Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Grand Canyon Dory built by Keith Steele resurected from the desert.

Hi, I'm Allen Wilson and had the good fortune to come across this boat in Santa Fe, NM. Thanks to Bruce Symballa an old boatman friend of mine who discovered it and through the help of Mike Castelli another GC Boatman, Don Briggs who  encouraged me, along with Brad Dimock who has a brief history and informed me I should get it at any cost.  Well Almost.

So I talked to Randy Dersham a few days ago. He indicated I should post here and let you folks know that I will be bringing the Betty Boop AKA Great Thumb to the the Festival this year.

Ron Hayes bought the hull from Keith Steele probably in 1968 and added the compartments at his home in Southern California.  Later he sold her to Larry Testerman who actively put her to good use on many rivers around the Southwest.

I hope to bring Larry with me to the show.

I'm excited
Two pictures. 1. On the way to Oregon 2. Photo by Tim Cooper after the 83 flood  receded and left her parked on rocks at the top of Badger Creek Rapid in the Grand Canyon. Larry can tell the story about that.

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Permalink Reply by Heidi Lynn Hayes on May 22, 2010 at 7:19pm
My dad changed the spelling of his name to "Ronn" upon the prompting of a girlfriend, who was into numerology. Apparently the extra "n" was supposed to be good luck/karma/etc......
Permalink Reply by Heidi Lynn Hayes on May 22, 2010 at 7:13pm
While Keith Steele might have made the original boat hull for the Betty Boop, my dad, Ronn Hayes, actually completely rebuilt the entire bow. Unfortunately, after leaving Oregon with the boat strapped atop his '54 pickup, dad miscalculated the height of vehicle plus boat. He crushed the bow when he pulled into a gas station....I think the poor thing didn't make it out of Oregon in virginal condition (my recollection of exactly where this happened is dim). Needless to say, it made completing the hull compartments and getting the boat river ready for its first trip down the Grand Canyon a herculean effort. I'll say this about her...by the time they put her on the trailer...she was one of the prettiest dories around. There was a beautiful painted butterfly on the front compartment lid...I believe George Mancini painted that, but it could've been Warren Shelton. Dad named her "Betty Boop" because he figured that was the closest Betty, his second wife, was ever going to get to the bottom of the Canyon (which turned out to be true). I'm surprised to hear she got renamed, I thought that was bad juju for a boat. There is a famous shot of the Betty Boop in the middle of a major GC rapid that was used in a Lord Calvert print ad....more on that another time..
Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on May 23, 2010 at 4:25pm
Martin changed the names of several boats once he came up with his theme of memorializing works of nature that had been trashed by mankind. At the Susie Too became the Music Temple, the Betty Boop became the Great Thumb, the Portola became the Diablo Canyon.
Permalink Reply by Allen Wilson on May 29, 2010 at 10:12am
Yes, But after meeting with Larry Testerman a few weeks ago, He let me know that he repainted the Betty Boop and renamed her the Great Thumb. Larry and Gary Ladd actually redid some of the cabinet work, in the central part of the boat and turned it into a self bailer. The full story of this I'll publish a little later.
Permalink Reply by Jeremy Christensen on May 24, 2010 at 4:27pm
Allen, I gave Pete your number. Pete's number is 801-582-9239.

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