Boat Restoration Projects

Cathern, 18-Foot Herman Catboat

For the last 35 years I've been building and restoring boats, initially as a professional but now, in later years, as an amateur. My projects range from building Hustler speedboats back in the 1990s to restoring theft- and storm-damaged boats. My dad got me interested in boatbuilding back in the 1970s when he bought a 20-foot Gil Smith catboat. The hours and days we spent together keeping that boat floating lit a spark that still burns within me.

Fast forward to 2013. I was feeling that something was missing in my life. Not wanting to get in over my head, I found a 12-foot Beetle catboat that needed some love. This got me back on the water, but it was just too small for Dad and me. I needed something larger.

Online searches brought up an interesting boat, an unfinished hull that was in need of a home and a friend: an 18-foot Herman catboat designed by Charles Whitzhull. She was scratch-built from plans supplied by the Wooden Boat Store. She is cold-molded with three layers of veneers sheathed with fiberglass cloth and epoxy. A guy in Kansas, who sadly passed away when the boat was only half complete, started the building of Cathern. After his passing, the hull sat for a while and the elements took their toll. While the hull was intact, the cockpit wasn't and required some serious rebuilding. I worked out a deal with the owner's widow and had the boat shipped east to my shop in New York.