thompsondockside.com

First, Thanks to Andreas and all for their hard work on the Rally at Marinette. It was a bit of a drive but we learned much and it was great to meet many of you who have provided such great information on bringing our boat back to life. We took the southern route back to Ohio and went through both Peshtigo to see the factory, decaying and Oconto, didn't know where to look there. Mercury Marine in Fon Du Lac is jumping, all looks modern and healthy there.

To the subject, while removing the stem I had some challenges, 9 to be specific, unknown fasteners in addition to the #12 x 2 brass flathead screws. At first I thought they were some sort of specialized hanger bolt and nut but they turned out to be copper ring shanked nails that had apparently been power driven to hold the stem in place until the screws could be emplaced.

The big surprise, and add this to the books, Andreas, was initials on the stem by the bow eye. The two Y s are upside down when she is right side up and it would make sense they'd be stamped when she was upside down having her outer stem, outer keel and metal planing keel fitted. This makes craftsman # 3 on our Peshtigo SeaCoaster 473. There are some initials on the inside of the lapstrakes near the bow and something spray painted on the bottom of the deck. There were not any initials on the keel when I pulled it earlier. I have been using a small low angle block plane rather than sanding this is getting the paint off and minimizing wood loss. I hope this is helpful to someone as those nails looked very odd to me. I have the photos in photobucket, the link is: http://s901.photobucket.com/albums/ac214/59Thompson/

I'm not having success downloading them here, but the link works fine. If someone has some advice on how to get them in, will update and add them. Regards, John

The "Y Y" on the stem is a cool discovery.

On a 1965 Peshtigo built Sea Lancer that I restored a number of years ago, the model number was stamped on the outside of the stem. I uncovered it when I stripped all the paint away.

The numbers stamped on the inside of the hull planking near the bow are the plank numbers. They were given numbers when cut so that they would be placed at the proper location by the builder.

All the components of the boats were made ahead of time. Men worked all day long at making certain componets in the factory. Some guy spent 10 hours a day 5 or 6 days a week feeding lumber into a rip saw. Another guy grabbed it and fed it into a molder. A guy did nothing but cut out componets for windshield frames. Someone else assembled the frame. Another guy did nothing but cut bevels on planking stock. Someone cut out parts for the keelson, etc....

This way, when a boat was ready to be assembled, all the stuff was waiting for them in bins and racks. Just grab it from the shelf and assemble the stuff to make a boat.

Not sure if the "Y Y" was a code for the outer stem for that model or if it was a builder's code.

Yup, you will find lots of compoents were nailed first prior to screws being attached.

Andreas

Sounds like thay learned from Henry Ford!!!