By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Grandpa's Boat Refurbished
My Grandpa, Robert "Bob" Grubb was a fisherman through and through. Ocean, lakes, rivers, beaver ponds, mud puddles, irrigation ditches, you name the body of water, he was there with a fishing pole in his hand.
Besides having talent in the event of fishing, acting, machining things out of metal (I think he even built a telescope once) he loved to build wood boats. My assumption of the love of boats is purely driven by the need to have a boat to get to the fish. Driftboats, skiffs and prams filled the basement and garage. He built at least 40 boats in his life.
As far as history can tell, he built his first boat (the reason for this blog) in high school wood shop in Seattle, Washington in 1938. I remember playing in this boat in the driveway when I was a kid in the 1970's. It wasn't even in the water at the time, but I didn't care, it was a boat!
The design is your basic ribbed / frame layout, with inner chine, outer batten and standard gunnel, wrapped around plywood,
like the traditional drift boat today. I am not sure of the answer, but
am curious, in 1938 as a teenager, did my Grandfather look in a book and
see what the Oregon boys were doing, did he see a standard McKenzie
boat float by one day, or did his engineering mind just logically come
up with the design on his own?
My Dad, William, recently refurbished the boat and so we took it out on the McKenzie River in Oregon to try it out. Obviously it is a lake boat but the river was closer...
The boat is about 6 1/2 feet long, with a 3 foot wide bottom and 12 inch high sides. Very small, as if he was just experimenting with the building techniques for later creations.
The kids are Bert De Klerk's from the McKenzie River Inn near Eagle Rock. Teach 'em early!
End.
Comment
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Comment by Mike Baker on August 25, 2010 at 1:34pm -
Hey Robb,
That is way cool! Looks like Dad did a great job of renewing grandpas boat. And some people say wood boats don't last. WHATEVER!
Mike
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Comment by Rick Newman on August 24, 2010 at 1:58pm -
Robb, now all you need is a covered deck and a spray skirt on that one. Great story and great job on the rebuild/restore.
Rick Newman
PS Don't forget to build in a hidden banana compartment too!
© 2012 Created by Randy Dersham.
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