The Boat: A 1957 Sea King, all wooden, Lapstrake construction, white hull, bright finish interior. Two forward facing bench seats with the front seat back divided in the center. The engine is the original 35hp Evinrude Lark. To restore the hull, I've got to strip the whole shabang down to wood and repaint the hull white and revarnish the deck and interior. Last time it was varnished someone got it all over the chrome trim around the edge of the deck and that will have to be polished off. The windshield needs to be taken out and refit the rubber seal around the bottom of it. The chrome hardware fittings are all showing their age and need a good polishing. The lights I will probably convert over to LEDs to make them more durable. To really get picky, the padding where the deck meets the interior is old and discolored and I'd like to either very carefully scrub it out or just replace it with some fresh stuff.

The Engine: One word, squirrells. The boat sat for like 20 years unused in an old garage, and then my parents barn. At some point, squirrells nested inside the engine cover. They didn't just nest, they snacked... on the wiring, ARGH!! So there are some ignition problems right now getting fire to the plugs and starter motor. This is a pain in the butt.

With my father's help (really, him telling me exactly what to do), we started off by replacing the points and the coils, which had cracked over the years. Next up was to replace the water pump, which had also cracked from age. While we had the lower unit apart, the bearings all needed to be replaced, we could see that at some point they had gone bad and been discolored from overheating. Still yet to address, is the carbeurator which will be rebuilt at some point also. The electric start wiring ias all still good up to the motor itself, but the harness inside the engine housing itself is the problem. Somewhere there is a bad connection that needs to be rooted out and rewired. It was rather frustrating after spending a full weekend working on the regular mechanical difficulties, only to discover that the starter wouldn't fire.

The Trailer: The trailer first had to be made road worthy enough to get it out of my parents barn. New rubber, new tie downs, rewelding a cross brace, and new rope on the winch. To be a permanent solution, it needs an extension, as the winch is way too close to the front of the trailer, new lights, and a paint job.