New member, new Skagit owner...from Wisconsin!

[drb007]

Hello all! Just wanted to introduce myself and my Skagit to you all, and hope that as I restore it this will be a good resource. I stumbled onto this Skagit 17, which I am told is a 1960 Skimaster. I was looking for a vintage boat horn for my daughter's boat project and found this listed about 90 miles from me. The seller said he was planning to scrap it, and had only purchased it for the Merc 100. He had offered to take the horn off and send it to me to save me a trip, but I worked the entire boat and trailer into a trade for a trailer I had. I had never heard or seen a Skagit before, but as soon as I saw it in person, I fell in love. The floor is already out, and a new pressure treated floor is cut out but not installed. I will use it to make templates as I prefer to use marine plywood for the floor. It will need a new transom, so I will remove the deck and do that and floor, flip it and refinish the hull. I have to decide on colors and such. For now, I have a 1977 Evinrude 85hp I plan to put on for power.

I did not get a title with the boat, as the guy bought it from didn't have one. I was finally able to track down the last titled owner who lives across the state from me. Not only is he getting me a title, but he says he has some video of the boat from the first time he launched it!

All of the trim is intact and in good condition, and the glass spilt windshield is perfect.

I appreciate any advice, comments, or direct you all can give me. I can't find anyone out here in WI that knows anything about Skagit, as you all out on the West coast seem to have most of them.

[Bflaherty]

Welcome! Congrats on your boat find!! You're correct about most of them being out west (they were built in LaConner Washington so it makes sense that most stayed out this way).

Wise move on using the pressure treated wood only as a template, while pressure treating does help prevent rot, it is usually done to very soft wood that doesn't work well for boat floors...

Post lost pictures of your progress! We have several members who have restored many skagits and most enjoy sharing their knowledge and tricks. Definitely search around the forum archives as there have been several threads documenting almost entire restorations so you can see what your in for and what things to watch out for...

Good luck! Welcome to club!!!

[Helmar]

Nice score. Those boats have made it all the way to Australia.
Nice thing about them, not much wood on those. Just the floor and transom for the most part.

Welcome aboard too.

[Kelly]

Cool boat! Keep the pics coming!

[drb007]

I don't have much for pictures just yet. I am up to my elbows in the restoration of my daughter's Larson All American. It's been a really fun father/daughter project. The Skagit is tucked away in the haymow. I did stick my 85HP Evinrude on it for now...
Once the Larson is done, I will bring the Skagit home and begin work. I have read that some of these boats have very thin fiberglass stringers, barely able to tolerate being stood on. I am happy to say that is not the case with this one. These stringers are very sturdy and thick. I am impressed with the build of this boat. I can't wait to bring it back to life. Does anyone have any pictures of the original color schemes and interiors?

[bruceb]

Hi-
Welcome to the site !
Yours is a pretty rare boat, as Skagit ceased production in late 1960 and some boats were finished by Howard Roberts personally in 61 and sold. The detail of the stripe on the top of the hull side is the indicator of the year. Yours tells me it's a 60 or late 60, could have been in the batch finished in 61. The color scheme is also kind of rare, they didn't make a lot of boats with the hull being red or another "darker" color- most were white hulls with colors such as red( most common), blue, teal, black, salmon (pink). It's cool to see a collection of 1950s glass boats together- two tone combos much like the automakers of the era.
Skagit was known for beefy hollow glass stringers, ahead of their time, especially on cruisers, and as they got closer to 1961, the stringers got "downsized", so glad yours is substantial. Other brands of the day had scrimped and downsized stringers to a ridiculously weak point. We came across a 1958 16 Skimaster that had a 1/4 inch thick glass cloth and resin flat floor on top of stringers that was super waterproofed. Quite a few of Skagit boats were custom made for buyers, a not so good deal as they never made a profit because of the "one off" concept. So your floor might have been an experiment.
In looking at the helm area and forward deck of your boat, reminded me of seeing the mold for that model (really) laying in some grass on the old factory property about 14 years ago in La Conner, the only hint the factory existed there. Our guide was the son of Skagit PR /sales manager, Cole Cummings jr.
As for interior color schemes, to my knowledge, only some small flyers for specific models were produced in 1960 by the factory, and these were in b&w. Only brochure in color for Skagit was 1959. A 1958 brochure had b&w pics w/ color graphics. In 1956 and 57, only b&w ads from magazines are survivors.
So thanks for posting the pics of your nice find, and, yes, we like Larsen All Americans, Thunderhawks, so keep us up on pics of that project as well ! Thanks.....

[drb007]

I'm not sure you'd be impressed with the color scheme in person...it has been painted with what looks like a 6" brush and a can of paint. It's good from about 30 feet away. I hope to be able to get a better idea of the original color scheme when I sand that red off. From the brochures I could find online, it had a bench seat up front with a low area in the middle to climb in over, and a simple bench seat in the back. Sound right?

[Helmar]

I'm not sure you'd be impressed with the color scheme in person...it has been painted with what looks like a 6" brush and a can of paint. It's good from about 30 feet away. I hope to be able to get a better idea of the original color scheme when I sand that red off. From the brochures I could find online, it had a bench seat up front with a low area in the middle to climb in over, and a simple bench seat in the back. Sound right?

Welcome aboard.
If anyone knows the history on these old girls, its going to be Bruce as they have been in his family since Skagit was in business.
Yes, Very rare find for sure. Most I have seen that were the 17's like that were Convertibles and well, not very appealing looking to me.

The ones I have seen were very similar looking to the 17 Skimasters. Will attach a picture of mine and maybe some others.

You might have to replace the wood but the Classic Glass should all be intact with No issues.

Two part Epoxy paint, well, you are limited in what your colors might be but found some other paint manufactures of Marine paint. Marty uses a place up in Port Townsend that has a good epoxy type paint but with many color options.
As long as you don't leave your boat in the water and keep her out of the sun when in storage, your epoxy paint job will last a Very long time.

I own 4 skagits myself, a Uniflite 17 as well as a Dorsett Catalina.
Can't let these girls go to the crusher as once they are gone, Thats It, Gone is Gone !!!

I would like to think of these old girls as Fine Wine, they get better with age.

Oh, and your paint job, we have some of those or at least I do.
I call me my 20-20 paint job. At 20 mph and at 20 feet, they look Nice.
But like I said, with the Epoxy paints, you can roll and tip them for a smother looking finish.

These old girls are still head turners out here. Any time we launch, its a small crowd.

Enjoy