Catch a glimpse of the Gull

VICKERY — A classic Lyman Boat Works wooden boat will be back in the water next year for tours provided by its new owner, the Maritime Museum of Sandusky. And, in the meantime, people interested in Sandusky's maritime history are invited to take a look at the restoration process. An open house to celebrate the renovation of the Gull — a custom-built Lyman boat dating back to 1939 — will take place from 1-5 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at Classic Marine, a boat restoration business at 5719 Wahl Road, Vickery. While admission is free, people planning to attend the open house are being asked to register beforehand at sanduskymaritime.org/gull. While the main focus is the Gull, visitors also will be able to look at a 1966 28-foot Lyman boat and a couple of other Lyman boats, Classic Marine owner Dwight Davis said. • Davis will be on hand to answer questions about the Gull and boat restoration. • Molly Sampson, director of Sandusky's maritime museum, also will be there to discuss how the museum plans to use the Gull once restoration is completed. Providing an active experience Plans call for the boat's renovation to be completed and ready to go into the water by late this summer. The boat will then go into storage for the winter. A wooden boat that old has to be kept in a place that's cool and where it won't dry out too much. Then, plans call for the museum to use the boat starting in 2026 for waterfront heritage tours in Sandusky Bay, Sampson said. By necessity, visiting a museum tends to be a "fairly passive and static" experience, but the boat tours will provide an active experience for museum patrons, Sampson said. "This takes it to the next level," she said. Restoring to former glory Bob Grimm, a wooden boat fan from Lakeside, located and bought the boat and is the lead donor for the project. Grimm said he's pleased with the boat's restoration progress and the museum's plans for it. "Give credit to Molly and the museum," he said. "It will not be a static relic. It will be a floating piece of sculpture." A $275,000 fundraising campaign to restore the Gull is nearly complete. There will then be a campaign for a $75,000 endowment to help support the boat tours, Sampson said. History lesson Lyman Boat Works was a prominent northern Ohio boat-building company that was founded in Cleveland in 1875 but moved to Sandusky in 1929. It stayed in business until 1973. Lay Brothers Fisheries of Sandusky, once one of the biggest freshwater fishing companies in the U.S., was the Gull's original owner. The 24-foot Lyman custom runabout boat was owned by Oscar Lay, vice president of Lay Brothers Fisheries. The Sandusky Library's history blog indicates how Lay Brothers Fisheries was a family business founded in Sandusky in 1870. By the 1950s, the business had run into hard times, pressed by competition from Canada and a decline in the fish population, and the business closed in 1961. But, in the 1930s, business at Lay Brothers Fisheries was booming. According to the blog entry, the company had about 30 fishing boats in the 1930s. Looking ahead Restoration of the Gull is a painstaking process and plenty of work remains to be done. After Grimm bought the boat, it was moved to Classic Marine in July 2023. While much of the restoration of the hull has been done, the boat still needs an engine, wiring, gauges, varnish and other work. The boat has about 30,000 parts, Davis said. He held up an example of a copper clench nail and copper rivet used to hold the pieces of the hull together. To install each nail, "It takes about 50 whacks with a ball peen hammer," he said.