Old Time World News
Winter is for restoration work and getting ready for spring and summer fun. Quite a few new customers have found projects to fill their indoor hours with fascinating challenges. Last fall our 60 Chrysler went to Denver, Colorado and a`60 comet went to Long Island, New York. Last summer, Stephen Rossoff, the carpenter off Sophie, Greta Van Sustren’s fabulous Trumpy Yacht, decided to take on the restoration of our 1939 Chris Craft 17’ standard utility. This model was a favorite of company founder, Chris Smith, because of its plain simplicity and direct purpose. He liked the no frills, work boats the best. Steffan had to delay picking up the boat because he was busy finishing his own live aboard Pembroke Cruiser. Steffan is a dynamo of energy and was thrilled to have this challenging project.
Two desirable restoration projects, a `50 Chris Craft Special Runabout, and a`55 CC Capri went to a wise purchaser in Maine. If only we could find more of these great treasures.
A real nice `56 Dodge Royal Lancer 4 door hardtop in presentable condition was found in the La Plata, Md. area in September. Yellow and white, what a great `50’s combo and it is smooth, quiet and ready to drive. The new upholstery and carpets along with a thorough cleaning, new fluids, and a complete tune-up made this beauty ready for fun! Then the 2 tone 4 door parts car was found, too good for parts. Only 12 days of work was required to get it running and driving. Sometimes our beloved pieces of the past are uncooperative, but we don’t give up and now it’s fast, starts right up, too. A cool 2 tone green, presentable interior, mint dash and exterior chrome; this is a nice car to fix up!
Last year we restored a `15 foot Lyman with a windshield. It was very beautiful. The athletic director of the U.S. Naval Academy called about the boats on the website and brought his family for a look. We completed it for them, fully tested; they towed it to Maine and used it all summer on a lake. They said the boat gathered a crowd wherever they went, land or water. They did find peace and silence in the far coves of the lake. They raved about the fun they had, how great she ran and all.
Well, we’re doing another one. Lazslo is back from his plumbing career and we’re sanding for the final coats on the inside and the outside is just about done. I love installing new stainless rubrails on a beautifully varnished boat and of course all the finishing details. Then, much later, out on the water, it feels like varnished furniture, serving you well with great beauty, precision and versitility. The Lyman ranks high in providing the maximum variety of water exploration opportunities. Anywhere you go, the shallow areas offer the greatest potential for genuine wildlife and enviornmental observation. Here at Old Time World, we have nearby wildlife areas that are fun to see on boats. We arrange tours for visitors with boats, ready to use, to go to my nearby park, launch, park the trailer, then enjoy the day and return. The pristine river areas have few other boats. You need to get out there; there are many areas where a light rod will yield a tasty catch. I have no idea why just sitting on a boat in the shallows is so relaxing, but it is!
Huge things have happened in Whirlwind World, the newsletter started by Bob Orgain. The Whirlwind Story book has nearly doubled in size with 10 full size color pictures, 11 fold outs of factory literature, and 65 pages of both sides telling everything including all Bob’s Newsletters. Recently I discovered the story of the 25, L16 racing sailboats, 26’ O.A., made by Allied Aviation, Whirlwind’s forerunner.
Someday I hope to find a Whirlwind canoe. Ed Abramowitz told of making them but never having any profit. I’ll bet they were great!
Meanwhile the restoration of a hopelessly gone 12’ fishing boat has reached the interior varnish done, stage. The basic beauty is there, now. It does look great, in spite of a few disc sander marks. There were many soft spots in the hull, after the paint was removed, so many, in fact, it was decided not to stain before the CPES application. Rot areas absorb stain and darken and become unsightly. I know this because I am old and have seen this happen. Therefore I elected to seal with heavy applications of CPES before staining. It worked great.
I guide owners and restorers on these advanced techniques. After a one time fee, I guide work with regular e-mail exchanges. Amazing results are achieved.
Kevin Nicholson of Chesapeake Beach, Md. called me last fall and said he was ready to begin the restoration of his `57 14’ Whirlwind he had stripped down. There were many soft areas due to storage in adamp areas near the woods. As the disassembly phase commenced it was found that virtually every part of the boat was rotten. Looking at the pile of crumbling parts, Kevin told me he had become interested in a clean `58 16’ whirlwind I had on display in the boat arena. He and Pam decided it would make a much better investment. That weekend he and son Kenny sanded the bottom and topsides down to clean fresh wood, Boy does it look great! Now they’re ready to start with the stain and CPES. Old Time World has free information on Clear Penetrating Epoxy and many other marine products, if you’re interested.
Some customers buy their dream boat or car, with time payments. John Knox of North Carolina is buying a `62 Cadillac Sedan de Ville and Bruce Wylie of whitehall, Arkansas has a deposit on the `56 Sedan de Ville. Some people repeatedly call about a particular treasure but can never actually send the money; it’s funny how people are.
Starting in October, 5 big cruisers were placed on display in the arena. The 1948 Owens triple Stateroom Cruiser received a complete cleaning from stem to stern, new carpets and all woodwork polished and sturdy boarding stairway installed. The electrical system was activated, stereo and lights and lovely interior appointments put in place. When you come by we’d be glad to show it to you. The 1940 Chris Craft 33’ Sport Cruiser is set up in a similar way, for your enjoyment.
Wild About Whirlwinds
It is November of 1945 and the war is over. The United States Navy decides it no longer wants the molded plywood glider airplanes, being made on the assembly line at Allied Aviation, in Dundalk, MD. The managent and workers stand, looking at the five finished and tested ones they had made and the fifteen more along the way. No further money will be available for operations, now; not even severance pay or rent on the big building. They decide to put the gliders aside and to build boats, using the veeneer, glue and baking oven from the molding operation of the wooden airplanes. Someone told them that the Red Cross needed canoes to teach lifesaving and rescue. Then they were asked to make a fleet of small sailboats for the Naval Acedemy. Soon Allied Aviation was full of boat building activity.( figure one) Each project was a total success, but the allied staff wanted other persuits, so offered the boat operations to the employees, Charley Wingo, Ed Hewitt and Charley Abramo. First these former employees would have to move the equipment out of the rented building. They would have to move everything, at their own expense, to a new – cheaper, workplace. A rented cow barn on the farm belonging to the family that ran Williamson Veneer Company. Once settled, as soon as they could, they began building boats. They built a solid wood hull shape called a mandrel, – on wheels They fashioned a slot for the center keel and stem, to this, were stapled the edge of each layer of veneer. This was made of thin layers of mahogany, which had been coated with heat actuated glue. The layers were put on at a sharp angle to each other so that the grain could give maximum strength in both directions. Outside layers were coated with glue on one side, all the others, – both sides. They were carefully trimmed and fitted together by ladies that were wives and mothers of other employees.After five layers, it was covered with a heavy rubber blanket with vacuum hoses running to a big vacuum pump. The whole affair was then rolled into the autoclave, – a huge oven, and baked at high pressure and steam, for an hour intil, 345 degrees hot! – Really baked! Once out, and cooled and uncovered, the fresh hull was pried off the mandrel, cleaned and sanded. Then it was assembled and finished into a complete boat with transom, rubrails, seats and all features, then finished with varnish, with only the bottom painted a bright color. After a few boats, in 1946, the owner of Allied decided that he wanted to stay in aviation and offered the operation to 3 of his employees, Ed Hewitt, Charley Abramo, and Charley Wingo. All three had appreciated and enjoyed boats and worked closely together with great cooperation on gliders and were also good friends, so it was clear that they would be fully devoted to making a success of the operation.
While building the gliders during the War, they had gotten to know the Williamson Veneer family. Their cooperation and fine quality sawn veneers made an extremily uniform and beautiful product. Most of the veneer they made was for furniture production, so they took a special interest in the quality of the molding veneers, for the now, Molded Products Inc. of Cockeysville, Md.
When the Williamson’s found out that yet another place to work, would have to be found, they offered an unused dairy barn on a farm they owned. Many months of sweat were shed turning that barn into a small boat factory. When Ed and the 2 Charleys found out that the red Cross needed lifesaving canoes, they decided to build canoes. These were dazzling to see, with the beautiful wood and light as a feather, yet ridgid and extremely durable. Then they offered the Air Force a boat to test. They dropped the test boat out of a plane onto land, when it bounced and was still good, they won the contract!
This led to the building of a 35 sailboat fleet for the Naval Academy. Early pictures of the factory have these boats on the floor. As was postwar practice, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins were employed from the local area. Two of the founders of Molded Products are long term members of the same community, now in retirement.
The three founders, Ed Hewitt, Charley Wingo, and Charles Abramo each provided guidance for the different aspects of boat construction. Ed hewitt was a CPA and office manager and made the advertisements. Charley Wingo did a lot of the design and drawing work, set up the shop and made constant production improvements; Charley was a perfectionist, they said. They all often worked all weekend. Charley was a personable, natural high energy guy that enjoyed smoking as well as racing activities. Everybody smoked cigarettes back then, It gave them an excited, bullet proof, – hard driving attitude. Charley and brother Lou took the boats and motors and raced and set records. They made and offered for sale a cut down model of the winning racer. Following aircraft construction methods, all hulls were minimum thickness and all structural members glued, providing stiffness and ridigity, without extra weight. Charley Wingo and Charles Abramo slaved over the drawing boards together to come up with each new design. Many shapes, sizes and interior layouts were tried to offer something for everyone and to achieve eye pleasing styles. Boats were leak and rattle free while being light, colorful and well finished. In the beginning, attractive aluminim fittings were bought from the Baltimore foundry of H.H. Whiting co. Later brass and then chome plated brass. Charley Abramo was responsible for picking the finest cuts of mahogany planks at the lumberyard in Philadelphia. He was a stickler of high quality and the company put aside their best quality aside for him.The sleek designs and high quality materials made them the lightest, fastest, safest and most beautiful wooden boats ever made. The fully rounded chine asurred that full speed turns could always be made without sliding or loosing control. These features made Whirlwind Boats the lightest, fastest and most beautiful on the water, to this very day.
In 1999, Bob Orgain and Whirlwind World put on a special Whirlwind Commemorative Event at our show with 13 boats on display. Bob gave Ed Hewitt, Charley Abramo and Sally Wingo, Meritorious Achievement Awards during the Whirlwind Lecture. These awards and the Chesapeake Bay Magazine article on Whirlwinds were on display at the funerals of both lifelong friends who died at 92, last spring. The wonderful qualities of the 15,000 boats they produced in the 15 years they built them will remain a lasting tribute to these men and Maryland boat building.
