October 02, 1980 - Ode to Wooden BoatsSECOND SECTION
The 61iffath Mmes
Ode to Wooden Boats
Boats are an integral part of the fabric
here on the North Fork. Almost everyone
has one, whether it's for pleasure or for
one's livelihood.If you live out here sooner
or later boats will become part of your life.
My first recollection of boats was when I
was but a kid, and my Uncle Henry was
building his house down in Fleets Neck.
There were always scraps of wood around
and plenty of nails dropped by the car-
penters to build your model dream boat.
Sleek long racers, short chubby tugboats,
Delta Queens with two and three decks,
great sailing boats; all were conjured up
with a youthful eye.
Being so close to the bay it was but a run
through the back woods path and you were
able to test run them along the edge of the
bay. Here a short stick holding a length of
line attached to the bow of your boat kept it
off shore as you raced up and down the
beach with it trailing behind. Some would
plane off gracefully, while others would
topple and swerve from side to side. All
great designers had their good and bad
days.
Often, when the wind was right, we'd fly
a kite over the bay and attach our sleekest
and best boat to it. Then we'd watch it as it
sailed away across the bay being towed by
our kite. Those were the days when 10 -cent
kites could be bought, and once one was
bought, it was copied and we'd make our
own. Old fish line usually did fine for the
string.
The most common boat on the bay was
the wooden rowboat, and Uncle Henay had
a huge one. It would take the whole family
out, and it was in it that most of us got our
first fishing experiences.
Jules Verne Adventure
The Gilberts down the road had a
smaller rowboat, one that was just right
for our young crowd to swim off. It seemed
we spent most of our day down at the bay. I
can remember my hands looking like I'd
left them in the water overnight, they'd be
so pale and wrinkled. It wouldn't be long
before we kids would have the boat turned
over and everyone was crawling over the
top and diving off. The greatest adventure
was to get the boat turned over in such a
manner that air would be trapped un-
derneath it. Then we'd dive under and
come up inside .... a real Jules Verne ad-
venture. I can still hear those hollow
voices bellowing back and forth to each
other with the sparkling green water
reflecting from below.
The first boat I ever owned that you
could actually get into was a duck boat
given to me by a man over by Boatman's
Harbor. He was going to chop it up until
persuaded it was much too good for that
and could be fixed up and "if he ever
wanted to use it he could ".
With much painted canvas and many
galvanized tacks it started to retake its
original shape and served me for many a
year. Harry Waite and I caught weakfish
from it like you'd never believe. My old
diary tells of 54 weakfish "caught on the
bottom with squid" one night in East
Creek. Before the '38 hurricane took it and
bashed it to pieces that was the most
fished- out -of -boat around.
Never Involved Great Expense
Funny how those early days never in-
volved any great expense. There was
always same paint down the cellar or nails
out in the garage. It was seldom we ever
had to buy anything. We just made do.
That duck boat served me so well that I
found another one someone was taking to
the dump. It had no bottom and its deck
was just about gone. What was worthwhile
were its sides. It created the shape and
style I was looking for. With the help of two
pieces of 3 -8 plywood that came ashore up
on the Sound and some canvas over the
deck, it was ready to take my first out-
board motor - a Johnson 5 -6 horse. It was a
real monster with two cylinders poking out
each side. All its wires were exposed,
which was okay until it got a little rough
and then they'd start to short out and it
would sputter and choke until it was
pampered and dried off and yanked again
to start.
My big jump to power came right after
World War II when a grand old gentlemen
who loved boating, but his wife did not,
afl WuCsur��
sold me his old Great South Bay catboat
that he had converted to power. The engine
was a giant one cylinder Gray Marine that
had a huge flywheel and a monstrous
crank that would fly off if the spark was
not set just right. Needless to say 1 still
carry a scar from that temperamental
lady. She was roomy and had a small cabin
that you could get out of the rain in. All one
could ask for when it came to fishing and
eeling. We called it the Putt -Putt.
We went everywhere on it. Once we went
around Gardiners Island and got ship-
wrecked there •- well not exactly ship-
wrecked - the motor stopped and we had to
anchor offshore, but to give it a little twist
(continued on page 19A)
OCTOBER 2, 1980
WOODEN BOAT - -To some, wooden boats are a thing of the past, but to
the true boater they will always hold a high and special place.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
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