Grand Canyon Dory built by Keith Steele resurected from the desert.

Hi, I'm Allen Wilson and had the good fortune to come across this boat in Santa Fe, NM. Thanks to Bruce Symballa an old boatman friend of mine who discovered it and through the help of Mike Castelli another GC Boatman, Don Briggs who  encouraged me, along with Brad Dimock who has a brief history and informed me I should get it at any cost.  Well Almost.

So I talked to Randy Dersham a few days ago. He indicated I should post here and let you folks know that I will be bringing the Betty Boop AKA Great Thumb to the the Festival this year.

Ron Hayes bought the hull from Keith Steele probably in 1968 and added the compartments at his home in Southern California.  Later he sold her to Larry Testerman who actively put her to good use on many rivers around the Southwest.

I hope to bring Larry with me to the show.

I'm excited
Two pictures. 1. On the way to Oregon 2. Photo by Tim Cooper after the 83 flood  receded and left her parked on rocks at the top of Badger Creek Rapid in the Grand Canyon. Larry can tell the story about that.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on April 14, 2010 at 7:25am
Allen,
Thanks for posting... looking forward to meeting you this weekend and seeing the Betty Boop / Great Thumb.
Greg H
Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on April 14, 2010 at 7:27am
... make that "Next" weekend at the Boat Festival (haven't had my second cup of coffee yet).
GH
Permalink Reply by David Jensen on April 14, 2010 at 9:24am
Keith's son, Steve will be at the festival, so you can meet him. He's a boat and trailer builder in Lebanon, OR. As you probably know, Keith built and number of dories for Martin Litton. Very cool boats. About 25 years ago, a bunch of us with Keith Steele wooden McKenzies were leaving the Owyhee River when a group of Martin's dories showed up. We all had a great time checking out each others' boats. Looking forward to seeing you and Betty Boop at the festival.
Permalink Reply by Jeff Peak on April 14, 2010 at 11:02am
more pics please, for those of us who won't be able to see her in person!
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on April 14, 2010 at 4:50pm
Very cool. Thanks for pulling your end of the oars on keeping the GC dories alive. Yeah, what Jeff said, more pics please.
Permalink Reply by Allen Wilson on April 14, 2010 at 5:04pm
Hey, Thanks, I'm really excited about seeing you all, and showing off this great old boat.

Here is a link to a slide show I did showing picking her up and getting back to Oregon.

http://craggydesign.com/dory/
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on April 14, 2010 at 7:27pm
What a treasure! I hope I get to see her on the water one day.
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on April 15, 2010 at 6:30am
Awesome! I LOVE the decked double ender.
wow.
Permalink Reply by Roger Fletcher on April 15, 2010 at 6:46am
If you're talking about the bright fibnished DE, Andy Hutchinson of Durango built it. Pretty boat.
Permalink Reply by Jeremy Christensen on May 21, 2010 at 8:03pm
It turns out that the son of the late, great Ron Hayes (Peter Hayes) was my high school Biology teacher in Salt Lake City, and is a good friend of mine. I'd lost touch with him for several years, during which time I became enthralled with dories and river history. When I ran into him again several months ago, about to embark on my own Grand Canyon dory odyssey, he told me about his dad and the boat. Peter is an artist in Salt Lake now, and is really interested in finding out more about the boat.I was at his house this evening when it clicked that I had seen this post, and that the boat had been rescued. Pete was overjoyed, as he had helped his dad build the compartments and had rowed the boat in the Grand Canyon.

Interesting bit of history, according to Pete when Ron picked the hull up from Keith, they were on their way back to CA when they pulled into a gas station with a low overhanging gasport, and the bow of the boat caught the lip of the roof and cracked the front of the bow from chine to gunnel. It took them over a year to repair the damage before continuing on to deck and compartmentalize the boat. It obviously has held up remarkably well.

Cheers,
Jeremy Christensen
Permalink Reply by Allen Wilson on May 22, 2010 at 7:14am
Hi Jeremy,
Amazing!! I'm glad you posted this about Pete Hayes. It would be an honor to talk with you and Pete.
If your inclined please call.
541-247-6924

I am putting a web site together for The Betty Boop/Great Thumb. Hope to have it online in the near future. Any information that Pete would be interested in sharing with me I would like to place there.

Thank you for sharing this.
Allen Wilson
Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on May 22, 2010 at 8:34am
Another good question to ask Pete would be the proper spelling of his dad's name, as I understand he spelled it "Ronn".

You may also wish to check in with Ronn's lifelong best pal and former partner in Wilderness World, Vladimir Kovalik, who still lives in the northwest somewhere.

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