If you’re here, you have great taste. The purpose of this blog is to spread enthusiasm about classic boats, share restoration stories, and provide you with tips from our resident expert.
For some of you, the draw to classic boats is all about owning a mint condition piece of history. For others, it’s all about the process of restoring a piece from the past to its original glory (like my dad, Bill). Or maybe it’s simply about cruising down the bay looking super classy!
So, you’ve caught me. I’m not Bill. Bill is my dad, and is busy selling your boat, and of course working on his own ’62 Egg Harbor. Bottom line, he’s not a blogger…not enough varnish involved. I jumped on this opportunity because I realized that I have access to one of the greatest boat yard brains there is. He has bought, restored, and sold countless boats since the 1980s and absolutely loves doing it. He has a plethora of personal experience and knowledge from countless sources about how to restore a classic boat while still having a family and a full time job. I hope to tap into some of this knowledge and share it with all of you.
TINK, our family’s quirky summer home.
I’m Ellie, Bill’s daughter. I used to joke that I grew up at a boatyard. While that is not entirely true, I did spend many of my weekends as a child helping my dad work on the boat at Beaton’s Boat Yard in Mantoloking or Johnson Brother’s Boat Yard in Bay Head. At age 11, my family bought a Navy surplus hull that had been outfitted as a houseboat called TINK. It was on this funky old boat that I learned to love the life of being a classic boat owner. From the sound of the rain on the roof in a storm to the gentle rock that lulled me to sleep every night, I was hooked. So that’s me. I will be transcribing Bill’s sacred knowledge and posting anything and everything that is great about classic boats.
Some of my ideas for the blog include:
I’ll be posting as much as I can. Please let me know what you think by sending me an email or commenting below the posts.
Happy Friday! Get out there this weekend and GO BOATING!
Hello: I just found this blog. I don’t know if this is still active, I see your mention about interest in the ‘boats and builders we love’. I have a real passion for the “Jersey sea skiff” and have been collecting pictures, information and history on the boats and the builders for YEARS. Currently my “digitized collection” has over 8000 items (pictures, advertising literature, documents, personal accounts, etc) all having to do with the lapstrake boat builders of the Jersey shore (the whole coast, Morgan to Cape May). I have given a number of talks about the history and the boats for the Navesink Maritime Historical Association in the Red Bank area, and am always interested in sharing any information that I have. – Ned Lloyd