DearFriendsJune2014

June 2014

Dear Friends,

In the last few months many great friends have passed away – Skip Allen, Sr. Publisher of Southern
Boating magazine and Trumpy lover as well as Joe Bartram, one of Mr. Allen’s good friends. Years ago Capt. John Russell on “SS Sophie” gave me a framed photo of “Pilgrim I,” a1925, 92’ Trumpy built for Webb Jay.

Her original name was “Troubadour,” Contract 176. Joe asked me what I was going to do with the photo because he had a friend who once owned the boat. “This is a man that you should know!” he said. I sent the
photo to Mr. Allen with a note.

Two years went by and I never heard anything about it. Then one day, I got a call. When Mr. Allen
was closing his office door one day, he noticed a package behind it. It was only after opening it that he realized it had been waiting there unnoticed for a very long time.

When I got his call, all thoughts of Mr. Allen
snubbing the gift came to an end. He apologized over and over again. And, shared wonderful stories of his
past and current love of wooden boats. It was then that I came to understand the deep friendship of these two grand gentlemen, Joe and Skip. Mr. Allen loved life, family, and the water. What I respected was how he survived the conglomeration of marine magazines and the continuing death of the printed word to keep his family publication just that.

Next is Mr. Hollis Baker, a true gentleman and yachtsman of the first order. He had more than 53
boats, three of them Trumpy yachts: “Sirius,” “Glory” and “Stately Lady.” What I will miss most are his
phone calls encouraging me to continue to write and letting me know he got the newsletter. And especially his always kind and gracious manner in dealing with all things.

Then there was Wes Smith who was a friend and also worked for us through some amazing Trumpy
refits. Wes was a southern gentleman who never let life get dull. He was also very adventurous and passed
away on a trip to Honduras.

These were all great men who lived their lives fully and it was my great honor to know them. They
were men with heart, intelligence, and a passion for adventure. They will be well and truly missed.

The summer is finally here – light winds, bright sun, and the rain clouds that roll in almost every day
in the afternoon but it isn’t blistering hot yet. “Flying Lady” has tossed her lines aboard with her motors purring as she sails north. What a beautiful yacht, a 1937 Trumpy. While the restoration of this yacht is not ours to claim, it does make me proud for our small part getting her ready for Mr. Stewart’s great adventure. Capt. Scott Ireland and Tavis Givvons of Portland, Maine are piloting her north. They have no deadline other than to get to Maine sometime this summer. Tavis has found out that when you pull up to the dock with one of these great yachts people will come out of the woodwork to ask questions.

Most of us Trumpy owners and captains are used to it. It was fun to see how proud the first mate of
the “Flying Lady” has become. This young man will have the time of his life and have stories to tell for many
years to come.

Last fall, I went to Bayou La Batre, Alabama to look at ERSA, the 73-feet, 1929 New York Yacht &
Launch that had sunk and was sitting on Landry Boat Works’ railway. Well she has been purchased and the
new owner is moving her to New Orleans and has the finances and plans to restore her! I really hope that
comes true. I look forward to seeing ERSA’s rebirth.

Each person has their favorite Trumpy era, for some it was the 1960s Trumpy - sleek and graceful - the Annapolis Trumpys. I like all of the eras, but there is the 1919 Trumpys that showed an era of hope. WWI had ended, the Intracoastal was started, and Mathis Yacht Yard built 13 of Mr. Trumpy’s designs that year they were strongly built of American virgin timber. These yachts had proud bows and straight up cabin fronts. These yachts would make a mark in time.

As time has passed the pre WWI boats mostly have disappeared. Only a handful of them now remain. Many years back I had a call from Mr. Tyrone Wilkinson, owner of contract 101, the 80’ houseboat built as “Nadesah” for J.D. Carstairs. She would have 11 owners in her 95 years. As I have said before, I saw her many years ago, tied to a dock in Georgia, looking as though she was waiting for something. I recently got these photos and a short note from our friend Troup Nightingale: “While the Trumpy Friendship has been "gone" for years, I think she has met her final fate sinking at the dock in Darien, Georgia. She has been down now at least 4 days. While she will be raised, I do not believe she will recover.”

PHOTOS AND LATE BREAKING NEWS FROM TROUP NIGHTINGALE: “Brief note - Yes,a savior stepped in. Actually a person was given the boat. I have more details, but leaving right now to run a fishing charter this am. Vessel was raised and put on the rails at Darien, GA. So, she is not gone yet! More details and photos to come!”

This is a worthy project – part of our history that is slipping away faster and faster as time moves on. I hope like ERSA, there is someone to step up and save the “Friendship.”



Being in South Florida we see some really large yachts. These megacrafts have garages, just like a house, but instead of cars they have tenders, toys, and motor scooters. Nowadays you will see mahogany Ri-vas, Chris-Crafts and all manner of lake boats used as tenders for these enormous vessels.
Recently we were asked to look at a mahogany tender for megayacht. She is a pretty boat, built out in Idaho. I don’t think that builder ever thought his little lake launch would be tethered behind a megayacht, be-ing towed at 15-19 knots and falling into 15-20 foot waves in the Mediterranean. As I’m sure you can figure, it didn’t take too long for things to start breaking. Four planks on both sides were broken on the same rib. There was a vinyl skin between the planking so the inner and outer planks slid free of each other, hence the broken planks. We removed the bow below the waterline, glued with 5200, and planked her back up. Today she was shipped to the Med to be towed for the summer. We will see how she does under such working conditions. It’s a long way from Idaho and some lake.

We just recently started on Lou Jezdimir’s Chris-Craft. I told you of the saplings growing in her. There is not much to work with, but somehow we have started patterns, patterns, and more patterns. My guys look at the fit of the ribs and say “REALLY?!” These boats were built to last 10 years or so. So 82 years later there’s not much left. We have constructed a strongback and have decided to rebuild her upside down. Lou has a 1950s Hemi raceboat motor that he wants to use. This motor has weight to it, not like the modern versions, this one is cast iron, an original one.

We needed to know how much that motor weighs, so Lou drove his truck to a weighing station, then drove back to pick up the motor and then back to the station to weigh the truck again. It might sound a little excessive, but it worked. At 1,300 lbs the motor is double the weight of the 90hp Chrysler flathead motor. Na-val architect Eric Sponberg is going to help with the weight and balance of the shaft and props on the project. He has designed such boats in the past so the motor placement is important to get the max speed out of our lit-tle speedster. I can’t wait until we have the backbone put together – that’s when she will start to come to life.

Until next time,

Jim Moores