Boatnerd Discussion Forum

The books the "Master of the Inland Seas" (Captain Thomas Wilson) and "The Ford Fleet" have good info on the Marshall/Wood/Dykstra/Ford. You can find the first on Ebay and it's a must have. I think (could be wrong) the only real hull difference between the former and the now Ojibway is the Wood had a cruiser stern. The Breech had more guest space, and had a more modern look but had a lower HP, used engine and counter stern.

Here's one I posted.


http://newsearch.boatnerd.com/download/ ... &mode=view

I sailed as wiper on this boat in 1969 when it was the John Dykstra for Ford Motor Co. Interesting article in the December 1953 issue of Great Lakes Review points out that the design was an upgrade of the 1942 AA's. In comparison to the AAA's which were being delivered at the same time (1953), the Richard M. Marshall was 3' narrower so it could make the same speed at 5000 SHP vs the AAA's 7000 but the carrying capacity was 2000 tons less (10%).

My father was Steward on the Wood in 1965, I know that Capt. Metz posted a picture of the Wood on Lake Superior in the Thomas Wilson historical gallery, also Garbear has posted pictures of her as the Benson Ford in his photo collections.

The vessel was never lengthened.

Was the Joseph S Wood (Richard M Marshall) lengthened to 729' by adding a section to the middle? Trying to research without success. I was a watchman on the Joseph S Wood in 1964 and have conflicting memories of the ship. It was the flagship for Wilson Marine Transit and we carried guests during the summer months. Fifty three years later, my recollections don't match what I have found so far. Looking for images also.