The ICW
Chapter One: Picking up the boat
Gerald is about 5’10” and has the handsome good looks women flock to. And he has the quiet confidence men are drawn to. Gerald could be thirty or over forty, in great shape, sporting a ruddy tan that tells of his boat yard existence; he is dressed in an Army green jacket covering a non-descript shirt and jeans. He is wet to the bone from the unrelenting rain. His head is uncovered so his jet-black hair seems to be generating its own waterfall. His boots are the heavy black ones, the kind with a protective toe, in case something heavy falls upon it. He is walking down a rocky road through the boatyard. Behind him is the Maffitt, the sixty-foot tourist boat that was built in 1943 as a tender to Liberty Ships. The Maffitt is in the slings of a boat-mover and is creeping towards water at 1 mph. The official name of this machine is a travel lift. This contraption reminds me of a spider, with the slings being the spider’s legs. Ever so slowly the spider creeps toward the Intracoastal Waterway, the ICW.
The Maffitt has spent two weeks in the yard. Two boards were replaced in its hull, a new prop, the drive shaft fixed and a coat of paint applied. The owner of the Maffitt told me that afternoon that the wood removed from below water line was beautiful, unlike anything that can be purchased today. The exposed portion was, however, eaten away after sixty-five years. Two planks of persimmon were used as replacements. It was also time for the boat to receive its two-year Coast Guard inspection. The crew that did the inspection pronounced the Maffitt to be in the best shape ever seen by them for a boat of its age. In addition to the planks replaced the bowsprit was fixed. One of the captains of the boat had T-boned a huge red ship-channel buoy. The bottom had also been scrapped and several coats of dark red anti-fouling paint put on.
As the rain continued to fall the spider kept its pursuit to the waterway. Gerald made a couple of hand signals to correct the driver’s approach to the pier. The driver deftly drove the device on to the split pier. The boat was now hanging over the water; still in it’s stirrups. Without much fanfare the second engine on the spider now slowly turned and the stirrups began lowering the Maffitt on to the water. As the boat touched water Gerald grabbed a line to hold it close to the pier on the right. He hunkered down, holding the line as the four of us gingerly jumped aboard. George has his master’s license so would be the pilot, Mr. Kay, Earnest and I were along for the ride.
We were taking the Maffitt back to Wilmington. We had brought it up here a couple of weeks ago for it’s boat-yard re-do. It rained on the way up and it was raining now, on the way back. Our route was south on the ICW, past Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, into Snow’s Cut, into the Cape Fear River to the downtown dock of Wilmington. We would spend about five hours on the water.
We waited for two mechanics to put the finishing touches in the engine room. To get there they had to open a manhole in the aft deck and shimmy down. One of the mechanics was a bit middle-heavy so he had to breath in to make the descent. The mechanic had to make some last minute adjustments to the drive shaft. As we waited, I chatted with Gerald, as he continued to pull on the line to keep us against the pier.
Gerald has operated the boatyard for all of two weeks. He leased it from the Lewis family who has been operating it since the ’30’s. Before that he worked next door at another yard. He and his wife, Pamela, live in a modular home on site. They also own a house in Wilmington that is currently rented out. I ask Gerald about employment in the area. Oh, I had four guys come in here yesterday looking for work. In two weeks I have had ten resumes. One guy worked for Rampage down on the Cape Fear River for years and years. He has decades of experience laying down fiberglass. Two years ago Rampage, which makes large cruisers, used huge billboards with help wanted ads. One guy worked for Hatteras, up in New Bern, for thirty-seven years and was laid off. He told me the whole plant is likely to be shut down. They don’t have any orders. Hatteras is one of the great, great designers and builders. It is legendary. But a new Hatteras 30-footer can cost up to $500,000+. Used Hatteras boats are now going for a relative song. Gerald sat back on his haunches and told me what he had been doing. Before I got into the yard business my wife and I took private boats around the Bahamas. Gerald was then apprenticed to a captain with a Masters license. They crewed their last boat for six months. The owner, from Chicago, would fly down once a month or so. Gerald has this habit of answering questions with Sir at the end. When I asked about credit he said American General calls me all the time, offering loans below 6% interest, Sir. So, business loans are not a problem. He thinks he is a good risk. He has never owned a credit card, ever.
The mechanics were about finished in the engine room so we prepared to take off. Given the all clear, George turned the key and pressed the ignition. We had a very tight stretch in which to turn the boat around. I asked George why they simply didn’t put the boat into the water with the bow facing out. They are afraid the prop might tear up the stirrups. Ah. Ever so slowly we pulled out of the stirrups and George maneuvered the boat around so it faced the narrow channel. A blast on the horn signaled we were making way. One blast for forward, three for reverse.
It would be about fifteen miles, at about 10mph, to the Wrightsville Beach Bridge.
Next: Sights and scenes from the ICW. Memories of growing up on the water.
