Restoring Sandra
I returned home from a month away to a pile
of mail and notes from the house-sitter. Among the messages was a note,
scribbled on the back of an envelope: “1940s-era, Nevills Cataract
boat, wants restored”, with a name and a phone number.
Cataract boat? Nevills built?—I had to know more. I phoned Greg
Reiff—the name on the note—if nothing else to satisfy my curiosity…
I'd seen a couple of the original “Cat” boats at the
South Rim of the Grand Canyon, in the Page, Arizona John Wesley Powell
Museum, as well as read the book Any Time. Any Place. Any River; The Nevills
of Mexican Hat. However, I didn't know much else about the boats
or their construction. I recalled, basically plywood, a lot of screws
and shallow freeboard. My head began to spin with questions, like how
many were built by Nevills and were they all still around? I, of course,
was curious how this particular boat got to her present state of ill repair.
Greg's enthusiasm was very apparent over the phone, though he was
quite realistic about her shabby, “composting state.” He spoke
of a couple of respected “authorities” (Brad Dimock and Kenton
“Factor” Grua) who basically deemed her “restorable”
and this was a shot in the arm. Upon learning that the boat was named
for Greg's mom, Sandra, Norman Nevills' second born, and that
she was his final boat built, I think the decision was made for me as
to whether I wanted to take on this project, sight unseen, or not.
I optimistically hooked on my trailer for the “surveillance trip”
to Flagstaff as more questions circled around my mind's eddy. How
many trips had she done? Who was her primary boatman and what pre-dam,
high water did she float on? I couldn't wait to see her.
My first impressions were sobering. Though she was in one piece (the piece
that was remaining, that is) half the floor was rotted away, rowers bench
and splash guards missing, and the dry rot extended up her side walls
at mid ships. The veneers of painted letters of Mexican Hat Expeditions
over Nevills Expedition were long since peeled away, but the name Sandra
was legible on her bow. Peering through the cobwebs upon opening her bow
and stern hatches revealed some soundness, creating somewhat of a foundation
where restoration might begin.
There were a couple of different approaches regarding restoring the old
girl. One was to “original state,” using the 1940s era approach
with wood, screws, and caulk. The other would be to utilize modern material;
i.e. epoxy/fiberglass, sandwiching her remaining good wood. The preferred
choice would be the former, involving a greater amount of wood and screws
to be replaced and thus labor. The latter approach, Greg's mom Sandra
assured me, was what her daddy would do today, having access to modern
day epoxy techniques. Weighing this with Greg's wishes to float
her on a river or two, the contemporary approach made sense as well.
We wrapped the boat like a mummy using a large tarp with the help from
Mr. Steve Anderson, the sponsor of the proposed “Project Restore
Sandra,” and loaded her on the trailer. Off I went, feeling a little
overwhelmed, Greg apparently excited, mom Sandra relieved, and sponsor
Steve concerned. An obvious team project right from the start!
I had a few side trips on my way home. One was to Brad Dimock's,
fellow wooden boat affectionado, for advice. Nothing like the voice of
experience, plus he had referred Greg to me, so I at least owed him a
thank you…I think, or thought! Perhaps I was biting off more than
I could possibly chew, but conviction is a good tool, and this I know
I have. I guess Brad knows me well enough to pair me up with such a project
and I appreciated that.
Unloading her into my humble
boat shop was also emotional. Flakes, pieces, and chunks were falling
off of her like petals from an old dried flower. Her remaining floor had
to come off, and as most of this was dry-rot, it was removed with little
effort. Seeing Norman's old handiwork in the ribs, decks and hatches
was wonderful.
I also discovered packed in a hatch corner some sand and an old Kodachrome
wrapper, which I saved, along with what ultimately amounted to four bean
cans worth of rusty screws. The dry rot was extensive, but the decks,
at least on the inside, were intact, along with an estimated sixty percent
of her side panels and perhaps eighty percent of the hardwood ribs. I
also found a couple of old on-river repairs made complete with river sand
mixed in with old resin. It seemed like Sandra was beginning to speak…
A week or so worth of stripping brought Sandra to a mere skeleton, filling
up the back of my old truck with Cataract composite, but I estimated seventy
percent of her remained. I spent another few weeks scabbing and scarfing
on new, marine plywood bulkheads to her sides. Within a month, she was
ready for a new half marine ply floor. There was a great deal of paint
stripping needed which Greg, with some students and friends, made the
trip up a few times to do. By October she was flipped over and deck work
was progressing, I removed several hundred more rusted out screws and
filled the voids with epoxy filler, as had been done on the sides. By
the 1st of November Sandra was fully encapsuled in Epoxy and fiberglass
cloth and I was installing new, gunnel and chine strips made of ash hardwood,
and reinstalled, refurbished, original oak around the hatch openings.
A great aid was being afforded the chance to measure the Mexican Hat II,
Cataract boat at the John Wesley Powell Museum in Page. The lines from
that particular boat coincided perfectly to Sandra's dimensions,
revealing Norman's attention to consistency with regard to the boats
design. Splash guard and boatman's bench dimensions were invaluable.
We added two new hatches on the boatman's well area which the family
agreed would meet Norm's standards. Fu, finishing touches were old
family photos laminated to the hatch lid's interior, along with
a “time capsule” message left in a plastic bottle embalmed
in expansion foam added to the dead space areas, surrounding the boatman's
well. Allen Gilberg (gce) assisted in re-creating the Nevills Expedition
and Sandra lettering with attention to original fonts as the final coat
of paint was added.
Cotton rope or nylon? “Well, cotton, of course”!
When Greg and Steve arrived to pick Sandra up it must have seemed like
Christmas and I felt like Santa Claus. I could see it in their eyes. It's
always melancholy when a boat leaves my shop and goes down the drive,
but seeing the green and white piece of history float away on a trailer,
was especially emotional.
Then to top it all off, I got to meet Frank Wright, 95-plus years old
and Sandra's main boatman with Nevills Expedition and Mexican Hat
Expeditions. He had a twinkle in his eye and a riverman's firm handshake.
He couldn't believe she was going on the water again. He mentioned
the 1957 high water trip, his last Grand Canyon run, and his 15 Glen Canyon
(pre dam) trips.
We were both in tears…and as I left, I realized that through Frank,
mama Sandra and Cataract boat Sandra, old rivers and boats do talk!
Andy Hutchinson
