Shop Blog

Week of December 8-12, 2025

12/14/2025

1958 Chris Craft Continental

Shane made a custom oak wedge and permanently installed the strut for the Continental this week. He also made new spray rails and stained and sealed them.

1949 Chris Craft Deluxe

The oil pump on this engine failed during the last sea trial. When Jack opened it up, he found this piece had come loose. He made the repairs, tested it, and successfully reinstalled the engine. He also installed a new water intake valve and winterized everything. Finally, the owner requested a self-contained, automatic fire extinguisher system be installed in the engine compartment. so Jack got that all set up. Everything looks great!

1932 ElectriCraft

This gorgeous little electric boat got a second coat of varnish this week.

1947 Chris Craft Deluxe

Jack and Caity have been removing deck boards to get to some rotten frames that need to be replaced.

Week of November 17-21, 2025

11/21/2025

Lyman Islander

Jack has been making little adjustments to this gorgeous custom engine box. It's been dry fit and is almsot ready to install permanently.

1949 Chris Craft Deluxe

The guys took this boat out to the lake for a sea trial earlier this week. We're all glad for lovely fall weather!

Custom Electric Boat

Jack made a trip up to Roaring Gap to pick up this beauty. We're hoping to get her back in her boat house before they drop the lake next month.

1947 Chris Craft Deluxe

The guys flipped this boat this week. They've made so much progress!

1932 ElectriCraft

Caity's been working on painting the waterline on this boat this week. The yellow is so bright and cheerful!

Week of November 10-14, 2025

11/14/2025

Concordia Sloop

Shane has been working on this custom travel mast holder for the Concordia.

1949 Chris Craft Deluxe

Jack reinstalled the Deluxe's engine this week, wired up the battery switch, and tested it out on the driveway. The guys are planning a sea trial next week!

Lyman Islander

Jack finished varnishing the engine box, painted the interior, and added sound and heat shielding.

1947 Deluxe

Caity put the final coat of primer on the bottom and then added two coats of bronze bottom paint.

Custom Electric Boat

We flipped this boat this week, cleaned it, and put a fresh coat of bottom paint on it.

Week of October 27-31, 2025

10/31/2025

Chris Craft Deluxe

With a fresh clean head gasket in place, this engine is reassembled and in testing. It's running, although there are still some issues to iron out.

1947 Chris Craft Deluxe

Jack and Caity have been working on the transom of this boat this week. They insalled the under layer and are working on shaping the pieces.

Concordia Sloop

The most exciting thing we did this week was get this gorgeous sailboat out in the sun and get her rigging up! Gary is taking her to the boat show in Southport this weekend.

Week of October 20-24, 2025

10/24/2025

1958 Christ Craft Continental

Shane and Jack have both been working hard on this boat this week. Shane has installed the bed log, lifting eye, and beautiful red leather dash panel and started varnishing the ceiling boards. He's been working on other various hardware as well. Jack has been cleaning up and reinstalling the running gear, including the Pittman arm and steering linkage.

Concordia Sloop

Shane has been reinstalling the interior of this gorgeous sailboat this week. You can see the tiller is in place as well as many other details coming together! We also received a shipment of hardware from the owner, so we can get the spars reassembled.

Lyman Islander

Jack installed a new battery switch, bilge blower, battery mount, and wiring for the dash on the Lyman Islander.

1923 Electric Boat

Caity sanded and painted the St. Albert this week in our paint room.

Chris Craft Deluxe

Jack reinstalled the head on this engine. The next step is testing!

Week of October 6-10, 2025

10/10/2025

Flats Boat

Gary is reading the manul for the stereo we're getting reading to install in the Flats boat.

1932 Electricraft

Caity cleaned up the bottom of this boat and gave it a fresh coat of paint.

Concordia Sloop

Shane installed a lot of the hardware and is working on some cosmetic touches.

Sportsman

Caity has been repairing cracked deck planks before final installation.

Chris Craft Deluxe

Jack reinstalled all the valves and cleaned up the transmission bearing.

Week of September 30-October 3, 2025

10/3/2025

Lyman Islander

Jack has been wiring this gorgeous custom dashboard this week. It looks incredible!

Concordia Sloop

The guys reinstalled the centerboard on this sailboat this week.

Engine work

Jack has been working hard on this engine this week. He's cleaned everything up and he's reinstalling the valves correctly!

1947 Deluxe

Caity has been sanding the bottom and sides of this boat this week.

Week of September 22-26, 2025

9/26/2025

Lyman Islander

Check out the gorgeous before and after on the glossy green paint on this boat! It's going to look so beautiful when it's finished!

Super Sport

After finding more rot under the battens, the guys are milling replacements this morning.

Concordia Sloop

Shane put a lot of time into cleaning up this hardware this week.

Electric Boat

After fixing the motor on this electric boat, Jack delivered it to Roaring Gap yesterday and got it back in the water.

Custom Argentinian Runabout

Week of September 15-19, 2025

9/19/2025

Lyman Islander

Jack has been working on the aluminum trim on these windshield pieces. They are almost done and look amazing!

Custom Electric Boat

When it turned out that the fishing line fouling up the old motor on this boat last week wasn't the problem, Jack replaced the motor entirely. Sometimes it's best to rule out the simplest solutions with a little effort first!

Sportsman

Caity has been working on the decking for the Sportsman this week. Here she is predrilling some screw holes.

1958 Chris Craft Continental

Jack and Gary went down to Raleigh to pick up the last of this great looking upholstery work for the '58 Continental. The red and white look so great!

Custom runabout

Here's a sneak peek of a gorgeous boat that came into the shop today for some electrical and engine work. The owner is doing a lot of the restoration himself!

Smith Mountain Lake Boat Show

9/16/2025

Gary and Jack went up to the SML boat show last weekend. It was gorgeous weather and they saw a lot of cool boats and lots of clients and friends.