By Alan Hills, North Carolina Coastal & Piedmont Chapter
Here are the plans for the boat, the blueprint by which I would outfit the hull that I purchased from the CFCC boat building program. Yes, I said “hull.” They will not sell a boat with an engine, so that’s all I got.
It all started at the 2022 Cape Fear Community College boat show. The unmistakable profile immediately told me that I was looking at a Jersey Speed Skiff being built in the college shop. I’ve had an affinity for these going back to taking the family up to Stuart, Florida, to watch them race. A young lady, who was part of the build team, was proudly sitting in the boat answering questions from the show visitors. I asked her about the design and construction and she said it was built from a 1950s design, but the build was of modern glued lapstrake as opposed traditional planking and rib. I thought it was very cool that they were building this, a race boat, along with the sailing and motor skiffs that are more the norm of the program.
Fast forward to our 2024 International Vintage Boating Day gathering at the Wilmington Marine Center. Our chapter was displaying a group of boats there, one of them owned by John Olsen, who is member and also the director of boat manufacture and service at the community college. In a conversation with him, he mentioned that the Speed Skiff had been sitting outside for a while and that he’d really like to find someone to buy it. John told me that it was showing the signs of improper storage, and that they were not allowed to sell boats with trailers or engines. So, it was basically a bare hull. I told him I might be interested and would get back with him about it. On the way home, I told Mrs. Hills that I really wanted to buy the skiff and make it a usable boat. I told her that the real hook for me was the fact that it had been featured in the summer 2024 issue of The Rudder, and I thought that would make a perfect backstory to tell at boat shows. Well, she bought into that logic and we purchased the boat.
At that time, I had a 15’ Cavalier in the shop so Jim Hartman let me stick JS100 under a shelter at his place. Eventually, I was able to move the Cavalier into my carport and brought the skiff home. I started to list all I could think of that would be needed make this a running boat. First thing on the list was an engine. Member John Justice has all kinds of engines in his shop (The Piglet) so he was the first person I reached out to. He told me of an old PCM 351 ski boat engine that he had given to Robert Blanchard to install in his vintage Ford Bronco a few years prior that ended up not getting used. I called Robert and he said to come and get it. It was missing a few parts but it was something I could deal with. I had my engine! Now all I needed was the running gear, a set of gauges, some deck hardware, refinish the weathered sapele deck, and I’d be all set. This should be pretty easy, I thought. But in the immortal words of the late coach Lee Corso that he uttered almost every week on ESPN’s College Gameday, “Not so fast, my friend!”
After the boat was built, the building team enrolled in the Boat Manufacture and Service program and their project for that term was to turn JS100 into a running boat. All the necessary components were installed, such as fuel and exhaust systems, bilge pump, engine and running gear. At the end of the term, a sea trial was conducted and all the parts, save for the fuel tank and rudder port were removed. One interesting problem that arose during the fit-out was the fact that a strut of the proper dimensions was not available in a stock item. No problem, a strut was built by the team out of carbon fiber! How’s that for ingenuity?
Well, getting back to my saga, I was able to get the made-up strut and a couple of fiberglass exhaust elbows from the college. A couple of more trips
to the Piglet got me a rudder, shaft, prop and some exhaust hose. I had to purchase a couple of items from eBay to get all my parts together. I
decided I didn’t like the what the steering system was done; Jersey Speed Skiffs have a distinctive vertical steering shaft and flat wheel that I had to have. Luckily, there was a vintage skiff at the Chesapeake Bay show and its owner gave me the name of a shop that would build such a thing. (another advantage of being an ACBS member!). Now all that needed doing was to put it all together.
First order of business was to cut the gauge holes in the dash and pre-wire for all the systems. Next came installing the steering system, which wasn’t too hard until it came to hooking up the rudder. My 78-year-old body was not going get that done. Enter Jackson, my grandson with the long, skinny arms. He did a great job! Next up was the engine install. I ran it in my shop for about an hour to check for leaks, etc. That done, it was over to
fellow member Jim Hartman’s shop to use his gantry. All went well until we discovered that we could not lift the engine high enough to clear the deck. No problem! Just take the boat off the trailer and lower down about a foot. That done, the engine was dropped in and aligned. Now it was time to address the elephant in the room; the exhaust system.
The team at the college had installed 4” fiberglass exhaust tubing that was run along the chine. This worked well for the engine they installed, but presented a problem for my engine, My exhaust system was 3” and had to be run outboard and mated to the 4” tubes in a very confined space. After
much cussing, mocking up and more cussing, I finally got it hooked up. During the process of getting the last detail done, I was fortunate to have
the help of (younger) chapter members John Peck and John Dougherty.
The next step was to get her out on the water. I was joined by Jim Hartman and after a bit of running at the dock, checking for leaks and so forth, we headed out Lawson Creek. It’s a good half mile to reach the Trent River where we planned to put some power to her and see how she’d do. As I advanced the throttle, we felt a strong shuddering vibration that signaled something was amiss. Also, the engine was running very rich and wouldn’t
idle properly, so with sad faces, it was back to the ramp. More problems to deal with! Depending on what I find, another trip to the Piglet might be in order.
Alan Hills’ restoration continues. Get involved by joining the North Carolina Coastal and Piedmont Chapter of ACBS!