From Kit to Lake
SCAMPY Boats
by Ella Paets, Ed.D. photography by Bill Casey
When they’re young, a lot of kids love to build model boats. Some really lucky kids get to build, and ultimately own, their model boats, jump in them and then whisk around Lake Eustis at full throttle. That’s what the local SCAMPY (Sunnyland Chapter Apprentice Mentoring Program for Youth) program is all about. A sprawling old barn, undistinguished and unnoticed in the center of downtown Tavares, is transformed into a magical place when boys and girls ages 10 to 16 arrive and the sawing and hammering begin. In the end, a small, sporty motorboat is built. Each kid and their adult mentor assemble a one-person craft in just four days. To the delight of both, the youngster who races across the water and the mentor who watches from the shore, the trim SCAMPY accelerates to 25 miles an hour, which to these youngsters is plenty fast enough to create the excitement of racing the “Big Boys.” The current version of the SCAMPY boat program is the brainchild of Dave Tilly, Richard Arnold and Lou Ronca, members of the Sunnyland Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. The SCAMPY project began five years ago when the club received a James Craft kit boat, containing the plans and all materials needed for building the boat. The men expected to assemble the kit in three or four days, during the annual Antique and Classic Boat Show in Tavares. It proved to be a bigger task than expected.
It all started with a 1950’s “Popular Science” magazine article.
It was in this same barn that Dave and Lou found the inspiration that led to the modified SCAMPY boat.
Elizan Toner, hand on the throttle, takes his SCAMPY out for her maiden voyage.
Dave located a copy of a 1950s Popular Science magazine featuring an article containing the plans for building a small wooden boat suitable for one person. From this 60-year-old plan, a craft was created that could be built quickly by novices and their mentors. Last year Megan Mallo, 15, and her brother Logan, 10, guided by Jack Bingham, their mentor, built a baby blue and white cutie they ultimately named the Piranha. Megan lobbied to paint the Piranha a wild combination of colors, but was outvoted by her family. When I visited the family, Megan and Logan’s petite beauty rested comfortably on a wooden trailer while the family members admired the trim design and shiny paint job. The siblings share the SCAMPY and frequently lament to their parents, “One boat. Two children.” The Sunnyland Chapter is pioneering the SCAMPY program, urging other chapters throughout the country to adopt the boat building program. In the Continued on Page 37 PULSE • SUMMER 2011 | 29