March 2013

Dear Friends,

I would like to share the triumphs and tragedies of this month.

The “Liberty” project is complete, she is back in the water. The bottle of champagne smashed across her bow, and the smiles and pats on the backs completed. Captain Allen told me that the entire family was flying in from Stockholm, Sweden, on February 15th to take her out on a vacation cruise. This project was done in the hottest time of the year – the “Liberty” was cut open from stem to stern: floor timbers, keel cheeks, and planking were just some of the work to be done on this major project. It was a race to the finish line.  This is what I live for, saving another Trumpy. This is why we do what we do.

Mr. Trumpy built three of these types of boats: “Liberty”, 67.5’, 1954, contract 368, built for R.M Miller; “Trianon”, 80’, 1960, contract 392, built for E. Clayton Gengras; and the grand dame  “The Wishing Star”, 84’, 1963, contract 407, built for Col. David Wagstaff. They have the best of both worlds: half flush deck cruiser, half houseboat. All three have fast, sleek lines and are just beautiful.

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October 2012

Dear friends,

This morning I felt a cold coming on so I took some Echinacea. It’s something my mom had gotten me started on many years ago, as well as zinc lozenges for a sore throat. Now, those are the star ingredients in a new bottom paint. I had to laugh. How things change but stay very much the same.

I started in the boat business up the Miami River when I was 15, sanding and painting for summer money. There was a boat yard around 27th Avenue, Ships & Yachts. My mother had a yacht brokerage so I had an in. The cans of paint were heavy, loaded with cuprous oxide. Red was the best, lasted six to eight months, and that was if you were really lucky. My bottom painting career was short. I learned to have respect for the people who did that kind of work because it’s an ugly, nasty job. Even back then, there were old wives’ tales such as if you put copper filings or cayenne powder in the paint, that would keep the barnacles at bay.  

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June 2012

Dear Friends,

Recently, we have been bringing smaller boats to our shop here in Florida. In our tent is a 36-foot Windsorcraft with a dark blue hull and varnished deck. She’s a true beauty. Built in Turkey, the “Party Girl II” is the perfect boat for just that. The boat lives on Manitowac Lake in Minnesota. The other project is very neat. The 28-foot “Downwind,” is the only one of her kind left. Designed and built by William H. Albury in 1954 in Man-O-War Cay, Abacos, Bahamas. Mr. Albury is probably the most famous of all the Bahamian designer-builders.

The first time I heard the name Albury, I was a much younger man. It was in the summer of 1971, I was 16. I got a job helping on a delivery to Nassau. Back in those days, it was a different world. Wooden fishing sloops lying on the beach, getting work done. Beautiful clipper bows with trail boards and wine-glass transoms with “leg of mutton” rigs, which means the mast is as tall as the boom is long.

I was smitten by these amazing watercrafts as I walked along the beach and talked to the locals. There were different islands and each had their variations. There were even races. Names like Knowles, Pinder and Sawyer were all out island builders.

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April 2012

Dear friends,

Yesterday was one of those great days that come every so often. It started by putting the last-minute touches on Sirius. The proof is in the pudding, don’t know where that expression comes from but it’s true. With the push of the starter buttons, the 871 roared alive. Capt. Dave Culver nodded his head and the gang way came aboard, the lines were tossed and just when Sirius started to move forward, my partner Stephanie Smith yelled “Wait!” It was perfect timing. Dave nudged Sirius back towards the dock and we gave Stephanie a strong hand aboard. Our guys were checking the shafts and yelled up “Okay,” just as we cleared the Rybovich channel.

There waiting to come into the slip the Sirius just left was Capt. Ted Schmidt on the Trumpy “America.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a picture when the bows of two great Trumpy yachts crossed paths since I was on one of them but these are moments I will always remember.

Capt. Dave slowly notched up the throttles. The purr of the motor made you feel Sirius coming back alive after a long sleep. All the hard work was done. This was Devin Lloyd’s first project as lead carpenter and you could see the sense of accomplishment on his face. Devin is a Florida boy, grew up on these waters boating, fishing and surfing.

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February 2012

Dear friends,

I’m sitting here in Charlotte, N.C. airport waiting for take off. We are number 17 in line. This has been a great month. Nate Smith, my partner, is closing in on the Wheeler that will be Pilar for the film Hemingway & Fuentes. The new motor is in, planks and more planks are going up and the painters are coming in at night and weekends to keep to a tight schedule.

In the paint shed is “Chesapeake,” the 1963, 61’ foot Trumpy, Contract 379 owned by Peter Anzo.

In Florida, we are working on “Wishing Star,” the 83 foot 1963 Trumpy, contract 407, built for Col. David Wagstaff. She is in for some minor wood work and paint. She is a glorius girl, a proper yacht. So what could be better? Two Trumpy yachts. The second is the 1964 “Sirius,” 60’, Contract 412, built for Henry Gibson.

On “Sirius,” we are replacing the shaft logs. Both suffered from electrical discharge. The amount of electrical flow was enough to remove all the lignum in the wood. (See photo.) The new captain, Dave Culver, and I are working on resolving the problem.

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January 2012

Dear friends,

Getting ready for Vintage Weekend at Ocean Reef was a repeat of last year, with the same results: Last minute preparations gone awry. Not a cloud in the sky but as soon as Bernard Smith put down his brush, finished with painting the deck, a cloud slid over the boat and it rained. Since this was again at the last minute, there was no time for a re-do. I had to laugh – through gnashed teeth.

This year was a first for me, I backed Aurora II in the slip like pro. Having never done it before with Aurora, it would have been embarrassing had I messed up at Ocean Reef. I don’t know if it was luck or Vicki Goldstein’s magic but we ended up docked for the show next to Cindy and Buddy Purcell of Huckins Yacht Corporation. We have known each other for years. Before Aurora’s lines were cleated, Buddy and I struck up a conversation. I recently read something that was interesting and blurted it out to Buddy. “I just heard that cold molding was invented in the 1970s? Is that true?”

Cindy joined the conversation then to set the record straight. Cindy is the granddaughter of Frank Pembroke Huckins and boatbuilding is in her blood. She said, “I’ve heard that too but my grandfather was building cold-molded boats in WWII but they called it plywooding.”

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