Chapter 23

We dickered. I decided to start at double the amount his Captain would be 'one hell-of-a bargain.'

"Million."

"Write you a check?"

"Sure." 'What? You think I'm crazy? Of COURSE I took it!! If I'd started higher ... look ... it's not my fault. I had no idea that seventy years later that damn boat would bring nearly 25 million at an auto auction ... fer christ sake ... I had no idea it would last 10 years. It was the last example of the kind of workmanship that was available in the 1930's. That boat wasn't built ... it was crafted.'

An Auto Auction!! Who-da-thunk-it?

"Make it out to my mom ... it's her boat."

"She said to make it out to you." Mr. Bishop explained.

Damn it. Now I needed to make a major purchase or I was going to lose more than half that to Uncle.

"All right ... I mean it's not ... but what can I say?" I took the check. "What are your plans?"

Mr. Bishop suggested he might head for Chicago ... John, the driver, would do as he always did ... drive back to Chicago alone. Captain Smith would take the 46 foot Chris Craft back to the Marina in Chicago and fly back to pick up the Burger.

"I need to buy a boat ... May I presume on your hospitality and beg a ride with Captain Smith to Chicago?"

"What kind and size?"

"I never liked motor boats. I have always liked the silence of sail. I have 'Ideas.' There's a process that's been around since 1930. I'd like to see if I can interest some boat yard to build me a good sized boat using it."

"Not ferro-cement?"

"Not ferro-cement ... the idea that a concrete boat won't sink boggles the mind."

"What then?"

"That new insulation ... fiberglas?"

"I've heard of it."

"If a person could have a mold built and spray the inside with a release agent ... then spray a high mixture of gel resin and hardener in the mold followed by layers of fiberglas mat soaked in resin and hardener but not as brittle as the gel coat ... one could even add a color to the gel ... do you see?"

"I think so. What about longitudinal strength?"

"Pre-cast stringers with the nuts already in place ... but highly accurate ... the nuts being where the motor mounts and holding tanks go..."

"I see. Could you use an existing hull to make the mold?"

"I think so. Like the auto industry uses clay to design next years model?"

"Sure ... you could even use an existing hull and make clay modifications to change the shape."

"How about styrofoam instead of clay?" Captain Smith had his two cents to add.

"Hey ... that's right. Good idea."

Smith blushed, "You have a foam plant."

Bishop said, "I do. But we make cups."

"Will it spray?" I asked.

"We have that capacity. Oh ... I get it ... an armature ... like they used for ferro-cement boats."

"Gentlemen ... I believe we have the foundation of a new industry. Semi skilled labor. Use the highly skilled as interior construction ... I should call my dad." This could be big. "I have a million dollars to invest." I looked at Mr. Bishop's check.

And I knew that the fiberglas boat industry would boom like crazy until the Feds decided that a boat, any boat, was a luxury and taxed the living daylights out of it. The 1990 10 percent excise tax on pleasure boats would scuttle the boating industry, and I knew it. If I got out at the height of the industry ... say 1985 ... yeah.

One thing about it, though ... no one had a clue as to how sturdy a fiberglas boat should be.

We had our first mold ... an old 85 foot length on deck sailing yacht previously owned by a railroad tycoon ... it was past it's operational life by 25 years and it wasn't 'modern.' It was given to us.

"Get it out of my yard," said the heir.

Well ... it wasn't that bad but almost. It had been progressively shoved on it's roller dolly farther and farther into the backlot of the ship builders. It wouldn't go any farther. It was too damn heavy to be off the concrete.

I negotiated for the space and tore the deck and cabins out ... the things I found! I had clear title; Yacht and contents. It took my sister and me the rest of the summer to strip it. The bed frame in the stern master stateroom was particularly difficult. It would not come apart and it was too sturdy to pry.

Until Grace said, "It's a great big Chinese puzzle block."