UPDATE: Due to a move to Arizona, I was unable to complete the restoration of my Thompson boat as moving it was impractical and I had no place to put it to work on it. Thus, I sold it to another individual who had already restored one such boat. For some reason, I accidently deleted all the pictures I had taken so the pictures for these pages are gone. The boat is now in the possession of Chuck Nagy of Kalamazoo, Michigan and restoration is continuing. You can read more about it at his web site Burn Pile Restorations!
For my part, I had completely stripped the hull, removed all the old caulking of the holes before I had to part with it...it was sweet sorrow but it went to someone who had a great appreciation of all I had done!
OK, so restoring a boat isn't something just everyone does! Hey, how hard can it be? I've restored all sorts of furniture, two player pianos, and a blacksmith's billows (which sits proudly in my living room as a coffee table (it can blow a candle out at 6 feet!)!
My wife thinks I've really gone off the deep end now! But HEY! I've got a spare garage, lots of room, a fair amount of tools, time (very important) and ambition so besides a fair amount of money, what the heck! I could be doing something really dull like working!
I admit I know virtually nothing about boats. I'm joining the ACBS along with the Blackhawk Chapter (Wisconsin-Illinois folks) as I went to their local show and met a lot of nice people who encouraged me to give it a try!
I acquired my boat via a message board on the internet - poor fella's wife just harassed the heck out of him as they has TOO MUCH STUFF so the boat had to go! He'd had it a couple of years and never got around to doing anything with it. It came with a 75HP Johnson motor which I have no idea if it runs, a nice trailer which pretty much looks like the one this boat might have come with, and of course the boat!
There is a box full of hardware such as cleats, etc., as well as the front and rear running lights and two brass fire extinguishers - these are the carbon tetracloride variety which I'm thankful to say appear to be empty! The old flooring material is all there it appears but is in very poor condition and will need replacing. Fortunately, all the flooring parts are intact so I can make new ones using the old as patterns. Numerous boards which made up the seating were also there though in complete disarray. Most of the wood pieces are solid and appear useable but obviously will need sanding and refinishing at the very least. These make for an interesting jig-saw puzzle as I have no idea how the seating was arranged or what seating there was for that matter!
I'm stunned by the amount of brass nuts & screws that hold this fella together! It must have taken a week for 10 men to put them all in!
The hull itself appears pretty solid though I haven't gone over it thoroughly yet as I have no idea what I should look for. Though the pictures show the hull color as white, it is actually yellow; not really a 'pretty' color but if that's how it came then I figure that's what it should be when I'm done!
Well, enough said for now - I intend to use this web page I've created to serve as a 'diary' of the restoration of my 'new' boat! For the past 6 years, I've maintained a web site called Lure Lore, as my longtime hobby has been the collecting of old fishing tackle. I've also written a CD 'book' on old fishing tackle so I figure it's about time to venture into the one thing that every good fisherman should have - A GREAT CLASSIC WOOD BOAT!
Here's some of the statistical information on the boat and some pictures I've taken:
Purchase date: 10/3/2002
Hull length: 15' 8-1/4"
Beam: 72"
Obe plate: Intact - recommended max. horsepower - 75; max. carrying capacity - 1350 lbs.
Hull number: RO514D
Serial number: 17200 (nice even one!)
Owner (that's me): Tom Jacomet
Owner's irrated wife: Lynn
Address: Wisconsin
E-mail me at tjonline@lurelore.com
NEXT GOAL: Identify when manufactured, find any research material, and where to begin!
Comments? E-mail me at tjonline@lurelore.com
Web Author: Tom Jacomet
Copyright ©2005 by Tom Jacomet - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED