September 2006

Dear Friends,

Wishing Star is moving ahead with my partner Nathan Smith running the project. The guest stateroom has been disassembled and new ribs are being installed through this area. She is also getting full paint and varnish and will be a stunner when she heads home to Hampton Island, Georgia.

I was in Beaufort, N.C., for three weeks, to watch construction of our new boat yard with an old friend Jimmy Berkeley, who lives in North Carolina. Jimmy is keeping on top of the project with our engineer Myron Meadows and project supervisor Eddie Grant.

The project seemed to take forever to get started, with easements, permits, drawings, changes and more changes, but that’s all over.

We’ve dumped over 500 loads of dirt. Now, we’re building the most important parts of the project, the infrastructure for drainage and utilities and a Travellift road. The road is 60 feet wide and compressed to support a 220-ton Travellift carrying boats and yachts from 25 feet to 125 feet. This is a great accomplishment. IF it wasn’t for my wife Stephanie keeping me focused, we would have never made it.
Our first building, will be the Myron building, named after the young engineer who has stepped up to the plate in designing our boatyard. (Naming rights for other buildings are available for a small fee).

That old Maine saying “You can’t get there from here,” keeps ringing in my ears. The 60-foot wide road, the wetlands, the store location and the first building – it just didn’t seem it was ever going to be possible. We had to overcome so many obstacles. But finally, we sprayed and staked and walked with a long tape measure. Myron said in his soft Southern accent, “Jim, it just fits. It’s a tight fit but it does fit.”

We also had some help from Dave Inscoe, Carteret County’s Economic Development Director and changing water mains and moving light poles. Thank you, guys.
We plan on building the first building in the next month. We still have a ways to go, setting up equipment, and completing phase 1. Our plan is to open in the Summer of 2007 or sooner, if we can get it done faster.

My dreams aren’t about fast cars or expensive houses. My dream was to have a boat yard for our projects for many years to come. This might sound kind of grand but I’m hoping to build a legacy, a boat yard that will be in my family long after I’m gone. My dream is to build a boat yard designed to restore antique and classic wooden American yachts, to attract the best craftsmen in the south east together and to make magic happen. Boat builders are an odd lot. The task requires patience, focus and knowledge. But most importantly, you truly have to love what you do.

We have been very fortunate to attract great craftsmen and keep them. I think mostly because there is a great deal of satisfaction and sense of personal achievement in what we do. I have many men I consider much smarter than myself, who could easily go out on their own, but they stay a part of our team because we can achieve more together than individually.

And Beaufort is the place to do it. This city built in the early 1700s has genuine southern charm and hospitality. Let me tell you a story, even if it’s a bit embarrassing to me personally. There’s this great wine bar in downtown Beaufort. One night, a buddy and I drank a bit too much and decided it was best to keep our cars parked and walk back. A fellow we met at the wine bar, a professional chef, wouldn’t hear of it. He insisted we spend the night at his house. Never met the man before in my life. Now that is some serious Southern hospitality.

I love the great coastal towns like Newport, Nantucket, Annapolis and Charleston. Each place has it special magic, but Beaufort, N.C. needs to be on that list. I liked those towns a lot more before they got “discovered.” So let’s keep Beaufort between us.

As part of my extensive research, I’ve been trying all of the restaurants in town, from oyster houses to sandwich shops to finer dining. I had lunch at a place called Sharpies. I had an Angus steak with a light salad and a tart for dessert. It was exquisite, a word I don’t use very often. The owner had dreamed of opening her own restaurant for 20 years and thought out every detail from the service to the tablecloths to the décor. Next time you pass through here, I highly recommend it.
As of this writing, bulldozers, backhoes and dump trucks are unloading sand and rock. From where I am sitting, I can see an Eldridge McGinnis motor yacht. She was built in the 1950s or early 60s. She’s 60 feet plus and doesn’t have a name on her transom, but I know this boat from Florida. This boat lived in North Palm Beach for many years. A father and son had her and they would haul her out at Cracker Boy Boat Works in Riviera Beach, Florida and we sold them lumber every year when they made repairs.

Then one day, I was watching the news and there was the owner. I remembered what he said,” I was in the channel, moving at about 6 knots and I must have slipped to the side of the channel and hit the stabilizer fin. As I pulled back in the channel, she sunk.” The boat was floated, hauled out and the insurance company totaled her. She sat in the yard for a long while. Many times, I walked over and studied her damage. It looked like a cartoon hole, something out of Popeye. It was 3 feet by 4 feet with jagged edges. I never went inside but from looking in the hole, I could see vertical cracks in pretty straight lines. The damage was clear. The problem was simple. The stress was too concentrated in a small area. The block spanned three ribs and the one in the middle was cut out. I looked at the stabilizer and the inside support block, the ribs had been broken way before the sinking. We have repaired many boats with these problems. Usually, the stabilizer was installed after market and the companies that installed them are used to fiberglass and metal boats so their calculation for compression is designed for those boats. But an antique or classic boat is whole different world. Then there is the price point. If the installer said, “We need to disassemble two cabins, remove and replace all the ribs in that area,” he probably won’t sell many stabilizer systems.

To put it in perspective, look at how rudders are installed on your boat. First, there are two floor timbers 10 inches tall. A block inside two ribs, keel bolts, rudder table made of steel and lots of outer white oak surrounding it. Then look at the size of the stabilizer fin. I have seen many damaged rudders bent, folded over, but rarely cause a hole in the bottom.

When I was on Sinbad, 63”, contract no. 439, built in 1970 for Fred H. Gordon Jr., this was an area of concern so I took a long hard look. Hers look like they were installed at the Trumpy yard originally. The block in the side looked solid. All the planking was in really great shape, no movement. This year, S.S. Sophie’s stabilizer area was restored. They had a block that spanned 6 ribs. The only problem was the ribs they installed over were installed in 1947 and it was time to renew them. Nathan Smith, the project manager for that refit, installed laminated ribs, not sisters. All the filler block were hand fit for snugness. Once completed, it was a work of art. Then we installed the interior over it, and the area will never to be seen again. But it’s not about seeing it. It’s the peace of mind.

Along with the letter, I am enclosing some newspaper clips. I know that I have written about Georgjan before and I found her original ad and have enclosed a copy.
The summer is almost over again. Are the years getting shorter? I know I’m getting older in every way. This summer flew by but it was a good and memorable one. I hope it was the same for you.

Sincerely,

Jim Moores