Kishti- the story of a first
In 1963, Joel White built and designed the first powerboat to come out of Brooklin Boat Yard, Kishti, a 34’ wooden power cruiser. While she isn’t as well known as High Time or Maine Idea, Kishti boasts the distinction of being number one. After stumbling on a single photograph of Kishti in our archives halfway through 2023, we set out to find her. Where could she be now?
After some amateur sleuthing, we were connected to a couple who had recently purchased Kishti from Bob and Marnee Small of Harpswell, Maine. Dave Robinson and his fiancee, Lynn Murphy, purchased Kishti from the Smalls in 2018. At the time, Kishti was named Kookaburra, and she had had substantial changes made to her over the thirty years the Smalls had owned her*.
Despite being a lifelong reader of Wooden Boat Magazine and admiring Kishti for years from afar, Dave was intimidated by her wooden structure having never owned a wooden boat before. Still, he says, “The Joel White book is what pushed us over. She was #1! Hull #1! We had to have it.” He credits his fiancee, Lynn, for providing the motivation to take the plunge. “You have to have a good partnership to take on a project like this,” Dave says, “It’s key.” While we talk, Lynn is in the background providing color to the conversation.
As far as the restoration project, Robinson is no stranger to what it takes to both build and maintain a boat, and he decided early that he’d do the work himself. He grew up sailing and racing 110s and 210s, and he is a mechanical engineer in the marine industry. He is also a former navy pilot. In the five years since Dave and Lynn have owned her, Kishti has undergone a slew of upgrades and changes, many of which Dave pursued in an effort to bring Kishti as close to her original condition as he could, within reason. As he puts it, “I tried really hard to keep the work traditional.” Of course, they started with giving Kishti back her original name.
The hardest job, Dave says, was stripping off the many layers of Awl Grip. “It took me months,” he says. He used heat guns, putty knives, and old fashioned elbow grease to get to the bottom. Once he was there, down to the bare wood, Dave says he thought to himself, “Oh my God, this is Joel’s work. I could see the tool marks. It was special.” He also describes what it was like to see and experience the craftsmanship as its owner: “From the white oak to the bronze fixtures, it’s still so well built after all this time. It handles so beautifully.”
These are Dave’s own notes regarding the stripping of the hull:
Due to peeling and cracking, 55 years of topside paint was removed to bare wood using a heat gun and putty knife. A brutal job taking several months of labor. The hardness of the Awlgrip paint and the softness of the Cedar planking made it virtually impossible to use a powered sander of any type. Once to bare wood cracked planks were repaired using West System 610 and additional Silicon Bronze screws were added. Hull was primed with Awlgrip 545 primer then painted with oil based paint using brush and roller technique. Lynn selected a lighter color of Kingston Grey and we had it custom formulated and its easy touch up. It was shear luck that it appears that we may match the original hull color. After three years the paint shows very little cracking and at times it’s difficult to tell that it’s a wooden boat. Wheel house and deck paint was stripped, primed and repainted. Bottom was scrapped to remove old build up and caulk was replaced as necessary.
Kishti’s restorative work also includes:
Yanmar 6LP 250 hp 6 cylinder turbocharged diesel, ZF Marine gear
New prop shaft and bearing
Electric head and push button
New custom poly water tank
Solar panel + new dual battery design and current circuit breaker panel
New wheel house console replaced + flybridge electrical and steering hydraulics moved from center to port side + forward hatch replaced
New paint
Hearing Dave and Lynn talk about Kishti is like hearing a child talk about a recent birthday gift. Clearly present are all the emotions of delight, enthusiasm, appreciation and optimism, all flowing out of them in excited conversation. “We are caretakers,” they say, “Not owners.” We absolutely agree, and we think Joel would be thrilled.
Kishti spends her winters at Town River Marina in Quincy, MA, and her summers at the Hingham Yacht Club near David and Lynn’s residence. They continue to perform all of Kishti’s maintenance themselves.
*the Smalls had made several upgrades to Kishti (ex: Kookaburra) including a new pilothouse and a soapstone stove.
A recent picture of Kishti following her extensive restoration by David and Lynn.
