Woolsey Life

Its been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything, I don’t really have time to put anything thoughtful right now but I wanted to post something just to keep things alive and let you know I am still around. My spare time has been devoted to some boat stuff. Summer time tends to get me thinking about the water. Check out some cool clips of custom and classic wood boats doing their thing:
{WARNING: THIS IS BOAT GEEK STUFF}

A Chris Craft running as seen from shore.

A little newer than mine, but similar to what mine will be like.  Its a little newer but its a utility runabout just like mine.

This one is a barrel back runabout, very common and reminiscent of Indiana Jones.

This one isn’t old, but its home built and its done very well.  Its another example of a utility runabout.

Aside from the registration documents we got with the boat we also got a business sized envelope full of old pictures and a journal of all the times out and who went and where.  So, I have started working on posting that information on my Boat Blog since that is a safer place to keep nostalgic information like that then in an envelope in my house.  Check out THIS POST over at the Blog Restoration blog and you can also see some of those old pictures.  I think it was a morning before they were getting ready to go out.

Fun stuff.

I have been thinking about my boat a lot lately, especially since its coming up on Summer. Don’t get any ideas, its not done yet but I have been thinking about what to call it. I have never been into naming boats before but this one is different. Its an old wood boat and back when it was built it was very common for any boat to have a name. The other reason is that this boat is a custom boat and therefore doesn’t have any kind of name at all, i.e. Glastron, Bayliner, Tige, Mastercraft, etc.

So what do I call her?

So after much deliberation and some research I think I am going to pull the trigger on this boat thing. I have had another opportunity to poke around the boat and to kick the keel. It is structurally sound and really only needs to be cleaned out and the old paint can come off. I haven’t decided what this boat will look like when its done but it will look like it was made in the 50’s. Now, how it will run is another story. The more I have thought about it the more I am leaning towards fuel injection. For those of you that have no idea, this is the form of aspiration that engines have been using for decades now. It is cleaner and more efficient, which means not just better fuel economy but better use of fuel which means power! I don’t anticipate this project costing much money at all, just time. I set up a blog just for the boat where I will keep more detailed pictures and posts of whats happening.  Its going to be in my links section or you can go to boat.woolseylife.com. It will mostly be a scrap book for myself. Either way, its going to be a fun and inexpensive project that will lead to lots of fun!

But I grew up in a classic car family. In fact, our wedding was host to about 5 classic cars - and I don’t mean Mustangs and Malibu’s, I mean cars like a ‘56 Chevy truck, a ‘35 Packard Limo (the bridal party arrived in style), a ‘38 Buick sedan and the like; a little off the main street of classic cars. So, as a result of that component of my childhood I do have an eye for classic cars. But, thats about it, just an eye - no real desire to work on one or even to go out of my way to own one. Now, if we are talking about 1950-something or earlier era wooden boats its another story. I have always thought that restoring a classic boat would be a lot of fun and would result in a great relational recreational opportunity. I grew up on power boats and my parents still have one. But something about a wood boat with a bull nosed bow, short windshield and odd seating arrangements just gets my imagination running. So when my dad called me to tell me he had bought one for its engine I thought it was an opportunity worth investigating. So, I am investigating. Am I crazy? Or is this just cool and way different? Maybe both, but I will keep you posted. You can see the other pictures of this boat in my photos page.