Old Boat BUG
In Remission? by Charlie Iliff
Stage V
Sure, she needs some work done, but… Stage I: The Dream.
On top of old Moonshine… Stage IV: Nearly Terminal.
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here’s no precedent for it in medical literature. Paradoxically, at a time when Jerry West’s Stage IV Old Boat Bug might be expected to be at its most virulent, Jerry’s symptoms have suddenly reduced to an occasional hallucination. Even when he was confined for two weeks in Washington, DC by 30 inches of global warming, his Old Boat Bug caused him little discomfort. Rather than anxiety, he had the euphoric feeling that progress was ongoing at Dave Herbig’s shop, even when the rest of the mid-Atlantic area was paralyzed. For those who may have missed one of the prior articles in the journal of Jerry’s Old Boat Bug, here’s a short recap. In the December, January, and February issues of PropTalk, we described the four stages of Jerry West’s Old Boat Bug. First, during Stage I—The Dream, he sold his Lord Nelson Tug and started thinking about an antique wood boat. He had a boathouse, complete with a 10,000-pound lift, and recurrent visions of a varnished transom through his boathouse door. He dreamed of leisurely afternoons and evenings on the Severn River with the quiet rumble of the powerplant of a stately wooden antique, with his wife Gill and maybe friends or grandchildren or just the right wine to toast the occasion. 50 April 2010 PropTalk
After research on the Web and antique paper publications and brokerage listings, Jerry heard the name David Herbig, a wooden boat restoration expert. He found that Dave had restored a number of boats for the Jones and Bullen families, among others, and that he was a superb craftsman, but that he worked alone, and thus was always backlogged with work. Jerry’s Old Boat fixation was not to be deterred, however, so he contacted Dave with complete confidence that his as-yet-undefined project would soon be under way. To the amazement of onlookers, Dave not only had a gap in his schedule, but also knew of a boat: a 26-foot 1955 Chris-Craft. The boat had been pretty as recently as 1996, but had been sitting in a pasture for 12 years, complete with a Chevrolet V-8 that had never been run in the water. And so Stage II of the Disease— The Purchase. Jerry bought Moonshine for $200, somewhat less than the going price for the carburetor on the Chevrolet engine. As the price suggests, the boat needed a bit of work.
Nice new bottom built andof painted During Stage III—The Beginning Reconstruction, Jerry’s symptoms got worse. As the first few months went by, Dave didn’t reconstruct anything. In fact, he removed the cabin, all of the interior, and the bottom planking. Somehow, through the rosy glasses of his malady, Jerry considered that progress. But then a new plywood bottom replaced the deteriorated planking. Since the boat was to live on a lift, the plywood was essential. Reconstruction actually had begun. Stage IV—Nearly Terminal saw Jerry stopping by Dave’s to marvel at the progress, and progress there was. The new bottom was on and painted, the boat had been turned upright, and the engine had been reinstalled and test run. The cockpit seats, sole, and engine box were in and shiny. The top was being rebuilt and staged for reinstallation. So, maybe Jerry’s not in remission at all. Maybe his seeing the cabin top not yet on the boat, but with a headliner that would make Chris-Craft envious, was enough to carry Jerry’s euphoria through the period when he couldn’t even get to see the boat. Maybe it’s just the calm before Stage V— Terminal, when his old boat once again floats, runs, and delights onlookers on the Severn. proptalk.com