For a variety of reasons, I knew by 2019 summer's end that I wanted a new boat. A smallish power boat with a displacement hull that would safely and comfortably handle the considerable chop of Penobscot Bay. I polled my younger brother Jeff, who grew up in Lincolnville and now lives and works in Belfast. He knows boats, and he knows Penobscot Bay.
We discussed the foreseeable use of the boat, and some of the possible designs. Independently, among other designs, we both found the Pulsifer Hampton. (Two beautiful examples below.) I really liked it, but I was paralyzed by the prices I was seeing: $20,000 - $30,000 for used boats, upwards of $50,000 for new. I could not consider those prices. It would have to be something else.
In the first week of September, 2019, my brother Jeff found Ginger a little south of Belfast, Maine, along the side of U.S. Route 1. He wrote me a note and sent me photos. A Pulsifer Hampton. And he sent me the price. It was not what I feared.
September 6, 2019: The Day I First Saw Ginger
On September 6, I saw her too. She was soon mine.
No Console!
Ginger is old. Her, provenance is not clear, but she may date from 1977. That would make her 44 years old as I write this. And she is wood, so parts not cared for can just disappear. But 1977 was also only 3 years into Richard Pulsifer's time as a builder of Hamptons, so there's a chance that her current sans-console conformation was original. After all, Pulifer's inspirations were tiller-steered workboats. Or, maybe the original just fell apart, and the then-owner couldn't or didn't want to rebuild it.
My experiences during the 2020 season taught me that being stuck in the stern all day could be dangerous. The engine instruments were low to the deck and hard to see. The engine controls were also low down, but on the opposite side from the instruments. They behaved sloppily and repeatedly fell out of their mounts. Taking one's hand off the tiller for just a second could result in a suddenly veering course and a tiller handle that was now out of reach. Many other important vessel fixtures and pieces of equipment also were out of reach. As far as I am concerned, Ginger needs a console! And the rest of her is sound enough to make it worth adding.
Bad Electrics
I noticed early on that the ammeter never showed any charging. There was a wired (but physically unsecured) solar panel that presumeably provided some charging capacity, but I didn't like the idea of the alternator not working. Some time later, with the help of my neighbor Eric, who actually understands the functions of alternators and voltage regulators, we (Eric) determined that the alternator wiring was assembled incorrectly.
There was a rat's nest of wiring under the deck. It was so bad that we couldn't easily find the wires we needed to get the alternator charging. It turned out that there had been a number of wiring amendments of the quick-and-dirty variety. Some wiring, perhaps even most, was redundant. This past winter I removed all existing wiring, bus bars and fuse panels except for the heavy gauge battery cables. I did leave reminders - fragments of wire hanging from features like running lights that will need power restored. Replacement wiring will be the only wiring, and will cover all the necessary bases.
Remove Redundancies
Nearly all existing wiring
Tiller and rudder post extension
Non-functioning bilge pump
Old engine controls
Old engine instrument panel
Upgrade Parts
Hose clamps
Zincs
Pump impellers
Build and Install Helm Console
Including:
Console Box Structure
New Steering Gear
New Engine Controls
New control cables
New electrical wiring
New instrument panel
Programmable Tachometer
Water Temperature
Oil Pressure
Battery Monitor
Standard Horizon VHF
Garmin Chart Plotter (w/ Sonar)
Bring Her Home
Build Her A Shelter
Zip Her In for The Winter
Start Upgrading Parts
Remove Existing Engine Cover
Begin Assembling Replacement Equipment
Begin Removing Obsolete Equipment
Engine instrument panel (far left) and engine controls (far right).
Tiller and rudder post extension also have been removed by this date.
Begin Prototyping Console Structure
(Prototypes made from 1/2" MDF)
Continue Prototyping Console Structure
(Prototypes made from MDF)
My Christmas Gift From Jake:
For Christmas 2020, my son Jake gave me a future day of labor on Ginger. Jeff (my brother) had previously ordered me in no uncertain terms to create a place on Ginger to hang a radar reflector. I already had mentally extended that to a signal mast with an anchor light on top. When Jake presented his gift to me at Christmas, I immediately thought of this mast -- a project perfect for Jake's interests, skills, and quality standards.
"A bird's mouth spar is a way to make a hollow mast or spar from wood for use on a (boat). It typically uses 8 identical pieces of wood or staves glued together. The outside is then trimmed to produce a round spar. The main goal is to save weight." (From Duckworks Magazine.)
Below is an example of a birdsmouth structure.
In the following slideshow, Jake sets about clamping the glued strips into a cylinder.
After the glue has set, Jake begins smoothing the mast. Thanks, Eric, for the use of the power planer!
Then, with much hand planing and hand sanding, Jake produced the final spar that is this smooth along its entire length.
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My research into MDO panels suggests that pre-sealing all panel edges before painting is essential to prevent early deterioration from water entry. That's going to include all cutouts, and the interior reinforcing panels for cutouts, since that exposes the same kind of surface as does a raw panel edge. While I'm at it, I'm also sealing the cutouts in the mahogany instrument panel.
Cover Glue-Up
A web of clamps!
Remove Clamps
Somewhere under all those clamps was the cover! I scraped off extra glue and relieved some tight-fitting moving parts.
Attach Cover To Base
I also added some heavy brass hinges with sturdy backing plates, and a riser arm adjuster to hold the cover in a raised position.
Jake crafted this signal mast cap on his grandfather's ancient Atlas lathe.
Photos in order:
Mast cap, inverted (top of mast will insert into the large visible cavity)
Mast cap, upright (anchor light base will insert into the smaller visible cavity)
