Renovating RestoringRoss
If you go here you may note a change to this blog thingy.
I replaced RESTORING YACHTS with RESTORING THE TIN HOUSE.
The former never got any attention while the latter seemed to warrant its own category.
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Your boat articles were entertaining, Ross. I think about them often.
Boat restorers in Warren, OH, newspaper, feel your pain.-
Lewis restores damaged wooden boats, specifically old Lyman boats. As an authority on the boats and the restoration process, he pointed out that it costs “anywhere between $10,000 to $12,000 to repair these boats. When you’re done, they’re worth about $5,000.” Obviously, repairing wooden boats is Lewis’s passion, not a money-making side hustle. He explained that working on boats “is a hobby you have to enjoy — you have to enjoy the journey.”
Lewis, 67, is a 1976 graduate of Warren Western Reserve High School. Lewis spent 40 years working for the Warren City School District as its maintenance carpenter. He retired on July 1, 2024. He and his wife, Sue, live in Cortland. Sue is from Johnston.
Sue said she mostly makes the cushions and stages the boats for shows, but also helps with the restoration process. The boats they work on are old and vary in degree of deterioration. Most ribs that fit around the hull need to be replaced.
“The hull is a lapstrake planking system,” Sue explained. “The ribs are bent, and the planking is attached over it, making the hull. The ribs are heated in the steam box, then pulled out and bent into shape.”
Lewis described the fitting process, stating, “The ribs are heated to 212 degrees, and while hot, they are pliable and can be shaped.”
Sue added that it is a two-person job to fit the ribs.
“It’s hot and dangerous,” she said. “I wear gloves all the way up my arm to protect myself.”
Fitting the ribs to the hull is a job that requires some speed.
“You have to work fast,” Sue said.
Lewis explained, “The wood is only pliable for about 45 seconds; after that, it is likely to break when bent.” He added that more than one rib had broken during installation.
Lewis proudly pointed to a picture of his father, Jim Lewis, with his fishing boat, a 16-foot Penn Yann, built in Penn Yann, New York.
“We grew up around boats,” Lewis said. “We went on fishing trips and trips to Canada with my dad. One of the reasons I like working on the boats is that it reminds me of my dad, reminds me of his stories and the fun we had together.”
Lewis laughed as he related the time that his brother, Bill, and he were out on Mosquito Lake in the boat, “fishing and bailing water at the same time.”
Over the years, Lewis explained, work on that boat “became my penance — it was too much to keep up with.” He continued, saying, “One day, I made the decision to push it off the back of the trailer into the lake and watched it burn.” Now, he wishes he had kept it.
The first boat Lewis purchased to restore was a 1959 16.5-foot Lyman boat.
It took him four years to complete the project. He noted that, “restoring a boat is tedious work and very time-consuming — hand scraping the hull, stripping it, painting it, etc.”
He named the boat “Maggie Too,” after the couple’s Wheaton terrier. The Maggie Too is an international boat, according to Sue. “It’s made three trips to Combermere, Ontario, Canada.”
In 2004, the couple purchased their second and third Lyman boats, both 1959 17-foot Runabouts, when Lewis saw them advertised online in Toledo. He laughed as he explained, “I was only going to buy the one, but Sue’s dad, Phillip Moore, gave us the money to buy the second one.”
Lewis said they stored the boats in a barn and, in 2006, they “built a shop to work in.”
They named the second boat “AvaLew,” after their Yorkie-poodle mix, Ava. This boat took eight years to restore. “A lot was going on in my life at that time,” Lewis explained. “I was working full time, had young kids, and was building my house in Bazetta.”
The couple is members of the Lyman Boat Association. According to its website, “The Lyman Boat Owners Association is proud to be the original and oldest Lyman boat enthusiast organization in the U.S. and Canada. The LBOA’s mission is to promote, educate, and preserve Lyman boats for the enjoyment of future generations.” Lewis and Sue attend the Lyman Boat shows yearly in Ashtabula or Lakeside.
The Lyman Boat Company began in Cleveland in 1875, founded by German immigrants Bernard and Herman Lyman. In the 1930s, the Lyman building plant moved to Sandusky, and the last Lyman boats were built in 1972.
The boat Lewis is currently working on will most likely be the last one he restores.
“I’m 67, got some arthritis and don’t know if I have another boat in me,” he said.
This boat has not been named yet; boats are christened when they are finished and in the water for their “New” maiden voyage.
The Lewises call Mosquito Lake their home port, but they have taken their boats to Lake Erie, Upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Whether or not he finds another boat to work on, Lewis said he continues to enjoy the process and the end products, whether he displays them at the boat show or cruises around the lake with Sue and their current dog, Murffy.
Shoot. I meant to go back and read your “Restoring Yachts” posts, now that I’ve finally finished watching all the Tally Ho videos. You got me hooked on them when you mentioned the launch back on April 27, 2025. I’d never heard of the series, but the storytelling grabbed me and held on, just like your storytelling does. Thanks so much for introducing me to the Sampson Boat Co and Leo Goolden. I enjoy following both your adventures now, and I eagerly look forward to his posts almost as much as look forward to yours.