templates back off the boat and matched them up again with what is left of the original frames. The two chrome pieces are this week's Cool Find of the Week: the original window trim. I have fabricated two new mahagony pieces for these to sit on, and to support the window frames.

2005-05-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

What is a trip to the east coast without some vino by the Atlantic?

2005-05-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, not much wanting to have a photo taken

2005-05-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

On the way back we stopped in DC for a whirlwind tour of the National Mall. Nicole stood in traffic so I could get a clear photo of her with the White House in the background. Not so lucky with the timing.

2005-05-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we attended that ACBS symposium at the Mariner's Museum in Virginia, the home of the Chris Craft archives. Most of the people in attendance were involved in restoring runabouts, though we did meet a few people with big boat experience. Also, attendees had access to the archives, including working drawing for our boats. I went through construction drawings with the original architects notations on them ("make this door wider? NO", that sort of thing). Very cool. I ordered several copies, though I didn't find detailed drawing of the head.

Also, we met a lot of nice, helpful people who had lots of ideas on how to go about redoing the hull. More on that later.

2005-04-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

The templates seen from the bow. The seam is covered by a curved piece that I will have to replicate.

2005-04-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

The window templates in place. Later I'll cut holes based on the pattern of the surviving original plywood frames, then use the templates to create replacement frames out of new 1/2 inch marine grade mahogany plywood. For now, I'm just pleased they fit so well. Also, I've remounted the original solid mahogany window frames from the port and starboard windows. Two pieces are missing.

2005-04-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

The template for the head window in place.

2005-04-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is the most exciting find yet. I found all three window sills in the pile of disgarded pieces. They were water damaged and painted, but stripped and sanded nicely. This one is solid 3/4 inch mahagony. The fit exactly into place and give me a reference to cut the window frame templates. I would never have figure this out without the photos posted below.

This is the photo I used to find the sill. I've also now found many of the mahogany pieces from around the port window, all in good shape.

2005-04-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is all that remains of the front window directly above the v-berth. It is 1/2 inch mahogany plywood. I'm fabricating replacements out of cheap 1/2 inch spruce to create templates I'll later use to recreate the frames with marine grade plywood.

The template in place. I've left the other damaged original windowframes in place to fit the template as accurately as possible. Later I will scribe the window opening from the outside and cut the opening.

2005-03-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

Success. I tracked down the owner of a well-maintained Constellation Sedan in Washington State. He has forwarded me photos of the head bulkhead and bow windowframes. From these and the blueprint, I can begin to work on replicating new materials. The first order of business is installing new windows.
This photo is taken from the identical angle as the photo immediately below. Hopefully, it's a view of the future.

2004-11-29T15:48:00.000-08:00

Another view of the window. The top section is original. It obviously failed at some point, wreaking havoc below. The bottom two-thirds of the window frame are plywood and obviously not original. Recreating this section will be a challenge without detailed working drawings.

2004-11-29T15:45:00.000-08:00

The missing head bulkhead ran from the counter in the bottom left tothe window frame at the top. I have no idea how it connected to the bottom of the window frame. I really need a photo of a non-destroyed cabin.

End of the pre-party party

2004-11-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted. The last two months or so have been spent turning the second floor of the garage into a proper workshop. As always, my father-in-law did most of the work.
Now we're on to the boat. First order of business: deciding where to start. I now have copies of the shop drawing and wiring diagram. I'm thinking of starting at the same place I began my house renovation: the bathroom, or as boaters call it, the head. Both the toilet and shower pan are long gone. I'm beginning the hunt for replacements. The other task for this winter is the wiring. I still haven't decided whether or not to replace it all. I've received contradictory advice.
Finally, because I'm going to need to remove the front section of keel next year, I'm going to have to dissassemble even more of the front v-berth in order to pull the deck up and access the keel bolts. So more steps backward before going forward.

2004-11-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

The bottom of the bathroom floor. There was originally a pan and drain for the shower right here. It's long gone, unfortunately. I'm looking for a replacement.

2004-11-12T06:16:00.000-08:00

The wardrobe just inside the v-berth door. Was this originally painted or varnished? I don't know yet, but I theorizing if they used mahogany, they meant it to be seen.

2004-11-12T06:13:00.001-08:00

The V-berth. I think the original colour was aquamarine, as seen at the bottom of this photo.

2004-11-12T06:13:00.000-08:00

Wall of parts

2004-11-12T06:12:00.000-08:00

The workshop

The boat as it is today

2004-09-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

The boat had been worked on by the previous owner for a number of years intermittently. The bulk of the work he did was stripping the paint that a previous owner had, in a fit of madness, applied to every mahogany surface on the interior of this once-beautiful boat. But, as you can see, much work remains.

The post side of the salon

The head also has a shower. All the fixtures are lost and must be replaced.

The head, or what's left of it.

The front stateroom or V-birth. The mattress is long gone. All of the wood remains, either in place or removed and stored. Also, all of the solid mahogany doors remain and are in good shape. I don't think I would have bought the boat if they were gone.

The V-birth. Most of the paint has been stripped, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Here are the parts that the previous owner had removed. Some have been chromed and are in good shape. Some are not. Some, frankly, I have no idea what to do with. But that's the fun.

The jigsaw puzzle

Coming next: a look at the hull and the first draft of the work plan

First a little background

2004-08-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

Before I go much further describing the boat project, let me give a little background. I grew up constantly tinkering with things, but with a lawyer father whose only mechanical advice was, "It's Greek to me," I was left largely to my own devices. So I built a lot of things badly. Flash forward to my early 20s. I became a constant viewer of This Old House and rediscovered my childhood interest in building. But beyond that, I became fascinated with the almost Zen-like satisfaction to be found in restoring things that have been neglected or forgotten. When it comes to residential architecture and numerous other things that matter to me, like movies for instance, I believe that the past has greater riches to offer than the present.

So when it was time to buy a house, I set out to find one that had tremendous potential but had gone to seed. Fortunately, my wife and I found just that: an 1880 two storey yellow brick Victorian. It had been in the same family for seventy years and had not undergone any renovation since immediately after the Second World War. But because they hadn't done anything, the owners also hadn't thrown anything out. In the top floor of the old coach house garage I found three beautiful French doors used as shelving. From them, I found the color of red mahogany stain original to the house, and was able to use that to restore every entry door (I believe there were six).

I should note that when I say "I," I'm generally referring to my father-in-law, who is retired and has done the vast majority of work over the past seven years.

The renovation of the house began in the fall of 1997 with the complete gutting of the second floor bathroom. It was in a dismal state. A leaky toilet had gone ignore for many years, except for the effort required to empty a bucket hidden in the drop ceiling in the kitchen. After several weeks of showering in the basement, the bathroom was done.

Retiring the infamous leaking toilet bucket

On Labour Day weekend 2002, we began the final major interior project, the gutting and complete rebuilding of the kitchen. I suppose I could devote an entire blog to that project, but suffice it to say, it was a great deal of work and we're very please with and proud of the result. I designed the kitchen myself, laying it out on the same graph paper that I use for all my projects. I also built the cabinets (using 3/4 inch maple plywood) and the harvest table (using reclaimed century pine barnboard). We had Christmas dinner in the kitchen that year, though without the luxury of cabinet doors.

Kitchen 1

We entered this project in a contest run by Canadian House and Home magazine and won a $1000 gift certificate for a high-end fabric and furniture store in Toronto. Also, we got a nice spread in the April 2004 issue.

Kitchen 2

Kitchen 3

Before we took on the kitchen, I strayed over to another project: restoring a 1979 Vespa Primavera ET3 scooter. I bought it right off the boat from Italy. It was covered in the most beautiful, golden Tuscan mud I've ever seen. I wish I could have saved some. It was also in pretty bad shape.

The scoot straight off the boat and in my basement

As with all my projects, I tried to restore the scoot to as close to the original condition as possible. I have no interest in motorcycles whatsoever, but I find the smallframe Vespa to be one of the most beautiful man-made objects I've ever seen. It is incredibly fun to ride, which I do every day it isn't snowing or the scoot isn't broken, which it happens to be right now. I'm hoping to have it back on the road for October.

The restoration was far from show quality, but I'm pleased with it. A photographer used it in a photo shoot. I used the small fee he paid me to buy a new seat. You may notice the original one is in tatters, despite the best Photoshop work.

(Photo to come)

Which brings me to the boat, and the conversation my wife and I had this spring. With the house complete, I was thinking about taking on another project, under the usual conditions:
- it would have to add to our lifestyle in a significant way, and be something we use frequently, if not every day
- it would have to be something we could not afford without the sweat equity
- it would have to be something classically beautiful and lost to the world were it not for our efforts

My wife had tried to talk me into buying a boat a year earlier, when she happened to be about three weeks away from giving birth. I suggested it wasn't a great time. But a year later our son was growing and slightly less of a handful. Also, my late mother's small estate had finally cleared, and I was thinking about ways to spend my inheritance that would have driven her nuts. So I looked up the boat we had thought about a year earlier. It was long sold, but I found another by accident of Google. A few weeks later, we drove to Trenton, Ontario, about four hours away from our home in London.

The boat as we first saw it on the Bay of Quinte

Coming next: the boat as it is today and the plan for restoring it

We're going to need a bigger boat

2004-08-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

What began as a wistful conversation with my wife (wouldn't it be great to own a boat someday, keep it on Lake Huron, go there every weekend...) has transformed, in a matter of weeks, into six tons of Philippine mahogany at the end of our driveway and many, many boxes of parts in our garage. Now, the fun part begins. This blog will chronicle my progress, which assumes there will be progress.

First, the boat, seen in an original sales brochure. Click for a larger image.

Original sales brochure

Here is the interior layout, again from Chris Craft promotional material. The unique feature of this boat is the enclosed salon (behind the command station) and the location of the couch to the right of the command station. This leads to a below-deck layout that is the mirror image of most Constellations. I didn't consciously seek out this design, but I'm glad I have it since we intend to use the boat as a live-aboard.

Layout and specs.