The Ugly Duckling

My name is James Radford and this is my first entry for the Ugly Duckling a 1954 Chris Craft ?????. Yes at this point there would be a  model but I am not sure what she is. I know she is 30ft with a 10ft beam. The back deck is just the right size for a poker table for 4, but that is it. 

When we first got her I was told she was all plywood after starting on her rebuild I found that her stern transm is Mahogany and her bottom is as well. Her sides are plywood and the entire boat has be fiberglassed. She runs on a single 307 chevy small block. Which took 4 weeks and $750 dollars to get running again. If any one ever tells you that you should not try to get a old engine running that has not been fired up in 5 years don't listen to them. That was where were at and after a little TLC she started right up.  

The enterior is rough I am not even sure this is the original layout or design.The inside  of cabin was covered in wall paper. I am sure this is not orginal The light fixtures look like they are from some ones patio.  Then there is the galley.  It consit of a single counter with no cabinets, a microwave and fridge that run on 110v only, and a stainless sink. The deck is plywood all of which comes up with a tug. Her deck was rebraced around 10 years ago and instead of finishing her the revious owners just left it as is.  To spite the issue I fell in love with her the first time I saw her after purchasing her on Ebay for 112.00.  Here is the biggest mistake I made at that moment. I forgot to tell my wife I was buying her.  She only found out that night after over hearing me talk with a friend.  If you think thats the end of the story just wait it gets better looking back we laugh about the whole thing. As a matter of fact when hanging around with friends talking about it they all ways talk about the boat story lets just say its my own version of Giligans 3 hour tour.   She was found sitting in a marinain Alameda Ca. The plan was to get her running and bring her through the San Francisco bay up the delta and up the Sacramento river. A total of 12 hours.  We left early Dec 13 2008 About 3 hours in we found out her alternator did not work after the battery died leaving us stuck in the middle of the bay just past the bay bridge.  After getting a jump from the San Rafiel Harbor Patrol we were lead into San Rafiel Where due to a fog advisory we were stuck for the night. I spent the night sleeping in the the marine bathroom
trying to stay warm.  The next morning we headed out just at sunrise.  The fog still present we were told we would be fine following the map and nav gates. What we were not told is that the Nav gates didn't just lead twords Sacramento We lost the gates in the fog and picked them up again after a nerve racking 2 hours. By the time we reached the end we
found that we picked up the wrong set and were lead 15 miles north to the Sanoma River. That is where the trip went down hill.  We pulled into a little marine and there we were told we were not at the enterance to the delta like we thought. So
we turned around and headed back out. The nightmare began when we quickly found out that the tide was out. We ran aground at 11am on the 14th and sat stranded till the tide rolled out at 6:00 that evening. At that point we were taking on water and we had ran out our batteries trying to builg the hull. The coastguard met up with us around 9pm towed us into vallajo ca,and we docked at Brinkmans Launch around 11:00pm. We then payed a taxi 140 to bring us back to sac. I took Monday off and By the time I got back on Tueday she had been stripped by River rats of anything they could carry including the steering wheel and anchor. She had also filled with water and the cabin hand around 2 feet of water in her.  I then spent the next 3 days waiting for a haul out and tow back to sacramento and going down to Vallejo a 1 hour drive daily to run the bilge pumps. Of course this is the abridge version but you get the idea. So where am I know. Complete overhaul mode. I have removed the transom, and found where the water was coming in. I have removed the damaged wood. But my big delima is the fact the bow of the boat is sagging a little. I think it is due to the boat hauler ot competely draining her before he put her up on stands. my question is

1. Is it somthing I should worry about
2. If I jack the front up and add another stand can I infource it with a steel plate along the inside of the keel or the bottom of the
boat or do I need to complety replace the keel or should I just scrap the boat. I looked at the keel and it looks solid no dry rot
Any one who can anwer these questions would be helpful