Bringing a 1948 Hafer Phantom 75 Back To Life

by David Kanally member of the Southwest chapter

From time to time, the Wooden Boat Association of North Texas (WBA) is honored to receive a donated boat that deserves to be nurtured back to health. When Scott Reichardt offered us his 1948 Hafer Phantom 75, we jumped at the chance. The poor little runabout had suffered some catastrophic keel damage near the stem, due in part to rot and due in part to some long-distance trailering. The WBA members who worked on the boat are all volunteers, and meet usually on Saturday mornings at a rented shop near Dallas. The work on this Hafer took place over a period of eight months, beginning in August of 2018. The photos that follow tell the story without much comment. Each photo is followed by a caption that helps advance the story.

kannally — Phil Wolff and Robin McGeorge load the Hafer into the shop after picking it up from Scott Reichardt.

kannally1 — Jim Donovan and Robin McGeorge hoist the Gray Marine 75hp four-cylinder engine out of the engine compartment in preparation for a cosmetic restoration on the engine, and a flipping of the boat for bottom work.

kannally2 — Mark Wilson, Jim Donovan, Dennis Fisher, Scott Myers and Robin McGeorge place the flipped Hafer on a trailer for the bottom work ahead. The damaged keel section is just beneath Robin's left hand.

kannally3 — Here, the damaged keel piece has been removed, and scarf cuts have been made in the keel and stem to receive a replacement piece called a "forefoot" or "gripe". The new piece would be fashioned of white oak, the same wood as used for the original keel and stem.

kannally4 — David Kanally is rough shaping the new forefoot with a jack plane. Final shaping would be done with a small belt sander.

kannally5 — After the forefoot was shaped, the guys made a strong fillet joint with thickened epoxy to "butter it in", and affixed it to the hull and ribs. At the scarf joints into the stem and keel, the forefoot is fastened with silicon bronze screws and thickened epoxy.

To read the rest of the story go to:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply