Mini Wooden Boat Restorations
#hands-onAround 2013 I got into the hobby of working on boats and restored a couple of mini wooden “Sea Fleas”.
1960’s Mini Max Sea Flea - 8 ft
This was a barn find that had been sitting for a couple decades. These “Mini Max” models are one of the most common and basic designs for a Sea Flea. The plans originally circulated in the Popular Mechanics magazine in the 60’s and they were quite common in Ontario. Being based off 2 8x4 sheets of plywood, they were simple and cheap to build.
Sea Flea original paint
This one wasn’t so pretty to look at but was in solid shape. The paint was flaking badly so it had to be sanded down to the wood in some areas. After the thorough sanding and some fibreglass work it was ready for paint.
Finished sanding and new fibreglass tape around trim
The paint came out well, and with a 9.9 Johnson on the back was a lot of fun to drive. These can be a little dangerous when they have more power, because the lack of any real stabilizing geometry on the underside of the hull allows them to hydroplane and skip across the water when driven aggressively, and there is generally not much of the boat actually contacting the water.
1950-60’s Wooden Race Boat - 11 ft
This boat I got shortly after the Sea Flea above. It had actually been in our extended family since the 70’s and belonged to my Great Uncle. We weren’t sure what plans it might have been based off or when it was built, but it was well used already when it came into the family.
This had been sitting in the storage room of a Sauna building for a very long time. My uncle had been thinking of burning it because it had been in storage for so long with nobody interested in it, so he was happy to give it to me to work on.
After sanding and adding new fibreglass
Like the other Sea Flea this boat was very solid. It had no rot and no leaks. It had a dashboard that seemed like it was too long, because it forced the rider to sit too far back to have a good balance and took more space away from the cockpit than necessary. So the old dashboard was pulled off, the boat was sanded, and new fibreglass tape was added to seal the seams.
Repainting
The new blue and white paint scheme came out well. It had a 1967 20 hp Mercury hooked up to it that also came with the boat. These old motors run great and don’t weigh as much as the newer 4 strokes so I’ve since picked up a couple more of them. This is still my main boat that I use when up at the family cottage.
Reassembled with motor, controls and new dash built