7/11/09: Don's still workin' away on this boat! He's put much of the original hardware in the boat, including engine brackets, transom and rudder mounts, the steering unit, etc. He's also been working on the tail piece. When Gale Whitestine owned it as the Galileo, he had modified it. So, Don made made a mold of the "fin" from the tail piece of the Calypso Too (hull #C-3) and applied it to the original tail piece from this Calypso. Today, Don and I woked on getting the engine mounts set, making sure the shaft would be perfectly aligned. That was quite a chore. We both ended up with a couple of battle scars, but nothing too bad. I consider them a badge of honor. Just for fun, we set the cowling, tail piece, and cockpit (including the original tach - no longer working) on the hull. I was pleased to see the cowling fit over the engine with a little room to spare.
6/24/09: Don sent me the following pictures today. The last time I was there we'd done some sanding and one of the sponsons needed to be finished. So, today I was pleasantly surprised to see the bottom of the boat's pretty much done! The sides and sponsons were painted a very light gray, like the original boat. And you can see the wood stained bottom looks
great, and the hardware compliments it so well. They turned it over and work on the topside will begin next. Too COOL!
6/13/09: Today, Don let me drill the hole for the prop shaft in the bottom of the boat. Very cool! You can see in the pictures below how he affixed temporary braces to hold the drill "bit", which he made from an exhaust pipe and filed teeth in the one end. It worked flawlessly. I admit I was a little apprehensive about him having me drill the hole, as I know there really is no margin for error. But, he had it rigged so that there was pretty much no way for me to mess it up. It only took a few minutes, so the rest of the afternoon we spent sanding the bottom of the boat...lots of sanding.
(Don't forget to click on the pictures* to open a new window with the full size photo)
6/04/09: Don's been busy! As you can see in the pictures below, the bottom, sides, and the sponson sides are done. All that remains are the sponson runners. (Thanks to Jerry Kelson for sending the pics)
4/21/09: Jerry Kelson (Don's son) sent these, as I haven't been able to get to the shop the last few Saturday's. But as you can see, there's been progress made. The pictures below show the battens (sp?) were added and then the sponson frame pieces were attached.
4/11/09: Epoxied and screwed all the center frame peices to the stringers. Did the same with the chims (the peices that run from the bottom corners of the tramsom to the back of the sponson on either side). And finally, epoxied and screwed on the keel. It's starting to take shape!
4/04/09: Most of the internal center frame pieces have been completed, and we're still working on the sponson frame pieces. As you can see in the photos below, the stringers from the original boat (left) were in bad shape, so new ones have been cut out (right) from patterns of the original. The photos below those show the center frame pieces resting on the new stringers (just to see the fruits of our labor).
3/21/09: Internal frame pieces are being built, using patterns copied from the frames taken out of the original Calypso.
UPDATE: After further inspection, it looks like the wood is just too old and rotten to be able to restore her as originally planned. Instead, it's been decided that we'll use this as a "pattern" boat, and build an exact replica, using pieces from the original that can be salvaged. Although it's not what we had hoped for, it's the next best option. So...ONWARD!
11/03/08: The deck has been removed, as it will need to be completely replaced. It allowed us to see just how bad things were underneath. Lots of foam was revealed under the front deck, but all in all the boat isn't in terrible shape.
Jeff Schneider still has the original fiberglass tail peice and cockpit from the Calypso Too (hull #C-3), which his Dad drove from 1968 through 1970 - the entire life of the boat. It's an exact copy of the tail piece that was originally on this Calypso (hull #C-2). As you can see in the photos below, it's still in tact so we should be able to make a duplicate from these for the Calypso. Plus, the original CALYPSO lettering is still visible, so we can make a stencil from the trace.
(Don't forget to click on the pictures* to open a new window with the full size photo)
The tail piece on the boat was modified by Gale Whitestine after he purchased the boat in the mid-70's. He wasn't a fan of the trademark shark fin tail, so decided to make it in a style more to his liking. He told me that he was a bit of a "Trekkie" back then, so added the Star Trek insignia in the center of the tail piece.
The cowling on the boat today is actually the cowling from the third Calypso hydroplane (hull #C-3). The original cowling actually flew off and sank during a 1969 race and was never found. Owner John Forbes decided not to make a replacement, so it raced the next two years with no cowling. When Forbes sold the Calypso (hull #C-2) to Armand Yapachino in 1971, he gave Armand the cowling off the Calypso Too (hull #C-3), as that boat was retired and replaced with the new Karelsen (hull #C-4).
A closer look at the deck showed the stain lines from the original Calypso paint scheme. Unlike the other Calypso boats, this was the only one that had the special stain lines on the rear deck on either side of the tail piece. The pictures below show the then and now (click each one to get the full image)....
I was fortunate enough to be able to go look the boat just a couple of days after it arrived at Don Kelson's shop. With very little arm twisting, they convinced me to sit in the cockpit. As I soaked up the moment, I recalled the last time I sat in this boat - it was almost 40 years earlier as the boat was being towed slowly through downtown Wenatchee, WA as part of the Apple Blossom Parade in 1969. As an 8-year old kid, that was like being king of the world!
The Calypso hull #C-2 arrived at Don Kelson's shop in late October, 2008. The pictures below give a good indication as to the condition of the old hydroplane. As you can see, it's in rough shape, but not a total loss. The deck will need to be replaced, and....well, see for yourself.
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