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Started:
December 1994
Completed: 1999
Type: 22'-0" x
7'-8" Pilot House Cruiser
Location: Mountlake Terrace, WA
Built By: Jim Griffing
Link to the Surf Scoter 22 Page
in the Design Catalog |
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I first met Sam Devlin
in 1992 at the Seattle Boat Show in the King Dome. I
was looking for a trailerable boat to cruise the
waters of Puget Sound with my wife. I needed a boat
for diving, fishing and overnighting. I wanted a
boat with a helm and galley protected from the often
drizzly Northwest weather. Of all the boats I saw
that day, only one really struck my fancy – Sam’s
22’ Surf Scoter. I left the King Dome with Sam’s
design catalogue and his advice to begin with a
small project to see if I really wanted to commit to
building a Surf Scoter. In 1993 I built a 16’ strip
canoe. I enjoyed the experience and the boat turned
out nicely. In early 1994 I bought study plans for
the 22’ Surf Scoter. (I really liked the 25’ Black
Crown but a quick measurement of my garage drove me
toward the slightly smaller Surf Scoter.) I returned
to Sam’s Olympia shop in mid summer to purchase the
complete set of plans. I began by building a 1" to
1’ scale model of the hull and bulkheads to get a
feel for how the boat would go together. I took a
short break beginning in October to spend some time
with my newborn son Jack – work on the full size
Scoter began on December 30, 1994. |
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Working in my two car garage was a bit tight but I
soon had the hull ready for the first rollover. I
invited some friends to a "watercraft inversion
festival" and was shortly at work sheathing the hull
and adding the keel.
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Believe it or not, I
was able to get my friends back for the second (and
final) rollover in October of ’96. Because I’m
working in the garage of my tri-level house (and I
live in the drizzly Northwest), I’m currently
working to complete most of the interior, the cabin
top, and the cockpit. |
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I will then pre-fab the pilothouse parts and roll
the boat out into the driveway to finish it up. With
my son’s help and my wife’s patience, I may be able
to launch our new boat on or around my son’s 5th
birthday in 1999.
Then it's North to Canada, or Alaska, or…
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Jim Griffing
22305 66th Avenue West
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043
Click here to
e-mail Jim
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