by The
Story of Side Kick
Drew Fosnes
Boats
are in my blood. Both my Grandpa and Dad have made boats part of their lives.
Naturally, boats have always been special to me. Being around the boats in my
family has helped me discover how much I wanted one of my own. My family
currently has a 1958 18’ Chris-Craft Continental Fiddle Sticks, a 1939 16’
Racing Runabout Gadzooks, a 1949 17" Special Runabout Match Sticks, my Grandpa’s
16’ "classic glass" Chris Craft, and now, a 2003 10’ Glen-L design called Side
Kick, my boat.
One of my earliest
memories of boats includes a boat show in Kelowna B.C. Here I had the chance to
enjoy looking at and riding in a variety of boats. Having a hotel right on the
water was spectacular and watching the boats till late at night bounce up and
down in the waves was a cool sight. I saw people enjoying their boats and doing
things that were incredible and sometimes a little crazy. A "maniac", named
Rudy, was out doing bat turns in his boat, a 1934 23’ triple cockpit Hacker.
When he returned to the dock I approached him and told him he was "going to
break his boat if didn’t stop doing that". Since then, Rudy has become a
neighbor, a great friend and a big encourager to me during my project.
At the 2000 Gene
Coulon Park Boat Show I met a man named Marty Loken who had his boat for sale, a
14’ Reinell. I was so tempted to talk to him about buying it, but I discovered
the price was way out of my range. Marty and I went for a ride in his boat on
Lake Washington; this ride convinced me I wanted to have my own boat. After the
show, Marty and I exchanged emails. I told him that I wanted my own boat. He
shared with me that as a kid he had built his own from a kit. He encouraged me
to do the same, and gave me wonderful suggestions of places to look for plans
and ideas.
Based on Marty’s
suggestions, I began to surf the web, looking for boat kits and designs which
lead me to a boat plan called T’N’T, an 11’ plywood design available through
Glen-L marine designs (www.glen-l.com). I found one particular model that was
perfect, Squirt, a 10’ plywood design, with a deeper hull depth than T’N’T, and
a nice tumblehome. This design looked safer, the hull was deep enough so you
wouldn’t fall out when you turned sharp. I thought my parents would approve of
this design since it was somewhat safer than the others I had found.
Through Glen-L you can
buy boat plans, materials lists and prebuilt frames. I used the on-line
materials list to estimate the total cost of building the boat. Both the design
and the estimated cost seemed reasonable. So I asked for the plans for my 11th
birthday. On my birthday, when I first looked at the plans, I thought they were
really cool, and the boat wouldn’t take too long to build. It actually took us
about 18 months to finish "Side Kick". It took this long because I was juggling
Little League Baseball season, Little League tournaments and All-Star
Tournaments. I was also dealing with Boy Scouts and outings. I learned it’s not
as easy as it sounds to juggle several activities.
The hull sides and bottom are mahogany plywood. We decided to plank the deck on
top of the 4mm plywood to make it look more like a runabout. We used Alaskan
yellow cedar, cut into planks 5/16" thick by 2 1/2" wide. The cedar had been my
Grandpa’s. He had been saving it to build his own boat, but died before he could
start it. The cedar planks are a lasting memory of my Grandpa and his love for
boats. The king plank and covering boards are mahogany, to provide contrast with
the cedar. We decided to use mahogany colored caulking to create additional
contrast. We choose burgundy red for the bottom and navy blue for the sides. The
interior upholstery is burgundy, to match the bottom.
During the
construction I worked with a variety of hand and power tools, including the band
saw, drill press and screw gun. I learned that you can never have too many
clamps when you’re building a boat. I got very good at making, gluing and
installing plugs. There were a lot of them! It’s important to hold the chisel
properly when you shave off the top of each plug. Putting the control and
steering cables were my favorite parts of the construction. This step gave me
the feeling of being almost done! Marty Loken donated aluminum windshield
brackets that we had polished. Dad made a windshield out of acrylic plastic.
Finding the right sized steering wheel and throttle controls was a challenge.
Dad ended up making a very special steering wheel out of mahogany with an
aluminum center. We just kept looking and surfing the web to find the right
throttle control. The throttle cables were custom made by Teleflex, just for
Side Kick. The plans didn’t include a cutwater, but we wanted one. So we made 3
D model of the bow and had it custom made. Dad thought a stern pole would be a
good idea. He turned one out of mahogany; it stands on the deck between the
front and rear cockpits. We also found special cleats and bowhandle for the
deck. Finishing touches included Side Kick sized fenders. She is powered by a 15
horse Mercury outboard.
Instead of a trailer,
we made a combination rack/cart. We varnished it and put foam pads over all the
parts that would touch the boat. It takes a minimum of 2 people to launch the
boat, but 4 works very well. We roll the rack into the water and Side Kick
floats off. This rack is special because it fits into the back of our pickup
truck. This is a major convenience because in the future we can transport two
boats to boat shows at the same time, Fiddle Sticks on its trailer behind the
truck, and Side Kick on its rack in the bed.
We launched Side Kick
for the first time in August of 2003. We finished the last details just days
before the Pacific Northwest Classic Speedboat show on Lake Union. They asked us
to bring Side Kick to the boat show one day early. The launch went well, the
motor started on the first pull, no leaks, no damage, everything went perfect.
It was also pleasing to have some elderly gentlemen compliment the boat as they
relived their youth. This made me proud! During the ride across Lake Union we
got plenty of "thumbs up" from other boaters. Mom bet me that Dad wouldn’t let
me be the first one to drive. She lost. I got to drive the boat the whole way
and it felt great.
At the show, my boat was
a people magnet. Some thought it was an old boat that we had restored. "How old
is it", "Where did you find it?" People were surprised it was new. That was very
satisfying since that was a big part of what we were trying to accomplish. I
spent a lot of time buzzing around out on the lake or just sitting in my boat at
the dock. My Dad and I got to test Side Kick top speed, 25 mph according to my
brother’s GPS, with both Dad and me on board. The hard work paid off; I won
"best outboard" at the show. The boat parade at the end of the show was
paradise, because I got to take my grandma out with me. We got lots of
thumbs-ups and we both loved it!
My boat has many events ahead. I want to introduce Side Kick to Mason Lake where
our cabin is, go to many other boat shows, and do some racing.
I would like to send out special thanks to my Dad, Rudy Rudloff, Dave Lobb, Marty Loken, and all the other people that have given me encouragement, tips, materials and those inspiring boat rides. If you ever see me at a boat show, in my boat or roaming the docks, just ask for one of those rides.