About The Project
This is the story of the rebirth of MN-6139 AL as a cabinet. Growing up, my customer was endlessly intrigued by the mysterious wooden boat by the lake at their Minnesota cabin. Eventually he learned that his grandfather purchased the boat in 1959, and had it moved to his then new cabin. The grandfather operated the boat for two seasons in 1959 and 1960, and damaged the boat both times by striking submerged rocks. After the 1960 season, the boat was laid up on a base of railroad ties next to the lake. There it sat until 1992 when my customer’s father gave him the boat for eventual restoration. The boat has remained in covered dry storage since then.
Much of the wood on this 1935 Dunphy Water Phaeton was no longer seaworthy, and the idea occurred to my customer to salvage some of the restorable wood and create a cabinet for the front room of his cabin. My customer commissioned me to build a new cabinet which was clad with wood from the boat. This cabinet tells the story of the boat from top to bottom. The top of the cabinet is made of wood removed from the aft deck of the boat and retains the patina of years of outside weathering. The sides are weathered and original as well, the planking being arranged just as it was on the side of the boat. Some of the factory finish remains, and the boat's original registration number panel was also used. Finally, the back of the cabinet displays side planking that has been restored with its original factory finish in order to show what the boat looked like when new.
Once the cabinet was completed my customer commissioned a matching drink tray. The handle holes in the sides are the original gas tank vent holes in the decking.
The wooden boat has been a fascinating part of the history of the family cabin. The family now has a beautiful cabinet that looks over the lake the Dunphy once plied.
