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Cover Stoiy
Take in history lesson at wooden boat show
By NAN PATTON EHRBRIGHT
THE SUN HERALD
BOAT SHOW
Ahoy, there. Permission to come aboard?
Maybe. Maybe not.
The owners of the vessels participating in the second annual Gulf Coast Wooden Boat Rendezvous this weekend may not want landlubbers trodding the planks and climbing the masts of their beloved boats.
They do want folks to converge on Casino Magic Marina this weekend to admire their treasures and ask questions about them.
“You work on your boat, you love your boat, ” Nancy Miller said. “You love to talk about it. We’re saving a wooden boat. We’ve been entrusted with it. We’re not the owners, we’re the caretakers. That’s exactly how we feel about it. ”
Nancy and her husband,
Jude Miller, were busy earlier this week readying the Maple Leaf III for the show. The two-masted schooner is docked on Nancy’s Canal off Bayou Cadet.
The couple live in New Orleans. She’s a nurse. He works for the Federal Reserve Bank.
By the end of the month, they hope to be living on board while they build a house beside the canal.
Maple Leaf III is Jude’s second boat. His first was a skiff.
Jude bought the boat five years ago in Gulfport, spent the first year repairing the bottom and the next two refurbishing the top. All that’s left to do now is finish the interior.
Well, maybe not.
On Monday, Jude ruefully eyed a fresh strip of paint along the top of the cabin. It was supposed to be gray but had a decidedly greenish tone.
"We’ve braved two floods. It’s been hit by lightning. This paint is the third thing, ” he said.
Maple Leaf III was built in Back Bay Biloxi in 1952 by Covacevich Boatyard for Finley B. “Goat” Hewes, a former commander of the Gulfport Yacht Club and Gulfport Yachting Association.
In its heyday, it even sported a fiill-size bathtub with feet.
“There are many stories about the bathtub,” Jude said. “Last year, this guy came over and he had a real perky step and he asked, ‘Is the bathtub still here?’ It turned out he would keep the boat clean for
What: Gulf Coast Wooden Boat Rendezvous When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Where: Casino Magic Marina, Bay St. Louis Sponsors: Hancock County Historical Society, Casino Magic
Admission: $1 donation to benefit historical society What to see: More than 50 wooden boats of varying ages, constructed between 1911 and 1993, some trailered and some docked. Other activities: Schooner excursions on the Glen L. Swetman and Mike Sekul ($5 per person for a one-hour sail; marine art contest; costume contest; model boat contest; boatbuilding exhibits; storytelling; marine vendor booths and displays; marine arts and crafts; marine auction; T-shirts; posters; and children's activities. Boat owners, vendors and exhibitors have been asked to wear period costumes.
Mr. Goat.”
Last year’s Coast rendezvous was in Biloxi.
This year’s gathering will benefit the Hancock County Historical Society. Proceeds from the rendezvous will help build an addition to the Kate Lobrano House, the society’s headquarters in Bay St. Louis.
Miller suggested moving the rendezvous to Bay St. Louis after hearing society president Charles Gray lament the organization’s lack of funds for the addition.
Casino Magic agreed to provide the site and food vendors. The casino will donate part of the proceeds from food sales to the society, Gray said.
The Millers were among a handful of couples who initiated the wooden boat show in Madisonville, La., which Jude said “started off as a little party.”
Year by year, it’s grown in size.
The society sent invitations to 1,000 boat owners and has had responses from as far away as Canada and Bermuda.
“We always have a lot of people show up at the last minute, ” Jude said. “We expect 70 to 80 boats. ”
“We’ve met some of the most interesting people, the
SUN HERALD FILE PHOiuil!
Wooden boats, old and new, will dock at the Casino Magic Marina in Bay St Louis to provide a look
back at history and also a bit of fun this weeke at the Gulf Coast Wooden Boat Rendezvous.
nicest people — always willing to trade stories, always willing to help each other,” Nancy said. “It’s like an annual reunion. You see friends you
haven’t seen for a year.” Look up the Maple Leaf III this weekend. The Millers will be happy to give you a little history lesson about the boat
and its predecessors, Map! Leaf I and Maple Leaf II. You find it fascinating.
Oh, yes. Be sure to as about the bathtub.