Early Grand Banks build questions

1971 Alaskan built by American Marine in Hong Kong . What typically would the frames be made of and were they sawn , bent or laminated ? What material would the planking be and what style of planking ?

Marty,

Please check out Grand Banks Owner's Resources and direct your questions to Bob Lowe. Bob Lowe is the most knowledgable person on the planet regarding Alaskans and Grand Banks in general. Good luck!

I joined to get some info but couldn't get into the woodie section . I'll try Bob Lowe . Right now I'm just curious and want to learn more . Thanks

Marty,

If you will PM your email I can send you some photos of the factory I saved from a post on the GB site. It shows the construction of the woodies.

Pack Mule said:

I joined to get some info but couldn't get into the woodie section . I'll try Bob Lowe . Right now I'm just curious and want to learn more . Thanks

Click to expand...

Ask your questions in the general section. The woodie section is an earlier website that has been grafted onto the GB owners site and so far as I know is relatively inactive. Bob Lowe participates in the general section.

The planking of 99.9 percent of the woodies is mahogany. A few, or at least one, a GB32 that lives in BC, were planked in teak. I don't know what the framing was made of. The hulls were carvel (flush) planked with cove lines. The fiberglass GBs duplicate the appearance of the wood hulls as well as being the same Ken Smith design. From photos I've seen the frames appear to have been sawn but Bob would give you the correct answer.

A long time ago I posted some photos here of photos of the original Kowloon (Hong Kong) yard. These may be what Ken is sending you. Wood boats were also built in the company's newer Singapore Yard but I don't know if these included Alaskans. Alaskan production continued for awhile after the Grand Banks line was switched to fiberglass in mid-1973.

I've been told that American Marine had wanted or intended to switch the Alaskan line to fiberglass, too, but before this could happen the company overextended itself on fiberglass Grand Banks production in mid-1974 and was headed for serious financial difficulties and the company couldn't afford to make the switch. So the Alaskan line was shut down, the Kowloon Yard was sold and the company concentrated solely on fiberglass GB manufacture in Singapore. From the outset, alll fiberglass GBs were made in Singapore until the advent of the much more recent yard across the strait in Malaysia.

So it remained for other companies who built the deFever design that was used for most of the Alaskans to produce them in fiberglass along with Fleming which uses essentially the same design (Tony Fleming was a yard manager for American Marine for a number of years in the early years.)

We owned a 1971 GB 42. Seem to remember the frames were a wood similar to white oak called "Yackal" Not sure of spelling. Had pictures of the yard at Kowloon also. She was a great boat.

New to this site and really enjoy reading all the discussion on various topics. Here is something I can add to this thread ...

Martin Wrote ...
> Wood boats were also built in the company's newer Singapore Yard but I don't know
> if these included Alaskans.

Alaskans, which were all built in wood, were never built in the Singapore plant. The production of wooden Alaskans, as well as Grand Banks 48 and 50 continued in the Hong Kong plant till 1975 when the original American Marine went bankrupt, the founding family Newtons was pushed out, and the Hong Kong Jung Bay boat yard shut down :-(

All Grand Banks 32, 36, and 42 started their lives as wooden boats built in Hong Kong in the early 60s. Around 1968~1969, American Marine opened the Singapore Plant and the production of GB32 was moved there, shortly followed by GB36. The production of wooden GB42 remained in Hong Kong till they switched to fiberglass in 1973. So if you see a wooden GB42, you can be sure that she was built in Hong Kong. And if you see a wooden GB32 or GB36 was built in Hong Kong, it must one one of the older ones built prior to 1968~1969.

Hi, Shing! Glad to see you on TF. I have a GB42 and participate in Grand Banks Owner's Resources as well. Feel free to join our "Social Group" under Community at the top of the TF home page. Look for San Francisco Bay and California Delta Cruisers group.

Occasionally a number of us plan a trip to the Delta, Petaluma, Angel Island, etc. Would like to have you join us. I saved the GB photos you loaded to GB Owner's forum about two years back. Sea ya'!