Board member David Albury and student Paul removing instrument console on the Lyman restoration

In June 2002 the Maritime and Yachting Museum started an ambitious program to work with students to restore an antique sailing dinghy and wooden motorboat.

We'll be updating our online slide show and progress report for this program regularly.

Follie is a beautiful little antique Bahamas dinghy, built on Man-O-War Cay, probably before 1949. We don't know who built her. She's a 12 foot sailing dinghy, of a type widely used in the islands for a variety of pursuits, from pleasure sailing to fishing conch and sponges. Follie is cat-rigged - traditionally, the single sail is preferred for its simplicity, lesser chances of rigging interfering with the fishing, and lower cost.

She's heavily built of native pine planking, with a full-length keel, and has bronze drifts (rods pounded through the stern to link the planking) that are characteristically Bahamian. While Follie is fairly traditional, she also shows more modern influences from outside the Bahamas - the full deck, for example, was probably added after she was built.

When we found out about her pedigree, her relevance to our regional maritime history, we took a closer look. This type of boat enjoys an excellent reputation for seaworthiness, and it turns out that the basic design, once developed, has endured for more than 150 years.

Follie is getting a pretty major restoration. We're repairing her planking, giving her a new deck and new toe rail, fixing the clamps and floor, and then refinishing her. What's really cool is the very original nature of our work - with Follie, we're capturing information about a boat that has not been well-documented. We need to preserve it for future generations before it's gone.

The emphasis in a museum restoration is on preserving the integrity and original components of the craft, and documenting the entire process. It's feasible to involve enthusiastic novices because most of the specific tasks involved in the restoration are surprisingly simple. It's the "big picture" - choosing the right approaches and techniques, and staying true to the boat, that are much harder.

I'm the decision maker and researcher. Part of my job has been to learn everything I can about the boat, to become an expert so I can make good decisions. I've found some books, internet resources, and most recently, people who have been very helpful.

In museum restorations, we favor the use of traditional techniques and materials as much as possible. For example, we're looking for native long-leaf Caribbean pine to replace Follie's damaged planking. The original hull fastenings, which are still in the boat, were probably galvanized iron. They corroded over time and the wood surrounding them degraded - this is called "iron sickness." At some point in her history Follie was refastened with silicon bronze screws. We'll be replacing planking around the "sick" areas to better stabilize the boat.

Recently we found Anchorfast Monel ring shank nails in Follie's deck beams. They're decorated with little anchors on their heads, and at one point were the common fastener in the marine industry. The nails are a neat bit of maritime history, and we'll be re-using them in the boat. Follie was also fiberglassed below the waterline at some point. We probably won't remove it this year, but will probably do so at some point to return her to a more traditional state.

We're also committed to using safe and environmentally-friendly materials. We chose a less-toxic, non-chlorine-based stripper to remove paint and varnish, for example, and are searching for environmentally-certified, sustainably-harvested wood. We don't want our activities to damage future generations' abilities to enjoy a healthy, biodiverse world.

Big Blue is an 18 foot lapstrake inboard motorboat built by the Lyman Boat Works in Sandusky, Ohio in 1951. These mass-produced boats were sold widely in the U.S. as part of the post-World War II economic boom and growth of a prosperous middle class. Many people come in to the museum and say "that's the kind of boat my Dad had" - it's this recent maritime history that Big Blue helps the museum preserve. Lyman, which was founded in 1875, isn't around any more, but the company sold its factory templates to a man who's continuing the Lyman tradition on a more limited basis.

Big Blue was built with Douglas fir plywood planking, steam-bent white oak ribs, and a mahogany transom and trim. She's got the original Gray Marine inboard engine, which will be refurbished as part of the restoration.

CLC Cape Charles kayak on the St. John's River

If you would like to learn more about the restoration project, or are interested in volunteering or making a donation, please contact Bill Lersch at 772-692-1234 or mym34994@comcast.net.

Progress Report

Check out our online slide show!

Follie

• strip mast and boom - complete
• re-varnish mast and boom - underway
• remove old deck - complete
• strip paint from bilge - complete
• evaluate sails - underway
• strip paint from damaged areas - complete
• repair wood, replace as needed
• rebuild deck
• go sailing!

• remove engine and fuel tank - complete
• remove seats and sole framing - complete
• flip hull - complete
• refurbish engine
• replace ribs
• repair transom
• repair stem
• repair keel
• refinish
• go cruising!

Donors & Volunteers

Sincere thanks to the generous donors who have made this work possible.

• Whiticar Boat Works
• Robert Wallace Herbert
• Thomas Rickenback
• Ruth & John Fox

Thanks also to the tireless volunteers who have donated so much hard work!

Robert Walroth, Work Shop Instructor. RJ has provided the workshops with the professional's "get the job done" conditioned by the artist's "the beauty is in the details."

Dillon, Volunteer. Dillon's love for sailing has not interfered with his solid work on our Lyman motorboat.