Rejuvenating Jody G

She's a legend of Killarney and one of the grand dames of the Great Lakes. Her mahogany hull gleams in the sunlight and you pause to admire her clean lines as you enter into the Killarney channel.

She's the Jody G - 36' of Killarney craftsmanship. Originally built over the course of two years, this solid varnished mahogany-planked vessel was created by Reg Low. Custom-made for the John W. Galbraith and named for hisdaughter Joanne, the Jody-G was launched on August 4th, 1947.

Orginally powered by two 6 cylinder Script engines, the Jody G has undergone two engine refits: in 1961 she was retro-fitted with twin 8 cylinder Chris-Crafts and thirty-six years later she received twin Mercruiser Inboards.

The boathouse the Jody resides in year-round was custom-made for this glorious vessel and has seen her through almost sixty years of North Channel cruising. Aside from regular maintenance, the Jody G has only seen two incidents that necessitated major repair: she once broke loose in her boathouse and damaged her starboard side. Luckily, Joe Low was able to punt across the harbour to repair her in the water. The second time she broke loose out at anchor while her boathouse was being repaired. She washed up on the beach and the damage from her wild night meant a winter in Joe Low's shop for repair.

In her 60th year, the Jody G needs some structural work done on her hull and the staff at Harbor Vue is thrilled to be able to restore and maintain this piece of local history.

As with many people, Stan Ferguson has had a long term love affair with the Jody G. He was privileged to work on her when his father owned Ferguson Marine; and later when Stan and and his wife, Beth, purchased Harbor Vue Marina, the Jody G followed them to their new venture. Twenty-four years later, they're still privileged to have her in their shop and Stan is certain with the dedicated care provided to the Jody G by her caretaker, Paul Beauvais, she'll be cruising the North Channel for at least another sixty years.