Abishag Resurrection

She sat in a barn for 20 years. The stern was rotted off and has been rebuilt. All volunteer labor and leftover/reclaimed materials.

That's a good looking boat.

Salty as hell. Nice that it was restored.

Simple classic lines. Well done!

Ted

Nice !

Beautiful. And a very interesting name.

Looks great!

Bob - do you have any history on this boat or the genre? Similar to the Monterey Clipper that underpinned the north/central California fishery from the late 1800s through WW2. How is Abishag powered?

Many thanks to the volunteer crew who breathed new life into the boat. "First Kiss" moment seeing her float again I'm sure.....

Peter

mvweebles said:

Bob - do you have any history on this boat or the genre? Similar to the Monterey Clipper that underpinned the north/central California fishery from the late 1800s through WW2. How is Abishag powered?

Many thanks to the volunteer crew who breathed new life into the boat. "First Kiss" moment seeing her float again I'm sure.....

Peter

Click to expand...

She was built in 1969 by a shipwright in Vallejo, CA. Not sure of the design but she looks very influenced the the Monterey boats. She is powered by a 1906 Hicks hit and miss single cylinder gas engine. Floating on her own now.

Thanks Bob - I had not heard of Hicks engines. A quick Google search found a rather extensive description from a museum who sold one on Bring-A-Trailer in 2020 ($5800 winning bid).


You may be a bit off on the date as Hicks wasn't formed until 1910 but was indeed the most often used engine for the Monterey Boat fleet. It was an 8-hp engine weighing over 1200 lbs!!!! Guessing this was built as a period-correct boat and the builder wanted the Hicks as the cherry-on-top to complete the ensemble.

As an aside, when the Chinese laborers finished building the western half of the transcontinential railroad, many of them took jobs in the Sacramento Delta building levees - there are tows along the Delta that still have very heavy Chinese decent to their residents. But some turned to fishing - shrimp fishing especially. The last of them - Frank Quan, the third generation of his family to fish - lived on the shores of Marin until he died 10-15 years ago. The land around his had become China Camp State Park and he remained in his home until he passed when it was incorporated into the State Park. I met him 25-years ago when my wife and I were anchored off China Camp and took our dinghy ashore for the day. He had an old single-cylinder engine that he used to haul his boat onto the beach and I'd bet it was a Hicks or something very similar. He fished every day. Nice guy and he got a kick out of me trying to row my dinghy back to my boat against a strong tide (didn't work - I bought a small outboard shortly thereafter).

Great piece of history - thanks for posting.

Peter

That boat is way cool!

Good Job -