Isabella's Restoration
It only took me 31 years to rebuild. When I acquired Isabella, she was on her last journey, the scrap heap. I had a boat repair business in Kean's Detroit Yacht Harbor in downtown Detroit. North and south of Detroit are miles and mile of boatyards, and marinas. There are thousands and thousands of boats. For this boat to end up in my yard was planned by somebody. I should say for me to end up there would be more accurate. Isabella had been at Kean's for 35 years before I showed up there as a fledgling boat carpenter. I wasn't aware she was in the yard, because I was focused on learning another wood related occupation, and I was challenged by the boat repair business. The owner of the boat, before me, was a troubled sort. He had money, was rather eccentric, and could be seen walking around the boat yard in his bedtime attire. I had finally seen Isabella when the yard crew placed her at the front of the row, directly in front of the store.
A couple years had gone by and all I could see were little glimpses when Louie would only pick the tarp up in little areas so he could work. Louie is the guy who sold the boat to the guy before me. I didn't know he had plans of selling it. Then one day he pulled the oversized tarp off of the boat, and for the first time, after being in the same place for going on 5 years, I got to see her lines. I was very sad when I found out that the guy before me had bought her from Louie the night before. They had met in a bar and got talking about boats, and one thing lead to another, and I had missed out. Two years later, after much more neglect, I found out the owner had passed away and the boat was going to auction. I attended the auction and I was bidding against the local salvage king pin. He wanted her for the V-12 Scripps and any hardware that could be sold off. I wanted her because she was rare, beautiful, and needed to be saved.
This style of boat didn't survive because they were expensive to maintain, and really should be taken care of by people who know what they are doing. Robinson boats are copper riveted together and are very strong and real hard to fix, so commercial boats got scrapped and replaced by the next generation of boat. Lucky for Isabella, Louie owned a cabinet shop and had experience in the upkeep of wood. He owned the boat for 35 years. Thanks Louie. Louie bought it from the original owner who lost it to the Navy during the second world war. The boat was gray from one end to the other after the war, and required 50 gallons of stripper to come back to original. When I took over I made the decision to live aboard, to facilitate the restoration, and, I live on her still today...summer only. Lucky again for Isabella, I owned the boat repair business at Kean's. Because I had the space, the discounts on lots of materials over 31 years, the experience, the complete wood working facility, my crew, whenever possible, the friends that chipped in, special mention to Guy Sam for rewiring the whole boat, I could go on. I say all that, because of all of that, she is alive and ready for the next 31 years of service. So you can see why these boats didn't survive, and if you want to see the photos of the restoration, you will see why Isabella is in service at 80 years of age.
Isabella is the last 36' Robinson Seagull, I can find no other. Robinson Marine Builders, Specialized in commercial boats like mail, fire, police, and commuters. These were strong fast boats, built to carry out any order in any weather. Whether it was taking someone to work on time or delivering the mail to a loaded freighter moving up the Detroit river, Robinsons boats could handle it. Isabella was commissioned as a commuter. She ran between Mt, Clemens Michigan and Detroit in 1933 when the roads were mostly bad. She served until she was drafted into the navy, and turned into a patrol boat. The navy mounted a machine gun on the foredeck and a syrian on the cabin top and made runs between Mackinaw and Detroit. After the war, the owner got her back for a buck and put her back to work. It will take a while but I hope to have the complete history on this site eventually. Thanks for your interest, people like you make it all worth it.
A couple years had gone by and all I could see were little glimpses when Louie would only pick the tarp up in little areas so he could work. Louie is the guy who sold the boat to the guy before me. I didn't know he had plans of selling it. Then one day he pulled the oversized tarp off of the boat, and for the first time, after being in the same place for going on 5 years, I got to see her lines. I was very sad when I found out that the guy before me had bought her from Louie the night before. They had met in a bar and got talking about boats, and one thing lead to another, and I had missed out. Two years later, after much more neglect, I found out the owner had passed away and the boat was going to auction. I attended the auction and I was bidding against the local salvage king pin. He wanted her for the V-12 Scripps and any hardware that could be sold off. I wanted her because she was rare, beautiful, and needed to be saved.
This style of boat didn't survive because they were expensive to maintain, and really should be taken care of by people who know what they are doing. Robinson boats are copper riveted together and are very strong and real hard to fix, so commercial boats got scrapped and replaced by the next generation of boat. Lucky for Isabella, Louie owned a cabinet shop and had experience in the upkeep of wood. He owned the boat for 35 years. Thanks Louie. Louie bought it from the original owner who lost it to the Navy during the second world war. The boat was gray from one end to the other after the war, and required 50 gallons of stripper to come back to original. When I took over I made the decision to live aboard, to facilitate the restoration, and, I live on her still today...summer only. Lucky again for Isabella, I owned the boat repair business at Kean's. Because I had the space, the discounts on lots of materials over 31 years, the experience, the complete wood working facility, my crew, whenever possible, the friends that chipped in, special mention to Guy Sam for rewiring the whole boat, I could go on. I say all that, because of all of that, she is alive and ready for the next 31 years of service. So you can see why these boats didn't survive, and if you want to see the photos of the restoration, you will see why Isabella is in service at 80 years of age.
Isabella is the last 36' Robinson Seagull, I can find no other. Robinson Marine Builders, Specialized in commercial boats like mail, fire, police, and commuters. These were strong fast boats, built to carry out any order in any weather. Whether it was taking someone to work on time or delivering the mail to a loaded freighter moving up the Detroit river, Robinsons boats could handle it. Isabella was commissioned as a commuter. She ran between Mt, Clemens Michigan and Detroit in 1933 when the roads were mostly bad. She served until she was drafted into the navy, and turned into a patrol boat. The navy mounted a machine gun on the foredeck and a syrian on the cabin top and made runs between Mackinaw and Detroit. After the war, the owner got her back for a buck and put her back to work. It will take a while but I hope to have the complete history on this site eventually. Thanks for your interest, people like you make it all worth it.