In last month’s reports we heard about how this was shaping up to be a good winter for most Chesapeake area boatshops. The good news has continued, and most shops are already looking forward to and planning a busy upcoming spring commissioning and launching season. Scooter Pierce, Service Writer at Hartge Yacht Harbor in Galesville, MD, shared his optimistic outlook with me. “We have a lot of services available to boaters: mechanical, carpentry, etc. We have a whole building dedicated to painting and refinishing. Knock on wood; we have not seen a winter slowdown at all. Our haul out, winter storage, and paint business has been good. Our mechanic has been very busy, so I’d say it has been a very good winter.” I asked Scooter about prospects for the spring season. “We send out our spring work order requests (to owners) in mid February. If the weather permits, we’ll start painting bottoms and launching in March. It seems like we just got these guys out of the water and shrink wrapped, and it’s time to put them back in.” [gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="7807,7808,7809,7810,7811" orderby="rand"] Dave Hannam of Classic Watercraft Restoration in Mayo, MD, reports he is moving forward with the winter projects and deadlines in the new shop. Most of the startup kinks have been worked out, including the installation of a new woodshop dust collection system. Dave is completing final coatings on the 1957 Sportsman 19-footer. The 1926 Lyman is coming back in to have a new paint job after the owner wanted the boat to look as good as the transom built last year. After spending the summer cruising around the Annapolis area, Gin Mill, the 1990 20-foot Hacker Craft is also coming back in for a few more coats of varnish to add more protection to the well-used woody. Already lined up for spring, Old School, the 1941 Morin Craft 22-footer, is going to spend some time in the shop after blasting around the South River. Her new 454 power plant rattled loose some parts after some hardcore runs in the Bay and she will also get some touch ups to the top side and deck in time for summer. Tracy Munson of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels, MD, sends us the following winter update. “CBMM shop manager Michael Gorman reports the winter months mean several projects are underway. Martha’s topside planks have all been replaced and the first coats of paint applied, with more painting anticipated before her Olds 455 is refurbished and the 1934 Hooper Island draketail splashes this spring. The 1920 buy boat Winnie Estelle went up on CBMM’s marine railway for the first time since the museum acquired her in June. On one of winter’s warmer days, Winnie’s zincs were replaced and the bottom painted by museum volunteers. Adapting the lines from a Lambdin canoe in CBMM’s collection, shipwrights and apprentices have also begun working on a new three-log sailing canoe. With a hull built from three 26-foot local loblolly pine logs, the canoe will be constructed in full public view, with an anticipated spring or early summer launch. Open daily, the museum is offering free admission each Friday in February, giving guests a great opportunity to see much of this work first-hand. More info at cbmm.org.” Smokey Glover of Willard Marine in Virginia Beach, VA, sends us this update: “We have two Willard 6.7 meter SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) RIBs in our shop for repairs and upgrades. One belongs to the Military Sealift Command and the other to NOAA. These are two examples of the government, military, and commercial support going on at our Virginia Beach facility. Willard Marine is based out of Anaheim, CA, where their corporate offices and manufacturing plant are located, with a manufacturing, repair, and support facility in Virginia Beach.” [gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="7821,7820,7819,7818,7817" orderby="rand"] On the 160th year after it was first launched, the Baltimore, MD-based USS Constellation must undergo an almost $2 million hull restoration. To do this, it requires a new temporary structure to provide protection during the rebuilding process. An easy solution was to utilize premium shrink wrap from Dr. Shrink, the Michigan-based supplier of most of the ubiquitous white stuff, professionally installed by Annapolis-based Atlantic Shrink Wrap. The task was to create an enclosed structure from the middle of the vessel to completely surround the hull. Controlling the temperature of the work area and underside of the boat was also a high priority. Atlantic Shrink Wrap’s portfolio of unique shrink-wrapped scaffolding projects over large ships in Bangkok, Thailand, and the U.S. Coast Guard yard in Baltimore, where the USS Constellation is dry docked, made it the perfect company to complete such a project. After consulting with Dr. Shrink, Atlantic Shrink Wrap determined the 12-mil white shrink wrap would be ideal for this job. Then, the USS Constellation was raised and docked inside the World War II era floating dry dock USS Oak Ridge. The Oak Ridge is part of the USCG Baltimore Fleet Support Yard. With 205-foot long stretches of open air space between the hull of the Constellation and the walls of the Oak Ridge, the 12-mil material is strong enough to withstand heavy ice and snow loads throughout the winter months. Atlantic Shrink Wrap coordinated the building of scaffolding around the Constellation’s lower half to facilitate both the mounting of the shrink wrap and the hull repairs beneath. The front and back of the vessel were closed off by continuing the shrink wrap over pre-erected scaffolding. Large entrance doors were framed into it to allow access to tools and materials. Built in 1854 in Norfolk and decommissioned in 1955, the sloop-of-war Constellation was the last all-sail vessel constructed for the U.S. Navy and the second to carry her illustrious name. She became a training ship in 1894 for the Naval Training Center in Newport, RI, helping train more than 60,000 recruits during World War I. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, the Constellation is scheduled to be back in her home berth in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in early 2015. George Hazzard of Wooden Boat Restoration in Millington, MD, sends us this update. “We are still working on Trouper II, the 1935 39-foot Consolidated, re-painting the cabin tops and varnishing the cabin sides. We are also rewiring the 12-volt system replacing old wires and adding more breakers for safety. Nearly complete is the 1956 23-foot Chris Craft Holiday with her new upholstery by Oatley’s Top Shop in Galena. On warmer days we are building the coats of varnish on the 20-foot 1953 Chris Craft Riviera.” From Susan Campbell at Campbell’s Boat Yards in Oxford, MD, comes this comprehensive update. “This spring promises to be busy as the crew at Bachelor Point will commission and launch more than 100 boats that have spent the winter on the hard. We will wrap up several larger projects, such as installing complete marine electronics systems on three boats and refitting a Campbell’s Custom 37 that was recently sold. The new owners chose Garmin displays, an auto pilot, and radar. We have painted the hulls of four boats with Awl Grip over the winter. Our projects included a newly purchased J/100 to be used for Bay racing and a Hinckley B-40 that is a family heirloom. We continue to solicit additional paint work and can accommodate boats up to 60 feet, both power and sail. The carpentry shop remains busy with ongoing work on Mr. Jim, a restoration of a Chesapeake Bay buy boat … In addition to bottom paint, washing, waxing, and cleaning, we expect the usual mechanical work with regards to commissioning engines and various systems on many of our storage boats. Now would be the time to think about any late winter projects as well as considering your summer schedule and planning a trip to Oxford.” [gallery type="rectangular" ids="7816,7815,7814,7813,7812"] Martin Hardy of Composite Yacht in Trappe, MD, shares with us what must be the most unique custom job of the winter. “We were commissioned to build a prototype kid’s pirate ship that is propelled by a small trolling motor and can carry four kids. We are doing a complete deck replacement on an older 40-foot Maryland Pilot’s launch. The crew just pulled another 32 by 11-foot, six-inch Deadrise out of the mold for a local owner who will finish the boat himself.” Meg Roney of Mathews Brothers in Denton, MD, says, “Our paint booth is busy with the second round of boats to be varnished. We’ll also rotate a Patriot 29 into the paint booth for new paint. The glass shop is in the process of assembling a new boat. In the middle and main bays of our shop, our storage boats have been rotating through with various winter projects including engine service, bow thruster service, windshield replacement, windlass replacement, and troubleshooting everything from navigation lights to electronics to thru hulls and everything in between. The spring scheduling has already begun with launch dates on the calendar. Be sure to check our blog (mathewsboats.com/blog) and daily pictures to see the latest.” Brit Lilly of Lilly Sport Boats in Arnold, MD, is his usual upbeat self with the following report: “We are slam packed with work this winter. I’m a month behind on the waiting list, and I’ve got another 12 boats that I have to get done by April first!”