Uh oh. 1958 Skagit 20 Hardtop

[Kelly]

Thanks Joe. I'll hold off ordering until I hear from you (or Bruce).
John the hardtop will get new/newer outboard power for sure. 90hp, possibly more.

[John Nelson]

It appears that over time support for the windshield assembly switches from the fiberglass frame to the glass and the rubber stuck to it. Neither of the express boats are going to have a successful repair without an added support. The cabin top is not reinforced for this and ultimately support is going to come from the bulkhead. What would look better a large wood frame like other boat have or a stainless bracket from edge of the cabin to the top of the frame. 17 express takes a "full sized" window with a bit cut out of the center too. The cars came with green tint glass and wagons had clear glass. At a wrecking yard you could get a window with one broken side cheap and they could use the extra rubber any way. They may have also challenged the supply too. There's seems to be about 20 available nationally now?

[Kelly]

Hey John maybe finishing off the inside of the windshield frame by adding more glass and gel coat for that rounded, finished look would help strengthen it. Just a thought. Structurally, both of mine appear to be pretty strong and don't have any real cracks or breaks in the glass. A small hole here and there to fill but that's it.

[Kelly]

An empty shell. I'm fairly certain a lot of boat projects end up stopping here and fade away from existence. Not this one! There's still a pulse which means she's still sea worthy!

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[TheBronze]

Wow. Looks like the 404 waay back in the day. Replace those through hulls while you can get to them. Or do like I did, and glass them over....

[Kelly]

Good idea John, maybe glassing over the toilet one is best.

Here's another glory shot
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[Kelly]

Well it's time to take the windows to Skip. I had to put them back together and one of them took some work and a roll of tape to make it look like a window again. Take a look...

[TheBronze]

Yikes! What a mess! I hope they can be replaced without too much trouble.

Kelly, a tip. When I had the 404 down to the stringers, walking in the boat was tricky. I ended up putting some small plywood boards in that I could walk on. Keep em small so they can be moved about and you'll have at least a bit of safe walking space until you get the new wood in.

When does the new wood go in?

[Bflaherty]

Kelly,

Skip is on the verge of retirement and remaking my windshield (under warranty) might just push him over the edge... While working the boat show this past weekend I met some folks from Tacoma who are also making custom lexan and plexi windows!
http://keltech-imagine.com/
They have apparently been competing with Middy (Skip) and Taylor Made for decades! Might be worth looking into.

[Kelly]

Brian I've been talking with Skip since you gave me his info. Today I took the windows to him and 1 1/2 hrs later I left with the windows faithfully in his hands. I got a quote from keltech back in November and they wanted nearly $400 more than Skip. Once he retires though, keltech is the next best option for sure.

[Kelly]

John, unfortunately and fortunately I'm not doing the the tear down and build up. I'm leaving that to Helmar as he's the pro and I just don't have the time with my new career to put in honest attention to a restoration project. Now that doesn't mean I'm totally hands off. He's doing the build up and I'm doing the finish work. I've also been sourcing parts for it, which as I'm sure you know can be a full time job in itself.
Thanks for the tip though!

[TheBronze]

Got it. I remember those days. Laying in the floor was going to be the hard part...Years later and I'm still provisioning the interior! haha.

[Kelly]

Finally got a chance to connect with a fellow Skagit owner and friend Bruce and talk boats for an afternoon. Although I was (still am) a little under the weather, I enjoyed seeing some great memorabilia and documents covering most things Skagit. Very Cool and very much appreciated!
I also happened to pick up the bow light mast off of ebay for a song and dance, so the timing was perfect when I received my Skagit Pennant/Burgee. The picture and new pennant make the light and mast look good, but there are some small flaws in both however together they'll go right along with the hardtop.
Can't wait to install this set up! Thanks to Bruce for finding the thumb screws for the light. After using my tap/die set to clean the light housing threads, the screws installed perfectly.

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[Karl]

Nice picture!

[bruceb]

That was a super score on the light mast- those are like hen's teeth, you got one in nice shape !