I Have The Wrong What? I Just Bought That Darn Thing!
Lesson # 4,586,785,968 When ordering parts. Make sure the part you are ordering is correct. Just because the part fits and make look close does NOT mean its the right part. Almost all Classic & Antique boats were built with off the counter parts. But time has passed and if you are doing a quality 100 pt restoration, or you want to at least stay true to your boats history. The 100% correct part is a must. I can not tell you… wait, yes I can tell you how many parts I have gotten or were installed on my boat in the past that are wrong. 32. 32 friek’n parts that are wrong. Am I leaving them. You bet, until they need replacing. But when I do I am looking for the right part. The painful thing is that they are out there. EVERYTHING correct is available. IF you know were to look. So how do you know if you are a dumb dumb like moi. Well. Ask club members. Ask the dealers. Look at photos. Look at 100 pt show boats. Look at your part very carefully that you are replacing. But don’t trust it.
A possible solution. Each club out there exists for one reason. To educate folks on the brand that the club is there for. Ok there are parties and get togethers, and social things. But they are really there as a collective group helping each other learn more about there boats. SOOOO. Lets have each club create a seal of approval. Something that is on the correct part. A thing that dealers can advertise. A seal that clubs can endorse. This would add value to the clubs, and to the consumer, thus making the dealer that sells the stuff the go to resource. We can call it , the Blank Club, Authentic Part Seal. I will be glad to create such a mark and make it available to clubs for free. The rest is up to the clubs to sign on. In the mean time I need to find a new correct bolt for my carburetor……ahhhhh!
This gets frustrating with the parts and pieces that aren’t listed somewhere like the “Boat Equipment Record” (hull card), the “Specifications and Standard Equipment…” document, or the “Hull Parts List” or other document.
It’s the ones that other abstract forms of documentation or out and out research of what screw or clamp or wire color or staple or even nails were used to put these together.
That’s where the knowledge base of a club or organization may become the only resource available and even then, it’s only when that club has the cooperation of those with the knowledge that comes from first hand experience and/or those with years of research under their belts.
The thing is that this level of knowledge is a commodity. Can we expect or demand that restorers or researchers would give up all of their trade secrets? It would be good for the hobby but might not be a good business decision for them if it’s their bread & butter or a means of justifying out of pocket expenses.
So, can we create a database that’s all inclusive of every item that was included or every method that was used in building a particular model without it being speculative? Probably not unless we make a new set of rules that would standardize certain variations that seem to always pop up.
So, where do we go from here? This hobby is all about saving or preserving the history of old boats whether it’s with careful preservation of originals or careful restoration of the ones found to be beyond total preservation. Either method has certifiable substance in this hobby.
In my opinion, judged shows will continue to set the standard for historic accuracy. Without encouragement of this kind, the hobby could easily go unchecked and in any direction that individuals feel is best for them with a focus on personal taste rather than saving the history.
Some folks feel that the history of a particular boat that was finished using an exception to the general rule will be lost if not restored using the same exception. Physically, it may be true but how important is it to the overall history of that boat model or that boat in particular? To a restorer who has positive, first hand proof of an exception it may not be possible to overlook and indeed shouldn’t be if the history of that boat is to be truly preserved.
So from a judging standpoint, how do you allow for such exceptions? Does judging become standardized based only on original documentation that’s found in the archives? That would be the simple way to make it fair and unbiased but it wouldn’t allow for any of these exceptions that are indeed found in some boats by restorers and researchers.
There’s no easy, across the wide board answer to this yet. Any suggestions?