In those days, he was working for Asels Cabinet Shop in Oil City, PA. For a few years in the mid-50's he had been traveling to some of the back-country lakes in Ontario in the spring and fall for fishing trips with his friends and co-workers. He owned a 10 Horsepower Johnson outboard with NO boat. They would rent boats and use their own power. It wasn't until 1958 when my grandfather decided to build his own boat. I'm not sure if it was because he wanted his own craft to take fishing or he wanted to build something to use with his family on vacation. Whatever it was, that would be what I would consider the spark that set off a chain of events leading up to me building my boat over 50 years later.
Boat #1
The first boat John H built was an Edwin Monk design purchased from the Douglas Fir Plywood Company. Even with the almighty power of the Internet I am unable to find a lot of information on the company. The boat was a small 14 foot runabout with a handsome split-paned windshield. He powered it initially with a 25 Horsepower Evinrude. I don't specifically know what model or year that first motor was, but he always claimed that it kicked out a TON of exhaust and ran really rough. By his testimony, I would guess it was a second hand motor that needed a tune-up. I have no pictures of the boat with the first motor on it. It must have been a very short time later that he purchased a 35 Horsepower Evinrude Lark for the boat. This is the motor seen on the boat in virtually every picture I have.
What do I know about this boat? As far as my grandfather can remember, he never named any of his boats in the early years. That's why, as boring as it is, his boats are typically referred to by the numbered order in which it was built. I know it was built in the basement of John. H's house on Willis Street in Oil City. In the grand scheme of things, he only owned this boat for about two years. All of the photos I have of the boat show that the windshield was modified at least once. Some pics show it with side-windows and others show it before it had side windows. The boat was never fiberglassed. The boat was family owned from 1958 to 1961 at which time it was traded to Weigle Brothers Marine in Franklin PA. It was traded in for a 1961 Evinrude 40 Horsepower Lark outboard to power the next boat my grandfather built.
At this point, I have never seen photos of the boat while it was under construction. My uncle John (my grandfathers third born) claims that somewhere....sometime....(in the last 50 years) he remembers seeing black and white stills of the first boat while it was being built. Lets see, 50 years....9 children....including my Grandfathers own photos....I would say that "if" those photos exist they won't be the easiest thing to find. If I ever could put my hands on them...what an absolute thrill that would be.
The Fate...
What ever happened to boat number 1? As I said above, it was traded at Weigle Brothers Marina in Franklin in 1961. My uncle Luke (my grandfathers 9th born........no that's not a type-o) claims that when he was very small, the family was traveling to Conneaut Lake Park for a picnic. Somewhere between Franklin PA and Meadeville PA along the highway, the family saw the boat in a yard. Luke claims he was very young so that would probably put the sighting in the mid-60's. After that, the boat has never been seen by the family again.
That's the story of boat number 1.
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