Last summer a hull touched water after a long wait.

Thingabob is a Cape-style pleasure boat built originally in 1966, restored by Tern Boatworks and relaunched in 2024.
Thingabob owners Steve Bush and Peggy Findlay had it for a few months in summer 2019. It was an older wooden boat, and Bush and Findlay wanted to make sure it was seaworthy and with no hidden problems. They brought it to Tern, knowing it would be in good hands.

"Until you start taking paint off you just never know," says Tern Boatworks owner Bruce Thompson, "and when the paint came off it was clear there would be quite a bit of work required."
That big workload came at a bad time for business: "COVID didn't help," Bruce notes, "[but] luckily we were running two shops...and boatbuilding was considered essential so we weren't affected by close-downs."

"A 1966 locally-built Cape boat. There's not very many examples left around here because they were never built to last. This one lasted," says Bruce, because it was a pleasure boat kept indoors in the off-season. "But when we got it," adds Bruce, "it was iron-fastened and it was definitely starting to show its age. When we started taking things apart it was pretty clear it would turn into a big restoration project."

The team at Tern got to work. Lots of old wood in the hull needed to be replaced. "The backbone timbers we replaced from the stem, put a new keel in it, put a new horn timber in it, new stern post, new transom," Bruce lists, "then we added some strength in places where it was missing: in the the bilge there was a bunch of broken frames and we reconfigured that, and then steamed in new frames. I'd say we re-framed about one third of it."



Then came the rest of the boat: "we put a whole series of new floors in, floor timbers. The keel was iroko, the floor timbers were white oak. We redesigned the interior and then built a new interior.
The decks originally were just pine-laid decks, so we put a layer of marine-grade plywood over them and the same for the cabin tops. We changed the profile of the cabin, and we added a little bit of a bill to the front of the cabin, and then we added three windows across the front instead of the two that were originally there, and tweaked some of the lines and curves."


Work in the shop proceeded, but the real drag was deliveries: "It took us 2 years to get the engine," says Bruce, "when normally I could get an engine in less than 6 months, and that really put us behind.

That engine, once it arrived, was one of many big upgrades. "They had 75 horsepower and they wanted more, so we doubled the horsepower," says Bruce, "and then we redid all the systems, it's all brand new, we tore all the wiring out and redid everything...it's considerably more modern than what was there before."


There's a battery charger, a GPS, and the fish finder, depth sounder and other instruments are reduced now into one unit, the same screen as the chart plotter. Thingabob now has shore power, a macerator pump for the holding tank and pressurized water.

"The idea with the boat was we want it on the outside to still represent what it would have been, the workboat heritage that the boat had," Bruce explains, "we didn't varnish any exterior things except the transom and the mast, but then on the inside we highlighted it with more varnish and detail."

"A lot of hardware got switched to bronze. A lot of custom fabrication on that boat too," Bruce points out, "there was a swing-up bronze helm seat so it could fold up...the bow roller was a custom piece, on the dash, the instrument panel, we tried to get rid of as much plastic as possible and we put bronze plates down and it's engraved with the boat's name." Castings came from New Dublin Shipfittings.



As Thingabob neared completion it was the end of a long road. "I think the best part of projects like that is at the very end because everything starts to come together," comments Bruce, "and the team's working for a goal, to get to the launch date, so there's a lot of camaraderie in the shop."

Thingabob was the last project started before COVID. Tern is caught up now. Bruce is happy with the result. "It's nice. It handles really well," he comments, "you can park it anywhere. It's very easy to drive.


Thingabob owner Steve Busch is also happy with his new boat. "We'll use it around Mahone Bay...It's an example that we hope other folks are willing to follow in terms of boat building in the Nova Scotian and maritime traditions that go with it," he says, "wooden boats were the mainstay for centuries and the craftsmen who still know how to do that need the support of the community and recognition of the work they do."


To see a video of Thingabob's launch day click here.
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