Boats I’ve Known

by Lee S. Wilbur

Boats, boats in the basement, boats under the outside back stairs, boats (and canoes) at camp, a rowboat down on the shore in Southwest. Boats seem to, and coming from a doctor’s family, a man who was never quite at home on the water, have taken up a major part of my life. I’ve loved them each and every one, almost. Nothing I like as a pastime more than being out on the water. Never seem to get tired of the feel, fresh air, and motion of the water.

Dad, soon after returning home from WWII and the Philipines, bought a camp lot on Long Pond and commissioned a friend to build a wooden “duckboat” for hunting in the fall. He used it a few times and realized she was a “roller.” Leaning out and over the side to pick up a downed bird with swells running in this particular craft was just not his “cup of tea.” So, off to the camp and outfitted with an Elgin 1 ½ HP air-cooled outboard. Told me not to go out of sight if I wanted to use it. Luckily the noisy creature burned minimal gas because I and sometimes with my sister Suzanne who always begged to go along, spent hours going back and forth in sight, sometimes fishing, sometimes just “cruising” until that combination was outgrown in favor of what else...a “Minimax” with plans from “Glen L” out in California. A boat that would scream with a 5 HP Johnson.

The Minimax. The jet ski of their day, anyone who knew the difference between a screwdriver and a glass of orange juice was confident they could build one of these. And many of them did. Ask an old fly fisherman.

Constructed of just two sheets of 1/4" plywood and a few other sundry items, the Minimax could be built “by anyone” with just a “minimum” of experience. Just what I possessed at age 10-12. Course I had to go the extra step and fiberglassed the hull to deck joints and in the course of which, destroyed a small section of Mother and Dad’s newly tiled basement floor. Dad came down to the basement one afternoon. Asked me to please not fiberglass during his office hours upstairs. Patients were complaining of “the fumes.”

The Minimax lasted about one summer...kept sinking at the dock...so Dad had Norm Bouchard, a local boatbuilder put a 14' plywood runabout together for us on which went this gorgeous 22 HP. Scott-Atwater motor. It would fly and as soon as I’d added a year or two and could take it out alone...Dad really only used it for some fishing...his favorite recreation being golf on the weekends, I learned to waterski and it was downhill from there on.

Wasn’t long before service time and a tour with Uncle Sam’s Army interfered with my growing of age and a 2 ½ year hiatus from major water. Returning home from Germany with a brand new wife, Heidi, wasn’t long before we’d invested summer money in a 14' Glastron runabout with 33 HP electric start Evinrude. Great combo for waterskiing which we did a lot...except when it had rained and I’d forgotten to manually turn on the bilge pump switch...which was all too often. A major bailout would follow with another trip being towed down the lake, loaded on the trailer and back to the repair shop. (They loved me). I’ve seen the boat years later up on Campobello Island in someone’s backyard, sitting just where it belongs...on dry land.

1958 Glastron Flintstone’s model. The emergence of fiberglas as a building material allowed pleasure boat designers to skip over the skills and techniques of wooden boat building. They now could throw something soft and sticky against a wall, make a mold from the result and pour fiberglass into it.

Then, I started teaching school as a way to put food on our table and clothe our two growing children, Ingrid and Derek. Our summer occupation had been...what else!...renting boats.We still had 12-15 boats, both sail and power (inboards and outboards) which all needed some “TLC.” Some more than others. Amongst them were two which still stand out or should I be brave and say haunt me. One, a 17 ft inboard fiberglas “runabout” (loose descriptive term from the “50s”) with a 4-cylinder “Greymarine” engine which, although in decent shape required a lot of that “TLC.” I’ll never forget having “Willie” Ward, a local mechanic who worked at HR Hinckley’s come out to the mooring and see what he could do to keep it running. Willie pulled some tricks with the spark plug wiring and we got through the summer, but I was relieved when someone else bought this particular burden by the end of season.

We’d also had several sailboats in the “fleet,” one of which being a wooden planked centerboard sloop twenty something feet overall. Fun boat to sail when she stayed afloat. Luckily she would take on only about 12-14 inches each night and we could bail her out before anyone came to rent by 9-10 that morning. Tried re-caulking that winter and using some discrete fiberglass but she was just too tired. Finally sold her to a guy I’d worked with in the Park Service who had plenty of “winter time” and he completely glassed her and became a “happy sailer.”

One of my and at this point “We,” with AJ very much involved, was buying what became the “Helen J” and our last boat (so far).

Power plant in the “J” was a 6-cylinder Perkins diesel which had to be changed out, boat having been sunk and left sitting on a golf course behind some bushes for some eight years. We’d taken out an aluminum block BMW engine from one of the smaller boats we’d built at Wilbur Yachts a few years previous and I couldn’t see but what these two would make a happy marriage. “Dyer 39,” easily driven and 150 Italian horsepower. Turned out to be a great combination except...anything over 1100 rpm and she overheated. Nine knots all the way to Key West and back. I could steer from the bridge, read a book, and still not get into too much trouble.

Our boat now is a 14' “expanded” tri-keel MFG with an 8 HP Johnson which we truly enjoy fishing with. Every so often we get a little tug about having a bigger boat, but then again, we’d have to start playing the lottery and knowing myself as well as I don’t, I’d forget to buy a ticket each week and if we won someone would have to tell us because I’d forget to look in that day’s paper.

Marinades and Rubs

I happened to be visiting a favorite cookbook of mine from 1989, one I’d just about worn out, one of two I have by Julee Rosso and Sheila Kukins. Loved it! The New Basics cookbook. Thought with the “grilling” season fast upon us you might enjoy their column of M&R for the coming summer season:

“Marinades have a multitude of uses. They tenderize the tough, moisten the dry, and enliven the bland. Although some foods taste fine grilled just as they are, almost everything will benefit from the additional flavor of a marinade.

Marinades are simply a combination of three ingredients” an acid (such as vinegar, tomatoes, buttermilk, yogurt, soy sauce, wine, or citrus juice)..oil, and flavorings.

Acid is the tenderizing agent. The best candidates for high acid marinades are tough meats such as flank steaks, round steaks and shanks. Oil is a moisturizer and the most popular oil used in marinades is olive oil. But experiment with sesame, nut, and herb flavored oils.

Sugars are a common flavoring. Honey, molasses, and brown or granulated sugar take the sharp edge off a high acid marinade, and meats basted with sweetened liquids develop a rich brown crust.

The length of time a particular food is marinaded depends on the strength of the marinade and the flavor and texture of the food. Fish should marinate no more than 30 mins., and then only in a delicately flavored marinade that won’t overpower it. Lean, strong-tasting venison can marinate in a hearty marinade overnight.

Keep foods well chilled while marinating (but remember to return to room temp. before grilling).

Fair Winds and Good Roads
– Lee Wilbur