Bob Finds a Sande Ace
by Bob Parks
In 2007 I began casually looking for a Sande Ace to rework. Growing up, my family had one that was ordered new by my Dad in about 1957 from the Sande Boat Works. That boat was part of our family - although we did not realize it until after it was long gone. In a way, my family never really got over having a Sande Ace. In the late 50's and early 60's my Grandmother filmed just about everything to do with our family. In reviewing
the old 8mm films, we found we had hundreds of feet of film of my family with the Sande Ace on Hood Canal. I converted most of the 8mm films to digital, and this just made my desire to find an Ace just that much stronger.
A still taken from Bob's Grandmother's movies.
Anyway, just how hard could it be to find a Sande Ace? You know, "the one" that just needs a quick coat of varnish and paint on the hull. Of course, "the one" will have the "required" pristine Mercury outboard that will start with one pull after a long overdue tune up. The trusted Mercury will only need just a good waxing and the bronze two blade prop will need a good polishing job to make it mirror like. It goes without saying that the trailer for "the one" will be shot, being a "Hood Canal Dunker" trailer used to launch and retrieve in the salt water of Hood Canal, most likely not lighted, titled, licensed, and not legally pulled on the highways or roads (doesn't count going to or from the launch, right?). Nor will this trailer have been cleaned after each weekend of use and just generally will look like a lot of rust that is unsafe at any speed.
So the hunt began for the "one" Sande Ace in earnest. I ran ads in the Seattle, Olympia, and Bremerton papers, Craigslist and various boating forums on and off for months. I attended wooden boat shows. I made up flyers requesting any information and mailed them to many marinas or boat repair places in Western Washington looking for leads. I started getting calls and emails from people who had grown up with an Ace or owned one, or skied behind one, and lots of stories - not many leads though. I was directed to this Sande Ace website for the incurable Sande Ace fanatic. Email contact was made with Ed Waali, Ned Hamlin and Tom Regan. All three very knowledgeable, helpful and love the Ace and what it represents.
I met with several people that owned Sande Aces that they thought they might like to sell. Each one decided it was not time to sell. I certainly could not blame them. So I was still on the hunt. I spoke to Ed Waali and he gave me the name of a man who had one that might still be for sale. I made an appointment, drove to the Hood Canal area with my wife, Jan, and looked at a neglected, tired, poorly covered Sande Ace. I decided to think about it. I spoke to Ed who had a copy of an inspection report by Tom Regan. After thinking about buying the tired little Ace, I called the owner to make a deal, only to find out it had been sold. So I was back on the hunt for "the one."
I continued to look and run ads. I followed up on a number of dead end leads and met some great people along the way. Terry in Port Orchard emailed me with several leads, Gary, from Hood Canal advised me that IF I found an Ace, no matter what the condition, I should buy it - if nothing else to use it for patterns (he thought most of them just had rotted away or had been burned on the beach cooking hot dogs or marshmallows).
About two months later, the Ace that was supposed to have been sold was now available again. I was in Tacoma, when the owner called me. I stopped work, went to U-Haul and rented the largest trailer I could tow with my Tahoe and stopped by the bank for the required funds. I planned to tow the boat and boat-trailer on the U-Haul trailer for the 70+ mile trip. Three hours later, I was heading back home. The boat on the Hood Canal dunker trailer all loaded on the U-Haul trailer.
I was now the proud owner of a lot of rot in the form of a Sande Ace. I have to say, I was thrilled to have it, even in its sorry state. Several passing drivers gave me the thumbs up and waved (I would check the mirrors to make sure wood debris wasn't flying off it)...after all, I may need the debris for patterns. Later I figured they just like the look of the Sande Ace.