We went to the Antiques Roadshow

2016 was our fourth trip to the Antiques Roadshow. The First must have been 15 years ago, to the New Jersey Meadowlands Arena. No tickets, just show up and stand on line forever. They've improved a bit lately; now tickets are issued on a lottery basis, and admission times are set.


So.....
Our second trip was to the Hartford show, and we have a few comments:
1. They had no idea how many paintings would show up. The line for paintings had to be 4 - 6 hours long. If you go, just try to avoid bringing paintings (of course, ONE of the paintings at 2008 Hartford came in at 500K. Watch for it in January 2009!!! (Not mine, though, we gave up and quit the paintings line at 7 PM -- our enter time was 2 PM)

2. I guess in CT, they expected lots of furniture, but the Keno brothers stood around most of the day doing almost nothing. It took me a couple of hours to get a one-off silkscreen print appraised (and I was VERY happy) and a good bit less for my wife to take a handmade pewter picture frame through "Decorative Arts" (also a happy experience).

I suggest that if you apply for tickets, try for the earliest time slot they have. Book a room for the night before. At least, if you enter at 8 AM, no one's ahead of you, especially if you have paintings or prints; again, the earlier you get in, the shorter lines you will encounter. The appraisers may be able to spend a little more time with you, too. Break up your lots, so you and your roadshow partner can split up and go on two lines at the same time. In Hartford, EVERYONE seemed to have a painting! Except for Posters and Prints, everything else moved apace.

GOOD LUCK (and bring a chair for your butt and a cart for your stuff).

No drawings winning for us in 2011 through 2014, but we keep trying. 

So, now...
2015 was the charm. One of my daughters won tickets to the Charleston Antiques Roadshow. It was the second week of August, and I'll say that Charleston is pretty hot then. We were never in Charleston and heard it's a great tourist town, so we made a whole vacation out of it. It's a great place!

We brought art this time. That's usually subject to long lines, but we had 10 AM tickets. The longest Disney-esque lines were at the entrance. This snaky ordeal takes a long time before they even take your tickets and you finally get to the triage are, where your treasures are inspected and you get tickets to the appraisal areas.

This time, we brought a HUGE piece of Chinese art (3' X 5') which we moved on a 2-wheel dolly designed for construction panels. That turned out to be an original Chinese painting (artist unknown) from the early 20th century supposedly worth about a grand. I brought part of my collection of the art of Walter Dubois Richards. I knew more about the (listed) artist than did the appraiser, but got some decent appraisals and was encouraged to keep collecting his work, as it is still very affordable.

Once again, we didn't get chosen for video, so you won't be seeing our faces in TV in 2016.

Here we go again! Daughter got tickets for us for the Virginia Beach Antiques Roadshow on May 2016. We dragged more junk down there and had a good time with our worthless trifles. Original Art is now separated into two groups - signed art and non-signed (considered to be Folk Art). Here's the view from the MIDDLE of the line for signed art. It was a bit over an hour long. Our stuff was worth BUPKIS!

This time, I found the "Feedback Booth" and made the cameraman laugh, at least. If I ever get on TV, it'll be this segment. I brought 2 signed engravings that have appreciated in value by over 7,000%, but I only paid 35 cents each for them and today they're worth $25, which of course doesn't even cover the cost of matting and framing. But, as usual, we had fun. So, watch for me in 2017 (HAH!) Comment: Didn't make it on TV from the Feedback Booth.  Oh well...

Again, if you want to go, Check the tour website in January, pick your city, and have all your friends and relatives apply for tickets, and don't forget to ask for an early entry time. If you win tickets for a later entrance, don't be shy. Go early and at the entrance, check the table on the far left, and they MAY be able to swap your later tickets for an earlier entrance. This worked for us.

If they announce another East Coast trip next year, of course we'll apply again. We won't ever get wealthy on our stuff, but we got a great vacation in Charleston! Virginia Beach, Meh.

We won a drawing for 2017 in Pennsylvania.  Gave the tickets away to a friend who lived near the venue.



Go for it!

I loved this book. The movie stank.

This past Spring (2008) I caught an interview with the author of this book on a Philadelphia NPR station, and KNEW I had to read the book.


"The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music" by Steve Lopez
This is a musician's book. Any musician or lover of classical music will treasure it. I know I did.

It's about Nathaniel Ayers, a promising musician who went mad (paranoid schitzophrenia) while at Juilliard (on a full scholarship, no less), and ended up on the Los Angeles streets, playing a 2-string violin in the shadow of a statue of Beethoven. It was noted that one of his Juilliard string bass teachers, Gary Karr, was one of the first people who recognized what was happening to Ayers.

I used to play bass myself, and had met Gary Karr, so I felt connected to this story. It often brought tears to my eyes. I ordered the book as soon as I learned about it. A high-budget movie is in production and scheduled to be released in April 2009.

May 1. The book has arrived, and I've gone through 6 chapters. It's very moving. I usually read books very quickly, but not this one.

May 3. I finished the book in four sittings. There were times I got very emotional. The thought of perfect strangers giving violins, cellos and even a piano to a homeless street person with such serious mental issues was heartwarming, to say the least. Lopez spent 2 years with the man, working small miracles, inches at a time. The book ends. Not a happy ending, not a sad ending. It just... ends, and we all know it continues past the last page.

I await the movie. Mind you, I don't LIKE movies, and seldom go. THIS one, I'll see.

April 27, 2009. Well, I saw the movie. If you've read the book, you can skip the flick. It doesn't come close. In a word, the movie stinks.

Better yet, just go read the damn book. it is POWERFUL.

Read a more detailed book review here.

Please leave a comment if you've read this book.

Note 5/11: It's now 24th on the NY Times Best Seller list (nonfiction, hard cover)

Note: 3/22/09: 60 Minutes just ran a segment on Ayres/Lopez. You can read Steve Lopez's L.A. Times articles here .

GRAVLAX RECIPE

TOO GOOD TO BE MISSED. Try it! Enjoy!

GRAVLAX

1 whole salmon filet (3 1/2-to-4 lb) with skin left intact.

We get Atlantic Salmon at ShopRite. Farm raised is fine. Ask for a fat one, an inch or more at it thickest.  We get a side of salmon and have the store  cut it in half the short way.  You want to see the fish first and be sure the meat doesn’t open when you flex it. The more it opens, the older it is.  

(OK, we've often bought skinless farm-raised salmon at Costco. It's fine. Having the skin on makes it easier to cut after it's done, especially near the tail. OTOH, the skinless Costco fillets don't have any brown fat along the lateral line. Most people prefer not having that part, though. I happen to like it.)

This mix is for one full side of Salmon (1 half salmon).

8 tablespoons peppercorns (OK, LARGE, coarse, crushed pepper, via the supermarket) but not ordinary ground pepper

10 tablespoons sugar

8 tablespoons kosher salt or sea salt (coarse)

3 bunches dill. Or 4. 

1. Carefully run the fingers over the boned surface of the fillet, especially over the center line. Use a pair of tweezers to pull out and remove any bones that may remain. Discard the bones. We rarely find any bones. 

2. Put the peppercorns on a flat surface and crush them coarsely with a mallet or the bottom of a clean skillet, or crush them in a mortar. If you have a peppermill that grinds coarse pieces, use that. Put the pepper in a small bowl and add the salt and sugar. Mix. Of course you can simply BUY coarse ground pepper. That's what WE do.

3. Take the two slabs of salmon and place them skin side down side by side in one layer. COAT LIBERALLY the two pieces of fish with the salt-pepper-sugar mixture.

4. Find a roasting pan or tupperware large enough to hold the larger half of the fish. Line it with aluminum foil that’s more than twice the size of the pan (you’re going to wrap the fish in it). Put a layer of dill on the foil. 

Laurie also coats the skin side with the mix and pushes it in with her fingers before putting it onto the dill that you put in the pan.  On the top, coat the fish and then put dill in the top before starting to close it up. 

Put the larger fillet skin down on the dill. Put another layer of dill on the top (flesh side of the fish that’s coated with the mix). Now put the other fillet flesh down on the dill, and add a bit more dill on the skin side that’s now on top and facing you. Close the foil around the whole thing.

5. It’s going to leak! (Your fingers will smell soooooo nice.) Take the foil pack out of the pan and wrap it up in plastic film like Saran Wrap, then freezer paper, and seal with masking tape. NOW wrap THAT in a plastic grocery bag, squooshing out the air. Seal IT with masking tape or similar. Yeah, it'll still leak. Put it back in the pan. Get something flat, like a cutting board, and put it on the package. Get a brick, or free weights, or even a couple of cans from the pantry, and put it on the flat thing, so that the fish is being pushed down. NOW PUT IT IN THE REFRIGERATOR.

6 Turn the fish package in the morning and evening at the very least, so you are weighting down each side two or three times a day. If you can schedule the turn every 8 hours, fine. OTOH, some people say that the turning is unnecessary. Perhaps, but then, you wouldn't FEEL like you're actually doing anything, so, TURN THE DAMN THING!

Emeril says that 24 hours does it, but we go 2 1/2 days. I think that's a half day too long, but the boss insists. The longer it goes, the drier it gets. Why fight? It's still wonderful. Aim for two days. 

7. Wash everything off (we wash off most of the pepper) and dab dry with paper towels before slicing thin-thin-thin at an angle. Lately, I've been cutting the filets in half (the long way, down the fish's lateral line) before slicing. The resulting pieces are smaller and it's much easier to cut than going all the way across. The pieces are also closer to bite-size and fit nicely on crackers, plus the smaller slices plate nicely.

Use a long, flexible thin-bladed knife.  Sharpen it first.  The sharper it is, the thinner your slices can be.  Cut one filet down the lateral line.   If you’re having a crowd, slice up the entire half. Freeze the other half.  I wouldn’t keep it frozen longer than a couple of weeks.   

Oh. I use blue painters tape to close everything up. 

Did you try this recipe? How did YOURS turn out? (ours is always wonderful.)

###

How I built a Macintosh G4 Tower. Sort of.

(Actually done November 2007)

Trash to treasure - build a G4 Macintosh from junk parts.

Well, my trusty G4/867 Quicksilver bit the dust. When I bought the new G5 iMac, it was relegated to the upstairs loft, where my wife used it for email, solitaire, mah jongg and some word processing. Nothing really important, but it was her computer. AND it was dead. AND she was starting to complain about using MY computer. I offered her the vacation home G5 iMac, but noooooo, she wanted to keep using the 17" video display.... So not only was the computer dead, things around the house were starting to get a bit... noisy.

SO, I took a look at it. What the hell, it does have that nice side door and loads of room inside, and I AM a ham radio guy, so I figured I'd at least give it a look. You can't kill something TWICE, after all, so in I went. Once I unplugged it and removed the cables, it was obvious (logical, anyway) what had happened -- all the vent holes were sealed shut with seven years' worth of grime. It seemed apparent that the power supply had simply baked itself to death.

But I had a good investment in this baby. Over the years I had swapped out the CD-RW drive for a CD/DVD SuperDrive ($275) and it DID have that thousand dollar 17" cinema display, after all.

I sure didn't want to spring for a new power supply, either. Not only the cost, but simply removing the old and installing the replacement looked daunting.

What to do, what to do? The answer turned out to be on eBay. Right there in front of me was a G4/867 on a one-day auction. Easy enough. I bought this baby for $89 (!) plus shipping cross-country -- $140 in total.

Then I took apart the dead one. The Superdrive came out, the RAM and the 60 gig hard drive. A little research said that I could stack the two HDs together in the eBay special; I just had to move a jumper on one from Master to Slave position. So now there are 2 HDs (60 + 40) in there. No data lost, either. Wifey's original 60 gig was perfect. I swapped out the CD drive for the SuperDrive easy enough, and combined the RAM to 1.28 gigs (near double what I had previously). Plugged it in and VOILA! -- A like-new (well, a working) Quicksilver. Almost. Seems that the previous owner must have poked out the speaker (a common problem with that design). So, back to el morto Mac and I removed the internal speaker. This speaker doesn't have a jack (at least I didn't find one) -- so I had to clip the speaker wires -- but it's out and ready to be soldered into the eBay special. But, because I have the original Mac clear acrylic globe speakers plugged in, I haven't bothered to take it apart yet and wire the speaker in.

All of this work took less than an hour. You gotta admit, an hour and $140 for a G4/867 Mac ain't bad.

Plus, I now have a spare video card, some other card, a CD RW drive, a dead power supply to play with, a replacement motherboard, two spare 128 meg DIMMS, a spare internal ZIP drive, AND a box. I could have used one special tool -- a small Phillips head screwdriver with the clip on the end to hold the screw in place until the threads catch. You need that for changing the optical drive (or, you can do what I did and just use some scotch tape to hold it for a few seconds).

So yes Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus. You can kluge together a G4 Mac for next to nothing. Buy a couple of identical Mac towers and build your own. Try to find ONE with a SuperDrive, and lots of of RAM. The G4 has three slots and they don't have to be filled with identical DIMMS. Look for Macs with 896 megs of RAM (512 + 256 + 128) or more so you have a nice assortment to combine (512 + 512 + 256, or even another 512 if you get really lucky). Mine ended up with 1280 -- not bad since the machine maxes out at 3 512s, or 1536, so it's "close enough" to max. Not bad, if I say so myself. It's also running 10.4.11, and (because it's a G4/867) is even Leopard-compatible.

And don't forget to vacuum those vents on the back every once in a while.

Edit: 12/3/2008 -- The FrankenMac stopped working!! Horrors!! I opened it up and wife, who was standing there, took one look and pointed, saying "is that a battery?" So I went into the attic, yanked the battery out of the old parts Mac, and... TADA!!! All's well with the world again! (I ordered a new one on the web right away). 12/9 -- the battery came, and it's in and running well. Thank you, Apple, for making the battery very easy to find, and pop-outtable (not soldered in). Then I downloaded the Widget MAINTIDGIT and installed it. Wow! The crons haven't run for 6 months! I forgot to repair permissions, though; that's the next job. Still haven't soldered in the internal speaker yet, either. I wonder where I put it....

Edit: 7/30/2009... It's dead again -- won't turn on. Maybe the power supply. Not worth fixing any more, so I'll pull out all the parts and try to sell them on eBay. I wanted an excuse to buy a new Intel Mac, anyway. Maybe even an iMac AND a MBP! Time to upgrade. Wife can have one of the the G5 iMacs and I'll sell the other. Divorce can be so painful (and expensive).

Edit: 3/24/2011... In two days, all my G4 Quicksilver stuff will go into the back of my pickup and hauled off on my county's annual electronics recycling day. Out it goes. I already have one G5 iMac surplus to my needs. I guess I'll keep the 17" cinema display and try to sell it on eBay, but all else is destined for the recycling fires of China.

Ouch!

All of the following took place in 2006.
I've learned that some of you have been watching this space and studying my recovery timeline. I hope that your recoveries go as well as mine. In summary, 4 months after the break, I'm walking with a limp and climbing stairs O.K (going DOWN is more difficult to me), and driving my manual transmission truck is easy. I opted out of rehab, claiming that I'll walk a lot and climb lots of stairs. If any of you have opted FOR Physical Theraphy, let me know how it's going and if you recommend it or not. Or just tell me what you're doing along those lines.

Jan. 16, 1 PM. I slipped on a patch of ice whilst brushing some snow off the truck's windshield. While still on my ass, I notied that my left foot was gang aglay. It moved back with a pop. So I crawled back to the house and rang the doorbell. When Laurie answered it, I think I said something, in a cool and calm manner, like "Please, dear, phone 911 and tell them that I've fallen and believe that my ankle is broken." Actually, it wasn't quite that collected, and I don't think I actually used those words...
End result: Broken fibula at midpoint, and broken tibia, at the back, at the ankle. Temp splint on it for tonite, and tomorrow I call the orthopedic guy. I'll probably need surgery to fix torn ligaments, too.

Observation: You cannot move 300 lbs on a pair of crutches.

Observation #2. I'll probably miss Stamford this year (2006), too. That REALLY hurts.

1/17 follow-up: Orthopedic surgeon looked at my leg. He wants me to see an ankle specialist. Tendons are torn pretty badly. Another day or riding around and waiting, waiting, waiting... Renting a wide wheelchair tomorrow. I'll probably buy a walker, too. Hate them crutches.
1/18 follow-up: Saw the surgeon today. Only the fibula is broken, and also the tibia at the ankle, which is all messed up. I'm going to get SCREWED! Next week, they will put a screw into the bone and pull it all together. The tendons and sinews and whatever will then heal by themselves. We shall see.
1/21 My builder came by today to see about building a wheelchair ramp. He'll do it early next week. A nice temporary one, about 20 feet long. It was 61 degrees here today! Hard to believe that I fell on the ICE to do this to myself!
1/24 NOW they tell me I need a pre-op blood workup. It's astounding that when I was at the surgeon's office and they told me that tomorrow they'd be operating, that they just didn't stick me then and there and take out their vial of blood. My last test was 10/25 -- apparently too long ago (and I told them when it was) but now I'm supposed to hobble out of the house and somehow get down the stairs and into a car so they can do a simple withdrawal from my vein. Such an effort is huge. Oh. Let's not forget that Medicare wants a week to even approve the blood test!!

Now the two doctors are "discussing" it. They'll "get back" to me.

P.S. Well, they DID get back to me at 10 AM - Thank heavens for small favors: I have to be at the hospital tomorrow at 7 AM. They will do blood and EKG then, and surgery in the afternoon, I think. Why 7 AM? Who knows. So I have to leave here at 6, in the dark, and with ice crystals on the walk, no doubt. My guess is that I'll be there at the appointed hour, and then spend most of the day waiting and waiting. Did I say that this "surgery" involves putting a screw in my ankle, and that the entire procedure takes less than 10 minutes? I will bet that I won't get home until tomorrow night. At least I don't have to move my fat body today at all! Hoorah!!

Oh. I called my builder. The ramp won't be done until maybe Thursday. So tomorrow I'll have to drag my fat ass up a couple of steps when I get home from surgery. I was really hoping for that ramp!
1/28 Things didn't quite go as expected last Wednesday. In pre-op, when they cut off the splint, they didn't like a few things (discoloraton that could have indicated a clot, and a skin condition that might have been an infection), so they decided to admit me and put me on IV antibiotics, I also had doppler (ultrasound) of the leg. No clot, and the "infection" was just cellulitis. Today (Saturday) at noon they finally brought me down to the OR. They clamped the bones together from the outside and put two screws into the ankle. Also a plaster cast for the nonce. And, yes, about 6 weeks before I can put weight on it.

Oh! The ramp is EXCELLENT!
1/30 Wife loves the ramp -- says it's great for bringing in the groceries. I have to watch my step. I'm getting cocky and am taking longer strides on the walker. This will definitely lead to a fall. Builder came by for his money. I asked hin to cut a wood floor for the shower stall to bring it even with the shower door bottom trim. Then I can slide across-and-down to get out. Now I have to lift-swing-across-and-down to get out. This additional lifting and swinging is very difficult.

2/2 Last night I had some real pain. Not in the ankle, but in the ball of the foot - like a muscle knot. Took a couple of Motrin. I hope this is a good sign that things are happening down there and healing has begun. Man! I can roll around in bed and sleep on either side easily. Today I saw the doctor.



2/9 The big splint came off and a fiberglass cast is on. 5 weeks in the cast! Next appointment 3/16 (exactly 2 months after the accident).

2/10 This cast, which I now call my EXOSKELETON, is heavy and uncomfortable. I liked the splint better! It's rough, hard as a rock and tight, though I understand that my leg will shrink in it over the next few weeks. This is not going to be fun! Here's a shot of the exoskeleton:

2/13 HOLY SHIT! Today I got a statement from the hospital for my 4 day stay. Between the emergency room and the 4 days, I owe the hospital almost TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!! This doesn't include doctors, either. I'm covered under Medicare and also Aetna as a secondary so I don't think too much of that will have to be paid by ME. But, we shall see. We shall see.

2/18 OK. The 1400 dollar ER charges will come to $165 on my end, and I can handle that. The 18,000 hospital stay is still up in the air. Keep tuned.

3/2 The exoskeleton seems to be getting looser. Probably a combination of the swelling going down and atrophy. Anyway, 3 weeks are gone and 2 to go until the cast comes off. No new communicaions from the hospital.

3/16 The cast is off, and now I have an inflatable boot! Jeez, It looks like I'm about to go skiing! I have to wear this for a month until my next appointment. I'm allowed to put weight on the leg, but still need the walker. At least I can take it off and take a REAL shower without plastic bags, and sleep in comfort. It looks kinda cool, dontcha think?
4/3 So far, MY share of medical bills are about $1000, with more to come. It's early in the year, and there are deductibles to be met -- apparently about 2K, so it's explained away. Still, I'm well on my way to an itemized income tax return next April.

4/8 I haven't used the walker now for several days. Not at all. I can hobble down the ramp and walk to the mailbox (300') so I'm really on a roll now. Still wearing the boot/walking cast thing, and if I get up in the middle of the night, I can walk on my unsupported leg, but I'm very wary of doing so. I sorta walk without moving the left ankle. But -- it's PROGRESS!

4/20 I am back from the doctor, and have been freed from the "boot." I walk gingerly, and with a limp but I have been FREED from my chains. I'm taking a strong antibiotic for a small infection around the scar, but otherwise I'm pretty good. The new X-rays of the leg show great healing of the broken fibula. It's amazing how the bone ends reach out to each other and mend themselves. Total time from the break -- just about 3 months. My next appointment is May 11.

He has no intention of removing the screws. Ever. If they break, fine.

I cleared boat work with the doctor, and I'm O.K. to start, but Laurie has some rehearsals, concerts and choral group management things yet ahead, so it looks like a very late start to the season. If we can find a few contiguous days with good weather, we'll head down to MD to start work.

May 10 -- a milestone. I took the ramp apart this morning. Tiring work. Tomorrow I'll get out the circular saw and cut the 4 20' planks down to 6 footers so I can take 'em down to MD in the truck. Half the screws on the boards broke, so I'll be working hard with a vise-grip to remove them. Yeah, I'm still limping. I have an appointment tomorrow with the doctor, and we'll pack up the wheelchair and walker so we can return them to the drugstore.

May 11 -- MD says I'm doing fine, and not to come back until mid-September. I should walk a lot. He expects 4 - 6 months more for a complete recovery. Returned the wheelchair, but the walker is now mine (paid for). I tried to give back the boot for charity or something, but it was refused. Apparently Medicaid pays for them for the indigent.

May 27 -- I'm walking down the stairs facing forward again. Slowly and carefully, but more normally. Things ARE improving.

September 3 -- Well, here's an update. The foot is still swollen. I didn't go for PT, and I now regret it. Forced exercise would have been much better than no exercise. At least I have a ton of stairs to negotiate at our vacation home, and that's fine exercise several times a day. I still have some minor discomfort around the ankle. Look. I'm almost 68, vastly overweight and lead a sedentary life. All things considered, my progress isn't bad. Fall (Autumn, that is) is upon us, so pleasant walks in the woods will become more regular. Next doctor's appointment is September 14th. And, would you believe... I'm STILL getting bills from hospital personnel I don't even remember! What a fricken ripoff. You go in the hospital, you come out. All the charges should be on that one piece of paper. Everyone's a damned independent contractor. It's easier to pay for building a new house than it is to pay for a stinkin' busted leg and ankle. No doubt about it -- Medicare's getting ripped off!

September 14 -- All things come to an end, and today this saga is over. Been to the doctor, I'm fine (even though there's probably some scar tissue inside the foot) and unless I have some pain in the ankle, I'm on my own again. The bad news is that I have an appointment with my periodontist on January 16 -- the same day I broke my leg, going to the same periodontist. I'm not superstitious, but I DO intend to be very, very careful.

November, 2006 -- I made my hotel reservations for the Crossword Tournament in Stamford 2007. This is probably the last one to be held in Stamford, and I don't want to miss it. I'll tell you ONE thing -- I'm pertty damn careful where and how I set my foot down now. Once was enough.

I grew up in Bayonne, NJ.

Long the fodder of stand-up comics, Bayonne hangs in there like a small town in Ohio. It's an anachronism - a trip down Bayonne's streets today is like the same trip 50 years ago, so little seems to have changed. I think it's because Bayonne is, well, secluded. The only way in is to the North, except for the Bayonne bridge to Staten Island, and there are only a couple of entrances to the North. The Central Railroad of New Jersey, long gone, has been replaced by a modern light rail line, which could help make the town a commuter's heaven. IF they ever discover it. The waterfront, right in New York Harbor and on 3 full sides, could make the town the yachting capital of the East coast, IF it were ever developed with that in mind. I just learned that waterfront condos were going up on the old Elco Boat Works property, around 26th St., on the Newark Bay side. They only plan a 65 slip marina, which I think is only a few slips more than what's there today, and, while it is well protected, it sure is a long run from there to the Lower New York Bay and out under the Narrows Bridge. But HEY! It's a start! Back in the early 50's, there was even an open fishing boat (a party boat, or head boat, depending on where you're from) operating from the Southern tip of the city -- maybe at the foot of Avenue C -- where I went fishing for the first time. Maybe it wasn't even an open boat -- it may have been a charter, hired by the men of Temple Beth Am. It was a pretty small boat, wood (of course) and I won the pool with a small sea bass. That's where I got hooked on fishing and boats. Edit: the boat was the ZEPHYR - the original, not the Zephyr 2, which sank with its captain.

My parents are long gone and the house I grew up in was razed 25 years ago. I don't think the tulip beds are maintained in Hudson County Park (by the guy with the short leg and 2" soled shoes) like they were when I was there, and plenty else has changed. But not that much. I drive through Bayonne when I go to visit my daughter's family in Brooklyn, and it always brings back the same memories, and the same comments.

Just recently, in the Summer of '06, my sister and her husband took a trip to Eastern Europe, and in a restaurant in Prague happened to chat with some other Americans. These people were from Dallas. Well, the ladies chatted and it turned out that the one my sister was talking with ALSO came from Bayonne. And lived on the same street as we did (Avenue B). 3 houses apart (on the other side) And were a year in age apart. And used to walk to school together. Neither one recognized the other!

Sister also went to a reunion of No. 3 School recently. She keeps more in touch with old friends than I do, apparently. My HS reunion was held this year. It was held in Atlantic City, and I didn't go. I would have if it had been held in Bayonne, though.

Our parents were both teachers in Bayonne; dad in Bayonne Tech and mom in Washington School.

Are YOU from Bayonne? I graduated from BHS in '56 - the Garnet and White. Uncle Miltie's (Named for its owner, Milton Tone, and not for Milton Berle. Sure.) . Botwinik's. The JCC, perhaps. The Jersey Giants at Roosevelt Stadium and the drive-in. My '56 DeSoto and learning to drive down at Constable Hook. Pizza at Dido's, too. Leave me a note!

Speaking of Bayonne...

My email brought this one in, and made me think back to those days again. I just dunno, this poem just gets to me. After all, Sandra Dee DID grow up in Bayonne, and I AM that certain age...

The Land of Sandra Dee
By Anonymous (as cited by Leland Waltrip)

Long ago and far away, In a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot,

There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,
Long ago and far away, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

Oh, there was truth and goodness, in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

For Ike was in the White House, and Hoss was on TV,
and God was in his heaven, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We learned to gut a muffler. We washed our hair at dawn.
We spread our crinolines to dry, in circles on the lawn.

And they could hear us coming all the way to Tennessee,
all starched and sprayed and rumbling, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for the prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to "Little Darlin" And Sang to "Stagger Lee"
and cried for Buddy Holly, in the Land of Sandra Lee.

Only girls wore earrings then, and three was one too many,
and only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams, did we expect to see
a boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
and when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, Or Psycho Two and Three,
or Rockey-Rambo Twenty, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
and Reagan was a Democrat, whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
and Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We had our share of heroes; we never thought they'd go;
at least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
and Elvis was forever, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins weren't Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees in a tree,
Madonna was a virgin, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We'd never heard of Microwaves, or telephones in cars,
and babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and "gay" meant fancy-free,
and dorms were never coed, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

Buicks came with portholes and side show came with freaks,
and bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles and skirts came to the knee,
and Castro came to power in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We had no Crest with Fluoride; we had no Hill Street Blues;
we all wore superstructure bras designed by Howard Hughes.

We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

There were no golden arches; No Perriers to chill,
and fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was thirty-five, and old was forty-three,
and ancient was our parents, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
and now instead of Maybelline, we swear by Retin-A.

And they send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land of Sandra Dee.

So now we face a brave new world, in slightly larger jeans,
and wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away, in the Land of Sandra Dee.

_____________________________________________________________________

• Sandra Dee passed away in February 2008 at the age of 62. Time doesn't stop.

A homeowner's tale of woe, or...PHENOSEAL®...NOT!

Phenoseal® is a product made by DAP. It's a nice, white sealant that my builder uses a lot. Well, I had a nice tiled seat built in my shower when we remodeled a few years ago, and I recently noticed that some of the grout was cracked and missing. Out came the tube of Phenoseal. It looked great! Then, maybe a month or two later, I noticed a spot of hard goop on the shower floor, which I had to remove with a razor blade. Also, some of the tiles on the front of the seat (vertical) were coming loose. Puzzled for a while, the light finally went on, and I called DAP to find out if something in the Phenoseal could react with the tile cement, and could the Phenoseal actually melt??

The answer was YES. It seems that the Phenoseal re-emulsifies in standing water, like on the seat top, and it oozed down behind the face tiles. So I pried some of them off, and, to my surprise, there was NO tile cement at all on the backs of the tiles. Only wet, sticky, molten Phenoseal. Now I'm prying off those face tiles, trying to get my builder over to retile the front of the seat (the flat tiles on the top of the seat, where I actually PUT the Phenoseal, still look OK, but I have my doubts about them, now) and get my downstairs shower in working condition again.

Of course, I never found any disclaimer or warning about this on the package -- although I'm sure it must be there in 8 point type -- so now I'm stuck with both a mess AND a couple of hundred dollar repair job.

So friends, be careful about using caulking of any type on flat surfaces -- especially PHENOSEAL.

Pheonseal is sold by a number of marine chandlers for use as a boat sealer. I would NEVER allow it on my boat, knowing now what it does and how it performs in a wet environment. IT IS CRAP!!!

O.K., call me crazy, but I really think a sealant should... seal.

DAP REPLIES:

"Thank you for contacting DAP Inc. with your inquiry, based on the description of your application in your "blog" it would appear that the product that the product that you selected was not the best choice for your intended application. DAP Phenoseal Vinyl Adhesive Caulk Does It All is a water based adhesive/sealant formula which is not recommended for use in below waterline applications (FOR BEST RESULTS: Do not use below waterline.)...

Based on the description of your application, we would generally recommend the use of a 100% Silicone Rubber Sealant.

Thank you, Jason"

"NOT RECOMMENDED?" That's an understatement, if I ever saw one. Then WHY do they call it (and these are THEIR words) "DAP Phenoseal Vinyl Adhesive Caulk Does It All?" "For best results..." Jeez. What an understatement. In a submerged environment, it simply FAILS. BEST RESULTS???

In my mind, these bastards still owe me $200, to boot.
Follow-ups:
September 18, 2006. I finished cleaning the affected area and re-cemented 4 new tiles onto the front of the seat. On Tuesday, I'll clean out some of the grout on the seat and grout the whole area. I never did this before, so I have hopes but not expectations. By Thursday evening, the shower should be ready for use again. If there's any more Phenoseal damage, I'll report back.
August 18, 2007. I see a face half tile on the end is starting to stick out. This wasn't one that I replaced previously, I don't think. I'll let it come out some more before I try to remove it. What a fricken mess. I hope the whole world reads about this garbage product.

Comments are closed.  I did not use it "under water" I used it on top of a seat in the shower.  You can do whatever you please. I'm done with Phenoseal.  

OH CHIP. Our boating Adventure

Early in 2004, at the beginning of the boating season, we left the breakwater and set out for a day on the bay. Ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka was the sound the Merc (2000, 200 EFI, about 125 hours) outboard started to make. Slowing down to a crawl, and heading back to the harbor 1/2 mile away, the sound continued and then -- the engine stopped. Seized up. Nada. A call to TowBoat/US brought help and a tow ($350, but covered by insurance) back to our slip. It seems we had a metal chip -- OK, it was BIGGER than a "chip" -- it was a piece of gear that broke, destroyed the lower unit totally and, in effect, put an end to the 2004 season for us. Merc was no help - 2nd owner, out of warranty, blah blah. $4,668 and a month later, we were back on the water.


Should I have this made into a necklace?

There's a first time for everything

After boating and fishing for what seems like an eternity, I finally caught a rockfish (striped bass) on my own boat. This little feller measured EXACTLY 18" -- the minimum size for a keeper in Maryland.



This was also the first fish of any kind caught on the T3, so it felt GOOD. Tonight we'll stuff it with veggies, and steam it on the grill. Should be just the right size for two.

I had forgotten how tiring a day on the water can be. Even though we were anchored, the movement of the boat knocks the crap out of you! After cleaning up the boat, I peeled off all my soaking wet clothes, jumped in the shower, and took a well-deserved NAP. Hey! I gotta be alert for the puzzle at 6 tonight.

Too Darn Hot. Just Too Darn Hot.

Here I am, on Maryland's lovely Eastern Shore, my little boat a 10-minute walk from the house, and I haven't been out on it all week. 92. 93. 91. Humidity you could cut with a knife. I'm too damn old and fat to want to go sit on a boat in this weather dangling a line overboard. Christ, I'd probably die of heat prostration doing it. The air conditioning in the house is nice. It's comfortable here, but I could be in ANY a/c place on earth and be COMFORTABLE. I need to have my head examined. I bought a house down here, and a boat so I could go fishing and crabbing, and the only crabbing I do is about the heat and why I stay inside.

At least there are crossword puzzles to do.

UPS (Unquestionably Poor Service) and me

I'm pissed off at UPS. We sat here all day Friday with our thumbs up our asses waiting for a package that was "on time" all week. Watching the UPS tracking site, we could see that it arrived in Secaucus, NJ at 3:22 AM on Friday morning. Usually, it's then immediately shipped out to the Bound Brook distribution center for delivery to me the same (promised) day.

NOT TO BE! All of a sudden, the delivery date was changed to Monday with no explanation, and the package didn't move from Secaucus for 17 hours. THEN, they sent it to Newark, where it was scanned in, and again scanned out almost immediately. That was 2 1/2 days ago. Why Newark? Who knows? Maybe it's on a plane to Beiruit or Berkeley California. It's a mystery.

UPS's pretty much complete flip reply to my nasty note is that it's rescheduled for Monday. NO SHIT! We sat here all day Friday, to receive the package they said all week was going to be delivered on Friday, and now we have to give up ANOTHER day to wait again. Oh yeah. They also said they have nothing in place to let their custumers know that deliveries have been rescheduled. REALLY?? They have TV ads where a lady purposely falls backwards off a building because the UPS truck is supposed to be there AT THAT EXACT SECOND to break her fall, but they can't fulfill a promise of delivery in a 24-hour window?? DUH! I think I'm missing something here.

Here's the latest note I sent to UPS:

I find your reply flippant, to say the least. Here are the facts:

FACT: I waited here all day Friday for a delivery you said was going to arrive.
Then, at the end of the day (and after business hours), you reschedule it for no reason at all. Hey! My time is valuable, too. I made plans based on YOUR promise.

FACT: It arrived at Secaucus at 3:22 AM Friday. From my experience, this is normal, and the parcel usually goes out right away to Bound Brook for delivery. This parcel never moved. Actually, it remained in Secaucus for over SEVENTEEN hours. It should have been in Bound Brook long before the truck to my home went out.

FACT: When it DID move, it went to Newark, for some unknown reason, where it "departed" at 9:46 PM on the 15th. It hasn't "arrived" anywhere, so far as I can tell. I suppose it might be just be sitting on a truck somewhere, doing NOTHING. Perhaps it's parked outside your Bound Brook facility. Perhaps not. The package hasn't been scanned since 9:46 PM on Friday, which is more than 48 hours ago. Maybe it's even on a plane now, going god-knows-where. You see, the only places it could possible be "departed" to is either my house or your Bound Brook Center, of which both locations are a maximum drive of ONE HOUR from Newark. I do not have good feelings about this.

FACT: Now I have to use up a vacation day Monday to wait for this package. I already gave up a day on Friday for your promised delivery. This is NOT satisfactory performance on your part, and is indefensible. Can you even tell me if I'm going to get it on Monday? I bet you can't. Like I said in the first paragraph, my time is valuable, too.

FACT: I am at the very least entitled to an explanation for the delay. No planes or trains crashed. The package arrived at your distribution center in time for delivery. The weather is delightful - no snow, sleet, hail, thunderstorms, or even fog. If you screwed up, SAY SO. Nobody's perfect.

FACT: This isn't an "inquiry", as you so flippantly call it. It is a COMPLAINT.

FACT: I happen to be a shareholder in UPS. I fully intend to communicate with those who run the company to inform them of your inability to meet a promise or even answer a reasonable question with FACTS.

FACT: The next time I order something by mail or over the internet, I will refuse to accept UPS as the shipper.

HERE'S A QUESTION FOR YOU: WHERE THE HELL IS MY PACKAGE NOW????

_________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW UP:
At 10:41 Sunday night, the package was supposedly scanned in at Bound Brook. This is interesting, because I didn't close down the computer until after 11 and it hadn't appeared yet, but OK, maybe I didn't look again -- it's possible. I got up this morning at 4:11, and took a quick look to check and saw the entry -- after all, it IS Monday now -- PLUS, at 4:03 it's again scanned "out for delivery." That can only mean that it's on the truck and should make it here sometime today - THREE DAYS LATE.

It doesn't make me any happier knowing that it'll be here today. You see, I was supposed to leave for a vacation on Friday, after the package came. The car was loaded and we were all set. So this fiasco cost us not only Friday, but the whole weekend, PLUS what might be a good part of Monday. I'm still pissed, thank you. I'll let you know what time it arrives.
_________________________________________________________________________
5:00 Monday and still NOTHING. Another wasted day. Maybe he'll show up after supper. Or after breakfast. This is a disgrace. My plan now is to tell anyone I buy something from that I will not accept UPS as a shipper. If it doesn't come today, we're going to tell the vendor that we will NOT accept it and will NOT deal with them any more.
_________________________________________________________________________
6:00 PM on the button. Doorbell rings. End of tale. BUT, driver gives me a phone number and 2 guys' names to call. I call. The guy is very nice. He reviews the history. APPARENTLY, in Secaucus, the package got mis-routed to the Newark Airport Air Hub. I told him that when UPS screws up a ground shipment THEY should immediately upgrade the package to PRIORITY. They mess up, and THEY should fix it. My opinion.

Oh. One more thing. The clothes are too big. Wifey's going to return them (US Postal Service postpaid return label was included in the box. No UPS!!!!).

Followup: The label was postpaid, alright, but the vendor charged us (no credit to my card) shipping both ways, to the tune of about 20 bucks. Then they had the balls to send us a 5-dollars-off-on-your-next-purchase coupon. Screw them. Another catalog firm (Drapers & Damons) down the drain of my shitlist.

1965 Pearson 28 Hard Top Express Cruiser

This was a nice, comfortable boat. The flare to the bow was so exaggerated that she was incredibly dry and it seemed the worse the seas, the nicer she rode. All glass (even the engine stringers), she was as solid as the rock of Gibraltar, and probably heavy as it as well; the single Chrysler 250 couldn't get it up on a plane without overheating. My cousin owned one with twin Chryslers; it planed very nicely. She originally came with a single Chrysler 210 hp, and was also available with twins. 6+' headroom below, and berths that even I could fit in comfortably. We kept her in Long Island Sound (Norwalk, CT) for 15 years or so, where we cruised extensively as far East as Block Island, and even made the trip West to the Big Apple and then North, all the way up the Hudson to Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain with her. We recently learned that she was reborn and lived in Texas for a while. After refitting her, and cruising around Galveston Bay, he put her up for sale in 2007, and that's when I lost track of her.

How I earned a living without doing much.

I don't think anyone but forms designers will find this the least bit interesting, but here goes anyway.

I like to think that I had the oddest job on earth during my working life. I analyzed and designed FORMS for a big, major Wall Street firm.

The forms you get. The forms you fill out. The forms you sign. If it was a FORM, I designed it. Your brokerage confirmation. Your monthly statement. Your client agreements. All the little bits of paper that departments passed among themselves to do STUFF that had to be done. I had to meet with the people who either needed (or THOUGHT they needed) or wanted the forms, listen to them try to describe what they thought they needed or wanted, and then have to understand what they REALLY wanted, or what the company REALLY needed. Then, I'd execute the design I'd create in my mind, and start the approval process. I was really good at this job. It took a thorough knowledge of my company, its products, federal regulations plus a flair for graphic design and typography. Being a bit of a nerd didn't hurt, either.

I started this career in 1969, at a firm that merged in 1980 with another Wall Street firm. At that time, I physically drew the forms by hand on a big drafting table, with the help of a parallel rule, a couple of triangles, and a set of Rapidograph pens. If I could, I drew them double size to cut the blobs and sloppiness down by 50% when they were shot in the print shop.




Patches and corrections were made with an X-Acto knife, or razor blades, a light box and white tape. Type was set on an IBM Selectric Composer (Like a Selectric typewriter, but proportional spaced letters, and 3 escapements which gave me sizes from 7 to 11 points.






Large type was set with a Varityper Headliner, a monster of a machine which set photographic type on 35 mm white photo print paper, and had a tank with photo printing chemicals. I used a WAXER, which laid a coating of wax on the back of the paper to stick it down to the mechanical. Man, THOSE WERE THE DAYS!! All that, and the forms still looked like shit, as well. I can't tell you how many times I sliced a piece of fingertip off on that light box.

Every now and then, the company would change its logo, or name, or merge with another company, and I'd have to change ALL of the company's forms (there were usually around a thousand active forms at any time). By hand. This task fell to me on an average of once every 18 months - a phenomenon that ABSOULTELY GUARANTEED my employment for 33 years. In all those years, I never had more than two people working for me and usually, it was just me and (if I were lucky) a part-timer.

In 1983, after almost 15 years of cutting and pasting, I was given an Apple LISA computer, which had the first page layout system created (by Compugraphic) for a mouse-driven WYSIWYG computer. The Macintosh came out the following year, and my first "real" Mac came a few years later in the form of a Mac II. For years I designed forms using MacDraw (a program that was GREAT for forms layout, too!) and MacDraw II. Later, FormsExpert II came along, and I was in HEAVEN!

MY LIFE WAS CHANGED.
I really enjoyed analyzing and designing forms. There's a small cadre of people who do this professionally, probably numbering under 500 in the whole country. I'd bet there aren't 1,000 in the whole WORLD! We're even organized, and have an annual symposium for and by the professionals in the field. Hmmmm. Now that I think of it, since there are so FEW of us, we really should be paid a LOT more than we get!

I think a good form design is one that leads you gently through the form without your knowing you're even working with it. The form guides your eyes and moves your pencil gently but firmly, and you don't have to guess what you're doing, what data is expected, or what's expected of you. It isn't ambiguous. It's how I earned my living.

Man, I loved that job.
After 9/11 I asked to be RIF'd, and "they" turned me down. Finally, I had to prove that my "department" (me and a part-timer) was staffed "adequately," and they were finally kind enough to let me go. "They" were afraid that things weren't covered, and immediately hired me back as a consultant. I finally left after 4 days of "consulting." Man O Man. I came, I saw, I did, I left, I wonder just what I did for 33 years to make them feel this way! I made a real good buck, and never had to eat hot dogs every night. Life was good. Like I said, Man, I LOVED that job!

old skills on a slow news day

Today I bought another 100 feet of anchor line for my little boat. The previous owner only had 100' total (of only 7/16", too) -- enough for anchoring in 15 feet of water on a calm day. The new line (1/2") came with a galvanized thimble installed, but I wanted another at the other end, so I bought a thimble, too. At the boat, I did whatever boat stuff I had to do, and sat down with the new rope and thimble. This must have been the fastest splice I've ever made, because the rope was very lightly laid. I guess it's been almost 10 years since I did any marlinspike work, and I was pleased that I still knew how. It came out quite well, too! The old line seems much tighter laid, and hard. I would have preferred to connect the two with a short splice, but a 1/2" shackle through the 2 eyes will have to do. I don't think I want to fight with that old stuff.

Edit: Summer, 2007. Screw it. I cut the thimbles off and connected the two lines with a short splice. Came out well. Never liked that old rusty thimble anyway. Picked up a 3# Northill on eBay. Overpaid, too, but it's great. I's almost New Years Eve, 2007 now. Summer seems a long way off.

Edit: March, 2011. Sold the boat. New owner very happy. Wife very happy. I have mixed emotions. Will I buy another boat? Highly unlikely. Since the M-I-L got sick, we see the need for simplifying our own lives, and clearing out extraneous things. Boats are extraneous things. We had 40 years of boating; that's enough. Time to move on. Here in New Jersey, there are plenty of party boats for a day of fishing. But my Springtimes will be boring, and I won't be able to bitch about my poor fishing skills any more. I think I'll still remain boatless.

April 2011. The boat is sold. Third boat gonzo. Will there be another? I'm trying to say NO! but, what the hell, if the right boat came along at the right price... who knows? I'm appreciating the bump in my cash flow, though, but I still have that farken' salt water coursin' thru my veins...

a dreary day

rain and rain and rain. Rain in Free Acres brings me back to my Summer days here as a kid. The beating of the drops on the roof and the darkness, accentuated by the heavy shade brings it all back.

Back in 1950, one night, we had a huge storm. Lightning and thunder, like the hammers of hell were let loose. We had an outhouse then, and my father needed to use it. He had lights strung under the eaves, and flipped 'em on, ran like hell around the bungalow, and when he returned, he was soaked. "THAT'S IT!" "NEXT YEAR WE'RE GOING TO HAVE INDOOR PLUMBING!" he yelled. And we did. In 1951, we added a john, and another room, too. From shack to mansion.

July 4th on Maryland's Eastern Shore

We had a spectacular fireworks display in the tiny town of Rock Hall on the night of July 3rd. Somehow, the town got a fighter plane flyover to start things off, and followed that with 45 minutes of nonstop pyrotechnics. In previous years, we just stood on the dock at the foot of Sharp Street, by the Waterman's Crab House, but this year we thought we'd sit on our little boat (named the T3) at her slip and hope for a good view. What a surprise! The view from the boat was unobstructed. We had a full view of the entire fireworks barge, and got to see everything better than we had hoped. Being on a boat, we also felt the rumbling beneath us.

Rock Hall, MD has a year-round population of 500 or so. This swells to 1500 in the Summer, and being a peninsula, has marinas all around it. There are over 2,000 boat slips in Rock Hall.

BOOM!

Romany Boats

The Romany was built in England in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Mine was a lumbering 6 - 8 knot tub, but unbelievably good looking.



These two photos aren't publicity shots. They were taken by friend John Lindholm ca. 1972 on our trip from Norwalk to Block Island

A few of these were imported by McMichaels - a large yacht dealer in New York. My in-laws were associated with McMichaels Yacht Brokerage in Connecticut, where I bought mine new in 1971. The fourth owner completely refitted the boat to better-than-new condition.


Here's a shot from the original Romany Works in Poole, Dorset. England. They made quite a few of these beauties. The site still exists with that name, although now it's an industrial park.



In mid-December 2007. I got an eMail from the fourth owner. After 7 years of being owned by the Romany, and completely rebuilding her, she's been sold to owner #5, in Albany. I wish him (or her) good fortune with the old girl, now pushing 37 years of age. I'm sure he'll love her as much as all us former owners did.

_____________________________________________________________
As good looking as the Romany was, she had some issues.
The rope was attached to the hull with copper wires running through pairs of vertical holes and then twisted together inside. On mine, they didn't seal these holes before gluing the vinyl-on-foam liner to the cabin's interior. Water on the rope followed the copper wires in and came out behind the liner, which absorbed it like a sponge. This made a mess, eventually resulting in all the liner having to be removed.

The original steering mechanism was a sprocket and chain and cable arrangement ("chain-and-wire"). Unfortunately, the sprocket was lightly attached to the steering wheel shaft with only a single set screw that loosened at very inopportune times. After being towed in by the police, I had a keyway machined in the shaft and sprocket and the problem was solved. A better arrangement would be hydraulic or Teleflex steering. The chain/cable assembly was good inasmuch as the boat came with a tiller as originally outfitted, and could be steered from the stern with the tiller. Of course, you couldn't reach the engine controls from back there. Anyone looking at one of these boats should look at the steering that's on it, and avoid the sprocket/chain arrangement if no keyway has been installed.

The 21 is NOT self bailing, either. One or two electric pumps are needed, especially if the boat has no cockpit cover. The boat came equipped with a Henderson diaphragm pump that was excellent! The boat also had an old-fashioned (and now illegal in the U.S.) through-hull overboard discharge head up forward, just aft of the chain locker. But... it was situated in such a place that your legs had to stick straight out and across a bulkhead to sit on it! So a woman couldn't sit on it, nor a man kneel in front of it! The 2 holes for the head should have been glassed up somewhere along the line. We ripped it out and simply put a Porta-Potty between the bunks; we moved it to the wheelhouse when we slept aboard. THAT worked!

We also had a 3-panel drop curtain made for the back of the wheelhouse. This is absolutely necessary if one intends to sleep aboard. Originally, the Romany came with a large cockpit cover (see the photo below).

There was a teak step on each side glassed to the inside just aft of the pilot house. The steps were small and glassed in poorly. I removed both of them and designed and made two very nice battery boxes out of 1/2" teak plywood with 1" solid teak tops. These were excellent additions, although they took up a couple of square feet of cockpit space. But the battery shelf under the engine box made a nice place for a more permanent box for tools and spare parts. I still have one of the original steps here (just the step, not the mounting block that was below it), so if you need it, make me an offer. It's 10" X 3 7/8" X 7/8" solid teak.

The original fuel tank was a 20 gallon terne-plated steel tank (lead plating over steel) across the stern. This tank has a limited life and should be replaced if still in place. There was also a nice folding teak slatted seat across the stern (in front of the tank and under the stern top deck) that folded down to give more cockpit space for fishing.

The bow rail was vinyl coated steel. This had to be replaced once it was nicked and rust started to form (Take a look at the POPEYE, below).

The cabin needs ventilation! I installed a Vent-O-Mate, but it wasn't adequate to keep the mildew down. Originally, there was a small round butterfly vent in the door -- too small for the space. We kept a spray pump filled with Clorox aboard and used it regularly. Water accumulated in the bilge below the cabin sole, and there was no limber hole in the bilge bulkhead for the water to drain aft. I put a hole in there, and also a round threaded 6" access hatch in the cabin sole between the berths so I could get to it and pump it dry with a hand bilge pump. Deck water always got under the teak between the cockpit and the cabin. Caulk-Tex was the only thing I ever found to seal the joint, but I don't believe the product is available any more. I bolted two teak rails to the bunks and cut a plywood bunk filler to fit, and had three 4" cushions made. There was plenty of sleeping room once the bunk filer was in place.
_____________________________________________________________

Here's a scan of the 1971 brochure, a bit worse for wear.



































And here's the builder's certificate that came with my Romany. I think all of these boats had the same hull number, though...









They also made a 26 footer. I never saw one, except in a print ad. I thought the boat below (on a mooring, with the cockpit cover) for sale in England was a 26, but Mrs. Parsley (see the comments) stumbled on this blog and has informed us that TEMPEST was their old boat and it's indeed a 21. The original 21 RBI has 2 round ports forward, as shown in a photo (but not the drawing) in the brochure. I wondered about this here, but then learned that the Parsleys added the third portlight during their restoration (see the comments below). My thanks to Mrs. Parsley for this information.

This is the Parsley's Tempest.

And here's the POPEYE, In San Francisco











And here's one in Rhode Island, for sale 1/2010. Looks pristine!
P.S. I knew a guy named Ev Dunn who bought a Romany and moved down East. He had repowered it with a 65 hp Perkins back them. I wonder if this was HIS boat.

Sundance for sale in Dover...

and Colette for sale in Cowes...

and one with an I/O and trim tabs.

This was advertised as a Romany 30. Really?? They made a 30? It does indeed have Romany lines -- look at the bow and how the deck is angled back, and there's the groove where the rope is supposed to go, so I guess, yes. Looks like mid-1960's design.




THIS is a real Romany 31 (built 1975, and refitted/restored 1985 on.). The builder's plate calls it a 30, but it measures out to 31, I'm told. Chris LeBrocq was kind enough to send me these photos, and I'm delighted he did so. Please read his comments below. Great restoration, and the loving care really shows. Note 7/14/10... I noted that it was up for sale, and on 7/19 I got a note from Keith Hardy that he bought it -- the day after it was first listed. Keith promised to send us pics as he refits her.

And here's a real 26 for sale in June 2010:

At least the advert says Romany, but I'm not really sure. Could be, of course. Maybe the owner will find this site and email me with more information.

Here's a boat that LOOKS like a Romany but isn't. It was built of plywood by a guy who loves teak as well as Romanys! Nice
job!













You came here because you're interested in the Romany 21. Drop me a line and tell me WHY. Do you have one? Are you thinking of buying one?? C'mon. share.

Leave us a comment or share your Romany experiences here.