CLASSIC 1955 WOODEN RUNABOUT – LITTLE HONEY UPDATE

CLASSIC 1955 WOODEN RUNABOUT – LITTLE HONEY UPDATE

Back in March 2025 WW ran a story on a1955 17’ Mason Marlin runabout named LITTLE HONEY that owner James McConnell was restoring – link to that story here – https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/03/17/little-honey-1955-classic-wooden-runabout/

Over the xmas/ny break James sent in photos above and commented that after managing to dislodge the transom on the 2nd voyage after the initial rebuild, he had now completed the repair.

James pulled the transom back the 1/2 inch it had moved when the motor hit the submerged log.  Cut the buckled veneer off, cleaned it up and epoxied it back in place followed by 8 coats of varnish.

He then put 4 threaded rods from the transom to the next structural point as he felt the motor put a lot of load on the transom.  Lastly a layer of fibreglass tape along the bottom of the transom just in case.

In James words itt’s a goer now and the new perma-trim meant no need for a new prop” 

CLASSIC MASON MARLIN WOODEN RUNABOUT MORPHS INTO A SPEEDBOAT

CLASSIC MASON MARLIN WOODEN RUNABOUT MORPHS INTO A SPEEDBOAT

During the woodys trip to the Clevedon Cruising Club last weekend, one of the members brought along a recent project.

The speedboat SUZI Q started life as a Mason Marlin but her cabin top was toast so the call was made to start from scratch and the end result is what we see above.

Quite an impressive conversion and no doubt a flyer, did not get a chance to talk to the owner but it would be interesting to learn how she performs / handles at speed. I image a windscreen will be on the shopping list 🙂

THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE ONE OF THE STRANGEST COMMENTS ON THE WW SITE