The Bardick, named after a classic Lyman runabout in my family for years, is my latest major personal design project. Besides providing an opportunity to apply some of what I learned at the Westlawn School of Yacht Design (on a small scale), this boat will serve for family outings, for marine photography, for a couple of R & D projects I have been working on for some time, and maybe even as occasional transportation to Vancouver Island.
The hull is a 14 foot MirroCraft aluminum skiff, made in Wisconsin. The hull was in OK shape, and it had a nearly new steering system, but the seating and windshield would have to go.
It is rated for 4 adults and a maximum of 45 h.p. The hull is four pieces plus a transom and a foredeck, riveted together. The deck and hull are joined with an extruded aluminum piece, which has a polymer rub strip set into it. The transom has a substantial reinforcement made of one and a half inch plywood, and aluminum knees.
No idea which model, but it appears to have been designed and built as a general purpose lake boat, appropriate for transportation, skiing, and fishing. The waterline is about twelve and half feet by four feet, with a deep vee forefoot turning back to an essentially flat hull aft. This should make it very easy on the gas, if not especially good for more turbulent seas; it’s a lake boat after all.
A guess puts its age at a thirtysomething. The hull below the waterline was severely pitted, probably from electrolytic action. In a few places, the pits had become actual holes. There were a few dents, but the rest of the hull was sound. The seating was rotting, chewed up, and about as ugly as it gets. The acrylic windshield was part of its appeal, but a former owner had drilled a hole in it for a windsheild wiper, directly in front of the helm, and this hole propagated a crack that eventually split the pane in two.
All in all, a good deal, by my reckoning, and a great project boat. The “bones” won’t need much work, it has more character than a contemporary factory boat, and it should make for a comfortable, fuel efficient day boat for our local waters.