The Old Men and the Boat

Have you ever observed something that caught your imagination? Maybe a dilapidated old barn covered with vines, a old tractor sitting rusting in a field or a boat moored that hadn’t been moved or touched in a long time? What was their history, who were their owners and why had they been allowed to waste away?

Well I recently found one of those questionable old relics. Across from our dock, on the other side of our cove was a large old boat house, covered in cobwebs and bird dropping. The siding came down almost to the dock so it was hard to see what treasury was hidden there. As we would motor past the old building you could tell, hidden inside, that it was a fairly large old wooden boat, maybe thirty feet long or longer hanging on straps.

Recently we observed our neighbor across the way starting to pull off the old siding, re-nailing many of the old dock planks and cleaning up the boat house. Now, mostly uncovered, we could see that indeed it was a large old wooden cabin cruiser. I spent a little time on the internet trying to identify the old boat. I couldn’t find one like it; however, I feel it is a 1930 – 1940 vintage boat.

Curiosity now really had me…so I drove around to the other side of the cove and knocked on the door. Introducing myself I explained my curiosity. Smiling my neighbor explained that he had just bought the property and really didn’t know anything about the boat as it had already been sold and he was waiting for the new owners to come and take it away.

To his knowledge and checking with our other neighbors, the boat had been there for years and that several years ago the old man and another old man began a restoration. Replacing some of the hull planking, repairing topside rot and varnished the cabin, they slowly worked away. Seems they were cranky old men, they were reported to have long, loud and sometimes angry disagreements on how to proceed that could be heard up and down the cove. (I could almost see Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau).

Eventually the restoration stopped, the siding was put up and no one saw the old men or any work being done on the boat. Time went on and the spiders returned and did their work covering the boat barn with cobwebs and the birds decorated the roof and decks with colorful splattering of their droppings.

Our new neighbor has promised to find out more about the old men and to ask the new owners of the boat about its history. So…there will have to be a part two to this story.

Until then…here is a picture of the old boat, the afternoon light dancing patterns across its hull, waiting for “the rest of the story.”

Heat Advisory:

The sun rose over the eastern horizon to an already hot Texas landscape. Soon the morning dew was shimmering in evaporation, adding to the already oppressive humidity. Open burning bans and water rationing are being instituted in our county and surrounding counties. Fortunately we are allowed to pump water from the lake.

Welcome to a hot Texas summer.

An unusually mild spring has abruptly changed into an early and very hot summer. Heat advisories are up everywhere and the sounds of air-conditioner are grinding away, valiantly trying to keep their occupants cool.

Lawn mowers are cranked up in the early morning hour, adding to the air-conditioner hum, to add a wakeup call. However, given the heat, mowing in the early morning hours, while the temperature in “only” in the 80’s, is the only way!

By late morning the neighborhood mowers, yard workers, walkers and anyone liking the outdoors are forced back into their air-conditioned shelters...waiting for the cool of evening .

Air-conditioning...wow, I can’t believe, that as a boy in the 50’s and 60’s, we lived without air-conditioning, and in Houston no less!

Well the lawn is mowed, the water turned on...now it’s time to go back to the cool of the house.

LIFE ON THE LAKE

It is now early June, the heat is really starting to set in and yard needs water every other day. So...sitting down on the dock has to wait until late afternoon. One of the enjoyable parts of our evenings on the dock is watching the ducks. Several of the ducks now have little ones, “ducklings”.

One of interest is a duck that showed last year, a white duck that we named “Aflac”. Now all of our ducks are your basic mallards so a white duck really sticks out! Well “Aflac” is now a mother, having paired up with a “regular” mallard, and has produced an unusual brood of ducklings...two yellow ones and two standard little brown ducklings.

Like the elusive Loc Ness monster, “Aflac” has been hard to photograph, as she stays down the cove from our house and I’ve only been able to get a glimpse of her as I pass in my boat. For now I will just have to show you a grainy photo of her scurrying away with her little brood. This amalgamation of ducks has caused a great controversy up and down the cove...”will the two yellow ducks eventually turn white (like their mother) or will they join their siblings as your standard mallard duck?” Stay tuned for the next episode of the “Darwin Ducks.”