Between 1957 and 1970 Cheoy Lee produced approximatley 133 folkboats originaly sold as the the Offshore 25, better known as the Frisco Flyer.

There were three versions of this small blue-water boat. 91 in all wood and 42 in Fiberglass with wood. There were 55 Type I's and II's and 78 of the Type III's. The Type I (aka the Pacific Clipper) was an all wood boat, had a mast that was stepped through the deck, a traditional folkboat fractional rig and a smaller cabin. The Type II's had a larger teak trunk cabin and a masthead rig. The Type III's had a larger teak dog-house cabin, some "standing" headroom and a masthead rig stepped on deck. The earlier Type III's were solid teak built onto a fiberglass hull and the later Type III’s (1966-1970) were made entirely out of fiberglass with teak paneling.

This boat, Yard # 1507 is one of approximatley only 30 Type III's left. It was out of the water for the previous 16 years when I got it and then about another 5 more while I rebuilt it. It was an empty, cracked hull when given to me and needed a complete restoration/refit. It took about five years of long nights and weekends of working outside under a tarp, in the garage or in the boat during cold winter nights, wet rainy afternoons and everything in between. The occasionally eager assistant on the project was my four (now ten) year old daughter who can have this boat as soon as I convince her mother to get another one. This blog is the record of all the work that "we" have done to the boat as well as some other somewhat related events with friends and family. Eventually, this will be put together in a book which will stay with the boat.

She still has plenty more to go but for now, Jackaroe has been in the water for a couple years now and thats all that matters...

To see past projects, use the links below.



Questions and comments to Matthewearlgarthwait@gmail.com





Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Head started

Since there's not much new to post these days, I'll put this up...

One of the less exciting projects so far has been dismantling and cleaning the head. I guess it has to be done eventually if I plan on using it on the boat. I think I could live without one, but I have a feeling I would be a very lonely guy if there wasn't one on board. The rest of the family would likely be following behind on Cicada or Elsa.

It came with a Wilcox Crittenden Junior.

The company still make heads but not this model. Fortunately, you can still get parts. This head is like an old Seagull motor... Not a lot of moving parts, dependable and when its eventually not dependable, it’s a no-brainer to fix. This one, like allot of the older heads is solid bronze. From what I’ve seen (and I have seen way too many toilets on the web lately) people seem to really like them and they can even fetch a good amount of money if I dont want it.

It was in about as good shape as you can imagine a toilet would be after 42 years. Covered with years of paint and other bits. (Sadly, I did take pictures). Taking this thing apart was quick and straightforward, cleaning though it has not been a great job. I think Maki was a little disgusted when she came down into the workshop one evening and found me and the "kid" (age 3 ½) wrestling with it. I had the WD 40 in one hand and a huge monkey wrench in the other. My daughter was at the ready holding a crescent wrench and a hacksaw (She loves her new red hacksaw Santa got her for Christmas). Maki was especially pleased when I found a dead mouse that years ago went in the head looking for who knows what and couldn't get back out. My daughter didnt see that, but the dog was really interested.

We only ruined a couple of bolts that were frozen beyond repair and will have to order them new, but the rest seems to be in pretty good shape. On the boat, there wasn't much to do except to remove the existing plumbing. I'll address the sea cocks later in the summer.

For anyone who cares (and I am sure absolutely no one does) I'll post some photos…..

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