1962 Lyman Cruisette – Restoring a classic
Jan 11, 2018
Bras d’or Boatworks have been busy with a wide range of projects, but one in particular, caught our eye, a 1962 Lyman Cruisette, which will be completely restored by Peter Patterson and his crew.
Bernard Lyman began building boats in Cleveland, Ohio in 1875. His son William took over the business in 1928 and a few years later moved the company’s operations to Sandusky. After surviving the depression, the Lyman began to prosper and in the years following the Second World War they were able to ride the rapid expansion of recreational boating. Lyman was remarkably successful in mass producing wooden boats at a price people afford and production peaked at 5,000 boats in 1958! Although the company kept building wooden boats into the 1970s, they could not compete with fiberglass production boats.
Peter says, “So far, we have replaced the forward half of both sheer planks. We have replaced much of the deck framing with ash and replaced the deck with 1/2″ ply with 6oz cloth and epoxy. We are currently fitting Sapele covering boards and king planks. We had a nice piece of South American mahogany and got the whole deck out of the same plank. The original windscreen and coamings have been refinished and the original hardware is being re-chromed.
After stripping off the existing paint, which had failed, we primed the hull with Awlgrip hi-build primer. Block sanded it flat and then re-primed with epoxy primer before fairing and then re-priming with Alexseal finishing primer. After another hand sanding she will receive finish coat of white LP paint.” Peter notes that although the Lymans were mass produced and built to a price, they are very well-built boats.
The boat, named Time Out, is owned by a client living in Australia who intends to use it as a commuter based at his, soon to be built, summer home on the Bras d’ Or Lakes. We’ll have more pictures once the project is complete.
www.brasdorboatworks.com
All photos Credit: P. Patterson
