Announcing The Much Anticipated 2026 Woody Floater Challenge
B getting ready, are you?
First and foremost, sorry for the dramatic build up. but hey, hopefully your expectations are as low as my standards. We are about to embark on a new feature this late fall and winter. The Woody Floater Challenge. So? One may ask, what is this ship?
Oh, you know you want one of these swirls of gold. Turn that pile of crap into a golden pile of crap.
Here is the challenge, if you are up to it. You have from now until Lake Dora to get that pile of unrestored crap ready, flouting and going boating for the Lake Dora show. And here is the real challenge. For under $3,000. So basically you have 4 months and $3K to get it going. You can start on Dec 1, 2025. This way we all start together, and you have time to beg borrow and steal materials. BTW, no one cares if you start early.
B was hit by a building years ago.
This is the easy part
Here are the loose rules. Not to be confused with Loose Stools
1. It must be wood
2. It has to stay afloat for the entire weekend. No trailer queen
3. It has to be able to run around under its own power.
Thats it. Cheating is encouraged, and any quick fix crap you want to try. Flex seal, drywall screws. We dont care. Although the closer to better, the better. We will all be the judge. AND if you sink. Well. It is alegator infested water. So? cheating and failure has its cost.
Engine hasnt been started in over 15 years. We think, never tried
Interior is half decent
Why? Why am I doing this ship?
Many of the boats sitting idle in the barn, beside the barn, garage, have been there for years, and feel overwhelming. And too costly. And to be real honest, if you wanted to pay to have them done right… with be far more than the value of the boat in resale. BUT if you could just go boating for that 4 or 5 times a year in your cheap ass woody boat. Who really cares? AND patching and covering up crap, aint gonna make it any worse than it is now. You can always just tear out your high quality patch job.
Her bottom is beyond shot. And yes thats one of two holes
AND the end benny of all this? We can for once show the universe that you can be a cheap ass cheat skate and own a woody boat, AND with enough paint, glue, tape, it can look somewhat respectable. Thats the challenge
Oh boy
Ready for the chaos. And short cuts, new ideas, and corners cut. Even if its not perfect, I am not ruining anything that cant be replaced one someone wants to do a propper job. Right now she is just holding down the floor and cradle.
If I am the only one doing this. Well, it is what it is, and I will have all the bragging rights. AND a boat in the water. If you are up for it. Send me your boat and your challenge. Plywoody? You name it, lets get that dusk magnet out of the barn. And lets have some fun at Dora.
mmmm I like a good floater
Please be kind to B!
That sounds fun! I can’t compete/participate, but will love to see the results!
Excited to see brother B’s progress towards the water. It will be fun to watch these projects and I hope people submit photos of their projects and their progression.
YESSSS! This is brilliant! I look at my “boat collection” and have been overwhelmed by the restoration tasks at hand. Do the bottom?……..$20k ….Perfect varnish who knows…… Correct windshield brackets? Big bucks.. Rechrome hardware…!!!! And setting aside the space and time……SO they sit in storage to possibly never see water in my lifetime….
Growing up we had the family boat , (and STILL remains) a 1957 CC 17′ Sportsman that got an annual sloppy coat of whatever varnish was on the shop bench, outside in spring on the gravel parking lot. No badger hair brushes or clean rooms. IT would swell up in spring and we’d USE IT all summer. Maybe clean off the bay growth on the bottom every couple of months pulling up on a shallow beach.. But we used it as a boat, not a showpiece and touched up the dings from waterskiing and fishing (and other things we didn tell dad about) . I still have that boat and the many fond memories associated with those family fun times…
Bottom line is that there wasnt an obsession for perfection.. that seems to be the norm these days.. I admire those who can keep a boat in pristine condition and are willing to endure the armchair experts (now keyboard warriors) who love to critique . One of my boats is a 1959 Chris Craft Cavalier 17 utility. Plywood boat that I started sanding to varnish. I think I may enter this in the challenge and just paint the topsides white,….Id be obsessed with getting the stain and varnish right….Anywhoo,….You get me thinking about just getting some boats water ready, with “patina”….
So Ill accept, but doubt Ill be able to make it to Lake Dora. One thought, maybe we can have a “remote category ” for those of us who have personal or family obligations that wont allow travel to Dora.
I look forward to your progress on B. Hopefully this will get me inspired to just do it. The beauty of this all is that a wood boat allows one to “do it better” later but get it in the water.. Doing it Right doesnt have to mean perfection its about progress. Plus I promised John Rothert to have a boat in the water for the 2026 Reedville Show!
Frank Eggert
Get on it Frank! If any of you armchair guys need a boat to enter this challenge, it seems Frank has lots of them…deals in the works??? Got to start soon Frank…Dora is before Reedville… I am lurking for this show! John in Va….Just back from a mostly rained out Wings and Wheels and Keels…but hey, I got the boat wet!
I don’t have a boat that can be entered in this competition, but if I did, I’d name it “Patina”… Looking forward to seeing the entries and results! 🤗
This CC Sea Skiff is/was going to be a project I picked up to be a “user” boat, to give rides, and haul to events just to be a participant without being OCD about varnish/paint but have an operational boat. Having ridden in my friends 26′ Sea Skiff years ago I have been smitten by the cool ride it provided as we “set the helm” and walked around inside checking the motors operation and other things while it motored on like it had its own personal autopilot. I vowed to find one which I did, a 1955 the owner gave up on as a father/son project due to his severe arthritis. So I acquired it after building a trailer and using my “portable” gantry system to load it. It had no motor but I have a CC ML I pulled from another wreck which was what this one originally had. Its just a drop in and go, LOL. It would be a great candidate as it sits on the trailer under my “A” frame cover if I ever get past my current obligations and cancer treatments. So we’ll see. Nothing would make me happier than to splash this in the spring but it would be a winter project with no shop, so under one of those extended flea market tents, and with no help but myself cause all these people I know are beyond the age of wanting to dive into such a project. I’m still interested but may have to defer to next year considering current plate is overloaded.
Mr Turbo- you WILL get past the treatments for the C! Because you have a CC that you can cure! Thoughts and prayers are with you, and I bet I can speak for the greater WB community on this. BTW, since Matt has “B”, the new name for your entry will be “C”!
Is this new contest sponsored by Hagerty??
Nope — sponsored by Flex Seal.
When you say must be wood, is it OK if the upper portion contains wood but the pontoons are aluminum?
Good idea. I think.
Although I read rule #3 as “It has to be able to run [aground] under its own power.
Cool we are in! IEACBS, Paul Rodkey, & CVHS would like to compete. Do donations count towards the 3K?
Beautiful idea and Dora is the perfect venue to do it!
That is a fun challenge and incentive to get a move on with my 1954 Lyman 15’ center steer. Not sure if I can make Lake Dora, but damn if I’m gonna try. I’ve already begun stripping the topside and seats. Removed the outboard and seating and I’m ready to flip the lump of wood over and start work on the hull. I’ve got 2 fists size holes in the hull that I found while crawling around removing the electrics that I need to repair. Fun stuff!
Alegator? Propper? I think Frank has plenty of candidates! Does the boat actually have to make it to Lake Dora, or can we just float it here in the great PNW? I’m not allergic to alligators or anything but…… it would be a long drive.
57 styling craft. 900 bucks