Good Day,

How is everything with you, I picked interest on you after going through your short profile and deemed it necessary to write you immediately. I have something very vital to disclose to you, but I found it difficult to express myself here, since it's a public site.Could you please get back to me on:(mrsstellaabudheir@gmail.com ) for the full details.

Have a nice day

Thanks God bless.

Stella.

Tom and Hazel, wow what a wonderful time getting to know you! I feel like I have known you forever. It was truly an honor to have the GEM be the first wooden boat I ever rowed. Your presentation brought back memories of past slide shows from friends past and tied together some more of the loose ends concerning canyon history. while I haven't been below the South Rim my studies of the canyon combined with you insights and history is a really neat feeling. Someday I'll get there. I have passed up many opportunities, I hope that I don't have to pass up any more. I'll send you the complete file of photos soon.

Your friend always,

Rick Newman

Tom, looks like you had a fantastic trip! Loved the pictures. Well done.

Cheers,
Jeremy

Thanks Tom. This boat has been a real pleasure to both float and rebuild. Through it (and Rogers book), I've learned so much local history. I love being able to drive up the Mckenzie and know the stories of the early guides and boatbuilders who first plied these waters. Besides the magic of being on the river, the history is really the second draw. I have been reading your posts and look forward to some journal entries and photos of you trip (trips).
All the best,
Brian

Hey no problem Tom.... Rain has been holding the boat building process still. No inside building to store the boat so its all being built outside. A blue tarp is keeping it from the elements. Being so close to North GA, I thought I was going to have to flip it over, slap some tar around it and use it to get from place to place (finished or not). With the amount of backed up water and septic tanks empting out, there is a abundance of "brown trout" floating around now, so we are holding off fishing for awhile.

Tom, your boat is progressing really well. I am very envious of your trip and respectful of your efforts. Keep up the good work!

Rick Newman

I used a Don Hill 10' mini drifter plan, duplicated the center frame and added 16" in length in center of the boat. I don't think it's from a old design.

Hi Den, thanks for the encouragement! Good luck to you on your Rogue River Dory! Do you know Bigwater Bob Donovan, the Maine tree cutter? Small world, so i thought to ask.

IK = inflatable kayak...

what is an IK?

Den in New Hampshire
What a great project!

Hey Rick, thanks so much for your support and encouragement. Hope you recover soon, and get a chance to do a little boat building yourself! Good luck to you too! Yours, tom

The boat is looking great. I can see that much hard work has been accomplished. I have been busy with some medical issues, now that they are resolved and the weather better I can get started on clleaning out the space for my boat build. Thanks for sharing your photos. Good luck with everything.

Rick Newman

Hi Jeff, thanks for your info! Your boat's finish looks great to me! Thanks so much for the Southco lead. That's very helpful! Yours, tom

hi Tom...thanks for the compliment. I, too, am watching your project w/interest. good stuff.

nope, no pigment in the epoxy. just a few coats of oil based enamel, satin finish, not gloss. and trust me, there are PLENTY of "irregulatities" in the finish...

and I'm using mostly Southco latches:
http://www.southco.com/class/c5-sealed-lever-latches-7381.html
and a few misc./experimental latches that I will probably upgrade to Southco at some point when I'm sick of them not working!

Hi Rick, Thanks for your comments, i really appreciate them! Please DO question the construction technique. Maybe i should have scarfed the floor??? I really don't know. Time will tell. There's still a bunch of oak to lay down on the bottom.

All the best, yours, t


Thanks again, yours, tom

I wasn't questioning your construction techniques, just commenting on the differences in techniques over the years. Scarfs seem to be common now days and larger /longer sheets of plywood available then. I think your modern take on the 1950's construction might even have a few things to teach us. The boat looks great.

I was on another wooden boat site recently and thought I recognized the shop, especially the band saw with the big wheels. I actually compared photos from Kyle's post with yours to see if they were in the same place. You confirmed it the other day. It is fun to investigate and study even modern events to see paths of congruence.

Rick Newman

Some more great photos. No scarfing with the system they used. More framework and more strength from impacts I would assume. Also were there any glues that would have held a scarf together as well as today's glues?

Thanks again for the photos. I can't wait to hear more and see more!

Rick Newman

Hello Tom,
Last year Debbie and I had a guest at Eagle Rock Lodge on the McKenzie River that was a computer archaeologist. He was using a LAZER scanning device to build computer replicas of the cliff dwellers. He had just been contacted by the parks department to put in a bid to use the same technology to "scan" the old boats of the Colorado. I see that you have beat him to the task of saving the old lines. Great job and thanks for all the photos.

Forgot to mention that when I saw the GEM the first time I was struck by the lines' similarities to the Galloway boats, and to a lesser extent the original McKenzies, especially the Rapid Robert. Boats can be hung together in only so many ways so it's not surprising one would find such similarities. Perhaps it was that downriver transom that caught my eye. The Julius carried similar features.

Hi, Tom. I suffered from tunnel vision during my research phase on the Litton influence. There are so many interesting pieces to the Colorado river boats stories that if I didn't, I'd never finish my book. I did come across Fulmer. I also visited the N Ariz Univ digital archives and located some photos of his GEM. I retained this link, if you haven't seen it. Good photos. As I recall there were more. Go to --http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/peoplereferal.cfm?people_note=Fulmer%2C%20Stephen%20Moulton
I like what you are doing and would be pleased to visit with you about your project. I'm afraid, though, that i can't lend any substantive info about Fulmer. Have you had any conversations with Brad Dimock. Brad has a deep interest in these boats and may possibly have some good info about the GEM and Moulty. By the way, nice model, and it looks like you have decently framed up your re-creation of GEM. One of the trickier pieces of boat recovery is recording the lines -- easy enough to do but a bit of a challenge with "wrecks." I applaud what you are doing. Feel free to call me anytime. I have abandoned my land line at the shop to a cell (503 559 0204), and the cell is usually on between 10 and 5 each day.