The Way We Were Part 1

A Plea for Simplicity in Small and Medium Sized Powerboats

DUCK ISLAND HARBOR, NORTHPORT BAY, NEW YORK, 1947:  The Fexas family’s 31-foot Wheeler lies anchored in this peaceful spot dubbed “The Lagoon.” We swim, eat, have a softball game on the beach, swim again, sunbathe, eat, read, eat again and sleep. PECK’S LAKE, FLORIDA, 1993: Our 47-foot Express Cruiser lies anchored in a peaceful, secluded “lake.” We swim, eat, have a softball game on the beach, swim again, sunbathe, eat, read, eat again and sleep. Damned if we don’t do the exact same things on our boats today that we did 46 years ago! The question presented here is: IF WE USE THE BOATS FOR THE SAME FUNCTIONS, JUST WHY IN THE HELL HAVE BOATS GOTTEN SO DAMNED COMPLICATED?

The Manual Boat

Complication is the bane of an owner operated small and medium sized powerboat (“owner operated” and “small and medium” are key words here boat’s with crew whose main function is to maintain the boat can load up on equipment. It keeps the crew out of trouble. “Small and medium” means boats up to, perhaps, 50 feet.) Complication ruins weekends, causes marital strife, costs big bucks, and takes much of the fun out of boating. 

Let me describe the way our little Power Cruiser was in 1947: She was a 1932, 31-foot Wheeler “Playmate” -- a floating monument to simplicity and equipped just as she was when she left the factory in Clason Point, Brooklyn, New York during the Great Depression (believe it or not, they built some great boats in Brooklyn at one time). She had a 9-1/2-foot beam and was powered by a single Chrysler Imperial engine. She slept four, had a nice galley and head and featured cockpits fore and aft. She had just one powered mechanical system (the engine) and a laughably simple electrical system consisting of two six- volt batteries for engine starting and the meager electrical “house loads” (a few dim lights). A big brass manual “up and down” bilge pump mounted in the engine room assured cardiovascular fitness (especially on those occasions when a dreaded leak developed). 

Manual pumps at the galley and head supplied water from the copper freshwater tank. A manually operated toilet was fitted in the head. Engine controls and steering were no nonsense rod and lever type. Cooking was via alcohol (later converted to propane). Refrigeration came courtesy of a 50-pound block of ice (carrying the ice block to the boat was further assurance of cardiovascular fitness). Anchors were handled simply by standing at the bow, snubbing the line to break it loose, and hauling it up by hand (it seems a boat owner had to be in good shape back then). 

Today, a modern boat owner will raise the anchor by pushing a button, then spend hours in a gym climbing stairs that go nowhere! Seems a bit foolish doesn’t it? Navigation implements consisted of charts, a compass and a good pair of binoculars. Entertainment was derived from telling stories, reading, playing cards, playing guitars/mandolins, singing and generally observing your surroundings. A portable radio was the only link to the outside world. 

“Creeping Comforts of Homeism” Rears Its Ugly Head

Looking back from our technologically advanced??? position in 1993 it all sounds pitifully primitive, doesn’t it? And yet, the Fexas family thoroughly enjoyed that boat from 1947 until 1965. The fact is, for me, boating never got better than it was in those days. The trusty Wheeler was finally traded for a newer, bigger 1947 Elco. This boat, too, was equipped as she came out of the factory but things had changed a bit. She had twin Chrysler Crowns, three electrical systems, more interior lights, an electric water system and radio/telephone. Things were changing. Sadly, the “creeping comforts of homeism” movement was underway.

Now, let’s look at the modern counterpart to that 31-foot Wheeler. Sadly, things have gotten completely out of hand. Where old boats had but one powered mechanical system (the engine), the new boat owner is usually confronted with a minimum of fifteen separate powered mechanical/electronic systems, all screaming “CLIMB IN THE BILGE WITH ME, SPEND TIME WITH ME, RUB MY HOUSING, MAINTAIN ME, THROW MONEY AT ME.” 

These systems are: two engines, generator, air conditioning system, entertainment system, pressure water system, electric toilet system, electric refrigeration system, navigation systems, bilge system, shower sump system, anchor handling system, bilge blower system, waste system, and trim tab system. On top of all this, the electrical system has grown exponentially.  Where originally there was a single six or twelve volt DC system and a few wires, we now have two or three separate twelve volt DC systems, two 110 VAC systems and bundles of wiring for everything from the stereo to the hot water heater.

Each of the above described systems involve some or all of the following: electric motors, fans, pumps, switches, piping, wiring, valves, black boxes and thru hulls. Mechanical equipment is like muscles. Use it or lose it! Let’s face it, most boats spend 95% of their days idle. After five years what you end up with are boats full of flabby machinery in need of extreme physical therapy. It is a boating truism that on any given powerboat at any given time there is always at least one system gone south. Who needs it?

True Confessions

Well, it’s true confession time. Fifteen years ago I was smart enough to design for myself a simple, straightforward 44’ powerboat called “Midnight Lace.” Sad to say, on my latest boat, I too succumbed to the dreaded “creeping comforts of homeism.”

The new boat is fitted out with all of the above modern marvels and more (I count 20 powered systems). In the Nineties I thought I’d do it right. “State of the art,” “floating showcase” and all that crap. She’s a great boat, but I miss the old way. Forgive me, I got carried away. 

More Fun?

Think about it, weekend wrenches. One powered mechanical system versus 14 to do the exact same job which is, simply, to PROVIDE PLEASURE AFLOAT! How could this happen? Why did this happen?  Why is the small and medium boat buyer being sold gear he doesn’t need, doesn’t want and, may eventually turn him away from boating? Do people have any more fun today on boats than they did 50 years ago? 

All of these questions (and more) will be answered next month when I will describe a modern, back-to-basics vessel for boating in the Nineties. In the meantime, do you hear those little voices calling you? Yes! There under the hatches! Time to climb into the bilges and throw fistfuls of fifties at your systems. 

(Reprinted with permission of Regina Fexas.)

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