Katie Ford was designed and built by Heinie Dole in Astoria, Oregon in 1946.
Her scantlings speak strongly of longevity; 1 1/2" yellow cedar planking on oak frames, a keel timber fashioned from 71/2" x 19" Douglas fir, teak over fir plywood decking and red cedar cabin and trunk cabinsides.
Molded into the beautiful shape she is, Katie Ford has long graced the Pacific Northwest now with her second long time owner, Ian Stewart of Victoria, BC. Mr. Stewart has ample respect for Katie Ford and is committed to her lasting another 50 plus years.
Over the past few years he has embarked on an extensive maintenance program with as one might expect a few surprises. An old 4 sq.ft. radio grounding plate was a perfect anode for corrosion causing serious delignification beneath it.
Beyond the plate everything was sound and a shame to remove but necessary to stagger butt joints. The original monel nails were in perfect condition and were reused to fasten the new planking. The following summer tell tail signs revealed extensive rot in the aft top corners of the planking and in the transom.
In excavating these areas rot persisted further in the plywood subdeck to the corners of the cockpit coaming. The repair was timely as some seriously depleted fasteners were also removed. This work was completed in conjunction with wooding the topsides, refairing, reputtying the seams, red lead primer and new enamel. Close attention was paid to reffing out and sealing the joint between deck and bulwarks as this proved to be a source of freshwater damage.
The owner also undertook similar work refinishing the cockpit coamings and the doghouse. Some smaller areas of rot were addressed and a new layer of fiberglass set in epoxy replaced the original canvas on top.
New handrails and eyebrow completed this phase of repair. Katie Fords rig was pulled the following spring and completely refinished and upgraded with new conduit and wiring.
Early Sept 2002 saw Katie Ford take part in the Victoria Classic Boat Festival. She was awarded best of show in her class and in a stiff 20 knot breeze, placed first overall in the event race. Ian's voice still sparkles while on the phone and talking about the race. We are currently planning with the owner the next phase of work.