Narragansett Bay Skiff

[Ted Monahan]

I wanted to post these pictures to this forum in the hopes that someone might lead me in the right direction of repairing this skiff.

i have gone through the process of scraping down the stem which has some bad fastenings on the plank. I removed what screws i could and have cut the rest ..The stem is in very good shape. Some of the planks are still very well imbedded into the stem with what i think is 5200 while some of the planks need to be refastened.

My first plan of action is to fair up the plank ends with epoxy. Then redrill and clamp the plank ends to the stem and refasten. I thought that i would refasten into 5200 and fill in any voids were the planks meet the stem with the same goo. after which i would sand and repaint...am i close.....
More picts here

web page (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290465995)

[nedL]

That's a 'classic' R.I. quohog skiff for sure ;) I think I'd remove the old fastenings, clean things out, re-bed the plank ends (with something less adhesive than 5200), refasten (maybe w/ galvanized as when she was built), & fill the old holes. Good for another 30 years. :D
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid56/pfd056108227802debe5c92ee64a8b3ff/fc72d438.jpg

[ 03-25-2003, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: nedL ]

[Bob Aberton]

Just 30 years?

My grandfather quahogged off of one of those things for 60 years, and he only painted in once every two or three years! Built it himself, but he never maintained it at all, except for a lick of paint here and there.

Personally, Narragansett Bay skiffs are one of the few kinds of motorboats that I actually like; they've got a real workboat appeal to them.

Can you imagine the old days, before the outboard motor? The quahoggers of my grandfather's generation would actually row those things around The Bay with a pair of 12 foot oars.

Preserve that skiff, though; I fear the Narragansett Bay skiffs are a dying breed - probably 75% of the quahoggers here in East Greenwich have abandoned the good old skiff for the f%$#@%&%*^ imitation or the Boston Whaler. I don't know what the situation is in other parts of Rhode Island.

Heh. Just get me started and I'll ramble on for years...traditional Rhode Island workboats are one of my hobbies, so to speak. Cowhorns (or Double-Enders, as the Block Islanders like to call them, heh.), Narragansett skiffs, Newport catboats...