A 5 Year Project Reinventing Bil Laird's 50' Lake Powell Boatl

This is how the 'scow' that egocentric millionaire Bill Laird had acquired looked the first time I saw it. It was pathetic. It had been on the bottom of Powell on three different occasionns. The repairs that had been made to the bottom of the hull were hideous and very poorly done. Calvin Clissold was the Chief Designer at Gulfstream Boats in Salt Lake City, Utah. I had just been laid off from Gulstream after tooling up three new boats for them. Cal and I had worked together for over three years on those projects. I had also worked for Gulfstream a few years before that. He had approached me to inquire if I'd be interested in properly repairing and making some huge modifications to this boat. Totally reinventing it. I didn't commit to the project right away. I was not concerned about being able to do it. I immediately realized the tremendous cost and time involvement it would require. Bill Laird assured both Cal and me that it would not be a problem. Cal was very careful about making Bill realize it would be more cost effective to buy a new boat similar to this one. Bill would not hear of it. Cal and I concluded that Bill was sentimentally attached to the poor thing.

We then adjourned to a coffee shop to further discuss what would be done and come to an agreement. At that time Cal introduced this line drawing of basically what he had in mind. It almost blew me away. I began to have second thoughts. Cal assured Bill Laird that I could do it single-handed and that if I should need any help, Cal could make his son Jim available. Jim and I had worked together at Gulfstream so I was fine with that.



The boat was crammed into the back of a large cabinet shop in an industrial complex where I spent the first year removing and properly repairing the damaged areas on the bottom of the hull. After that I added a quarter of an inch of new fiberglass over the entire bottom from the inside(working inside between the main deck and inside of the bottom). Then the entire bottom got two layers of 1/2" balsa core and fiberglass inside. After that had cured, another 1/8'" of fiberglass completed the hull redo. It was literally bullet-proof on the bottom.

The first restyling modification was the raised shear-line on the bow of the boat. It became apparent early on that Bill Laird fancied himself a boat designer. He insisted on changing what Cal had called out for this modification right off. Bill demanded that I build it the way He (Bill) wanted it. In the three months it took to build, Bill and Cal got into some very heated discussions about the appearance of this first modification. Cal insisted it ruined the sweeping line of the bow and spoiled the overall flow visually.

You can see in this picture the odd, blunt angle of the addition. I personally didn't like it because it looked like it had been added on. Cal (the designer Bill hired to redesign the boat) finally told Bill Laird the he would not allow his name to be associated with the boat if it was left that way. Call demanded that Bill let me cut it off and redo it right. He reminded Bill that the whole premise was to have the finished boat appear that it had been built as it appeared originally. Cal insisted that it not look like it had been redone when finished. He and I had already agreed on that.

Cal and I also agreed that it was only fair to Bill that we "mock-up" any further modifications. What you see in this picture is a framework of 1x2"lumber covered with white poster board. At this point, we were nearing the time when the boat would be moved into one side of the Telemedia Building where Bill housed his business. One-half of this building had been cleared out just to do the boat in. The overhead door on the back of the building had to be enlarged in both width and height to allow room for the boat on the trailer to access the building.

The boat has been moved in and set up to finish in the 'new' shop. It was like going from one extreme to the other. From not nearly enough to more than I needed. This photo also shows the new shear-line. There is masking on the trailer. I have just sprayed white plastic primer on the outside and inside of the shear-line. I have already fabricated the new decks and superstructure. I had to raise the old main deck 6" from stem to stern. The vertical braces from the floor on each side are to support the hull so it won't "tweak" after the deck was cut loose and so the hull would remain where it was while I reattached the deck 6" above where it had been.

The 'windows' are poster-board or flat black paint at this point. This is the way Cal wanted to do it. I agreed It would look great. Cal got a bid to have it done this way and it was astronomical. This was back in the late 70's. Ahead of the time this 'look' became popular. It was decided to go with conventional tinted windows.

You can see the ribs on the top of the bridge. I have to form

fiberglass over them and finish it.

Here I have installed the windows. At this time, Bill Laird got some kind of a 'real deal' on twin 350 cu. in. Chevy engines that had been modified for marine use by OMC for V drive. They had not been in the original plan so Cal and I had to put our heads together to figure out how to make room for them. We decided to lengthen the hull to accommodate them. You'll notice in the bottom right of the picture that I've cut away the entire stern of the hull. Bill was aghast when he walked in the shop that day to check progress .

This is how it turned out. You can also see the wooden ribs that are 'glassed' to the underside of the sundeck so it would support people walking on it. It wouldn't before.

The engine bay with the twin Chevy's and the Kohler Power Generator nestled in between.

This picture shows off the gracful sweep of the bow that Cal fought so har for. It added over 9" to the overall length of the craft. It was still classed as a 50 footer.





This picture shows her nearly finished as far as my part of the project. There is a seat that curves with the walk-way around the bridgeside to side just below the shear-line and just ahead of the three windows. Access to the bow is through the opening in the walk-way in front of the bridge.




We even mocked-up the handrails before having them made.