dropped the boat

[jakeesspoo]

Put one of our boats in this weekend (28' Sportscraft). Our boathouse has a electric lift in it so its not that big of a deal to drop it in takes about a half hour as the winch runs very slow, it takes longer to reset the posts that we put in the well to guide the boat in. I took the boat for a test run while my dad and grandpa were working in the boathouse. The boat ran great but I took it real slow on the way out into the bay. There was a lot of debri floating around in the bay as usual this time of the year, some posts and logs, one very big log was floating off of Cedar Point. I have never hit one but I know of people who have especially when there sitting a foot or two below the water. As far as I know I was the first person out on the bay this year as this is especially early to put our boat in but you can usually start getting the big perch soon I dont like taking the Sportscraft out much as its a heavy, large boat that drinks gas and last summers gas prices were outrageous. We also have a 1958 19' lyman with a 109 Gray Marine engine that is great on gas. Thats the boat that I like to take out. I would rather ride in a wooden boat anyday over a glass one...

[Don McCombs]

Jake, do you have any pictures of the Lyman?

[jakeesspoo]

I have pictures of the boat somewhere, Ill have to look for some. The boat has been in my family since the sixties. My grandpa and his brother bought it while it was sitting on the cedar point breakwall, got it back in, and fixed it. We also had another Lyman for years a large 27' cabin cruiser that was very top heavy and a real bad ride in poor weather. They only made seven of those, they made them during the winter, and then when spring came and they put one in to test it they scrapped that design. We gave it to a family friend a few years ago after we got the sportscraft. I cant remember a year going by since I can remember that I wasnt underneath a boat painting the bottom. At that one time when we had both of the Lymans I was stuck painting both. I was really glad to see that 27' go. The 19' Lyman is no show boat but is solid and runs great. Since I can remember I know we have just changed out the engine in it at least three times. It was so easy to do the last time only took us about 3 hours. It was easier to come across a good running engine out of a rotten boat then to repair the old engine and stick the money into it. We actually have a spare engine that runs great in one of our rentals garages. I had bought that whole boat that it came out of for 200.00 while sitting at the bar. We took the engine out of the boat, took the good hardware, and then cut it up into pieces. When I was a kid my dad did the same thing but dropped the old boad right in the backyard under a huge maple tree. It was the best play area a kid could ever have. Every kid in the neighborhood played on that boat. Lymans were made right here in sandusky, so they are pretty common to the area, or at least were. Every year you see less of them due to the lack of upkeep on a wooden boat...