New member: What does she say?

[BoatswainBob]

Hi fellow Thompson enthusiast,

I have what I believe is a Thompson boat from the 70's or 60's. I would like to fix it up in my spare time, but I want to do a good job. I have seen some of the other pictures of your reconditioned boats and I am impressed with the beauty and quality.

I have proudly served and retired from our countries Navy and I will be honest as I have some wood working experience but no experience in putting a plan together for fixing up this boat. As I love water, I love the looks of this boat and what I consider to be classic lines, and look forward to the journey in fixing it up with your experience and guidance. Thanks.

Any help as to the Age and Type as I want to have it accurately registered. Thanks

Here in the East it is pretty cold out but I figure I can do some basic work as I have it stored in a barn for the time being.
What would be my first move in fixing it up, factoring in the cold weather. Should I survey, strip first? Thanks Any good reference material. Thanks.
Any help would be appreciated.

Respectfully,
BoatswainBob




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[Phill Blank]

BoatswainBob,

Welcome aboard.

It defenately looks like a Thompson family boat.

First thing to determining the model you have is to go to the Main Page on this site and click on "What Do I Have" and post the information requested under that section, i.e. overall length, width at widest point, depth, and serial number from tags and hull number stamped into the transom. With this information we should be able to determine the model and possibly the year of your boat.

As to what to do first I would sugest cleaning it up and inspecting the hual for any rot and damage. Once you determine what needs replacing and repair you can form a plan as to what to do next. If you have questions post them here with pictures and we will help you out as best we can.

Antique and Classic Boat Society has many good books available for assisting in restorations. Go to www.acbs.org.
Also WoodenBoat magazine also has good information available in their book store on their website. www.woodenboat.com

Again welcome aboard and good luck with your restoration.

Phill

[LancerBoy]

Welcome aboard!

The boat looks like one made by Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc. at Cortland, NY. The tell tail signs are the windshield frame, the back rests of the front seats, and most importantly, the details of the stained and varnished shearstrake (upper most plank) and the stylized "T" on the hull near the bow.

Is there a metal builder's tag with manufacturer's name and location and serial number on it? Is there a hull ID stamped into the wood of the transom?

She definately is not a 1970s boat. My guess is that she is 1960 to 1962 era.

Look at the "Restoration" area of this forum for tips. Lots of good information can be found there.

Brochures for Thompson of NY can be purchased on CD-ROM at http://www.wcha.org

She sits ona Spartan trailer made in St. Paul, MN. There may be some Spartan trailer brochures at http://www.fiberglassics.com in the Glassic Library area.

Andreas

[LancerBoy]

It looks as if this is a roller trailer. Get those rollers replaced with carpet covered bunks. Rollers are very bad for wooden boats.

Andreas

[BoatswainBob]

I am "BoatswainBob" on the site and I am a new member on the Thompson
dockside web site. I posted some pictures on the site last week under "What does she
say?"
> I will try to give you some more pics below with name plate info: I hope I do them justice.
>
> First of all, Thank you very much for helping me and other members with this. I as
my fellow members really appreciate this help.
>
> I posted a request for help last weekend, a member chimed in and said I had a 1960
to 1962 Thompson made in Cortland NY. Thanks as the name plate shows.
>
> I like to zero in on the make, year and any additional information. As I would like
to have it accurately registered.
>
> Today I went to where the boat was stored and I was able to get some important
information and two thousand words in pics that you requested.
>
> I was fortunate and able to find the tag intact as located on the STBD side of the
transom and listed:
>
> Thompson Boat Co.
> of New York Inc.
> Cortland, New York
> Serial No. 13973 (The Number was also In 3/4" high letters next to the tag.
(As shown in the pics below).
>
> As best as I could measure:
> The Length is approx. 17 feet at center line and
> the beam at it widest point measures 79" to 80".
>
> The boat has Spartan on what I think is the light control (looks like a ships
wheel), and Spartan on the trailer. Do you think they are a matched set?
>
> I also have two holes near the transom at center line on the keel, and an engine
overheat indicator on the panel do you think this was originally a inboard boat?
>
> Pics below:

[img][img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/843/img1988z.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/96/img1987ai.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/14/img1986rk.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/820/img1985hc.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/802/img1984v.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/145/img1982e.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/842/img1980uh.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/560/img1979kc.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/96/img1978tv.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/820/img1977ma.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/194/img1976rn.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/203/img1975d.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/838/img1974ye.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/248/img1973ks.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/145/img1972sk.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/811/img1971r.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/825/img1970mt.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/856/img1969fa.jpg]
[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/833/img1968mv.jpg][/img]

Any advertising info from that time would be neat.

Thanks,
BoatswainBob

[LancerBoy]

Thanks for the additonal information and photos.

Obviously, the boat was made by Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc. at Cortland, NY. The 17 foot length indicates Sea Lancer model.

Serial number 13973 is probably 1960 or 1961 model year. I have a 16 ft. Sea Coaster by Thompson of NY with serial number 14017. I think she is a 1961 model year boat. I have in my databse a Thompson of NY with serial number 13978, only 5 after yours. I have her listed as 1961? and that she was shipped 10-16-1961 to Taylor Marine (obviously a marine dealership). I have NO clue how I got the shipping infomation. I also have serial number 13976 in my database. I do not have a year listed.

The "Spartan" ship's wheel control on the dash is to operate the spot light on the deck. It was not a factory installed item. Spartan spot lights and Spartan boat trailers were not affiliated. Just dumb luck that you have both. I think there is some Spartan marine hardware brochures in the Glassic Library at www.fiberglassics.com. There may also be Spartan boat trailer brochures. Spartan boat trailers were made in St. Paul, MN.

The ignition switch and "hot" button on the dash is for an Evinrude or Johnson outboard motor. It is very typical.

The big hole in the transom and the one in the hull near the transom are not anything ever done at the factory. I bet some chucklehead previous owner just drilled them to get the water out of the boat. This was never an inboard or inboard/outboard stern drive boat.

Andreas