Of the many names I’ve been called in my life – Uncle Fred has stuck with almost everyone! When I began dating my wife, she was divorced with 2 very young children. My teenage nieces often babysat the 2 little ones. My nieces called me Uncle Fred – the kids picked it up. Since then my wife’s 3 brothers and their wives have joined the group, along with their combined 11 children – and then their 33 grandchildren – and now their 9 great-grandchildren. My friends felt outnumbered, so they joined in. The kids still call me Uncle Fred – as well as DAD! – and so do their friends and in-laws. There’s little chance I’ll forget that name – but I thought I’d better write these stories down while I can still remember!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

ICE FISHING and MORE BOATS



In the winter time, my friend and I would go upstate to Putnam County to go ice fishing.  Now ice fishing consists of cutting 3-4 holes in the ice using an auger, baiting the hook, and lowering the line down to the bottom of the lake. Then you hook the line to a thing called a “tip-it” which has a foot-long wire with a red flag on top.  When you see the flag standing up, you check the line to see if you caught a fish.  If so, you remove the fish, lay it on the ice, re-bait the hook and send it back down to the bottom.  If you come back about half an hour later, your fish will be frozen solid.  Not a very challenging sport, but something to do in the winter. 
The best part of ice fishing was that you went ice skating all over the lake but stayed within sight of your tip-it.  You don’t stand around and wait for a fish to bite or you could wind up frozen like your fish. 

Years later, while ice fishing on the same lake with a fireman friend of mine, I came upon a 14’ Aluminum boat frozen in the ice.  There was ice inside the boat and it was almost even with the lake ice.  We chopped the ice out of the inside of the boat with an ax and freed the boat.  When we got it up onto the ice, we found a bullet hole in the boat.  Someone must have shot at it during hunting season.  We dragged the boat to shore and tied it to a tree.

Next spring, we went back up to the lake and found the boat was still there and there were no ID numbers on it.  We dragged it up the hill and out to the road, then loaded it into my van.  When I got the boat home, I put a nut and bolt with two washers and sealed the bullet hole.  I used it for the next 5 years.

In the winter following the sinking of my boat in Peconic Bay, a friend of mine bought an 18 foot boat at the New York City Boat Show.  The Boat Show is in January, and, when it’s over, the dealers who entered their boats in the show wanted to sell them cheap.  If they couldn’t sell them, then they would have to pay the convention union workers to remove the boats from the convention floor.  Then the dealers had to take them back to their marinas and store them all winter, hoping to sell them in the spring.  

My friend got a great deal on a boat.  I made him a great deal on my 85 HP outboard motor.  He bought the motor and all the equipment with it and had it installed on his boat and used it for a good number of years.  This got me thinking about buying another boat – a larger and newer boat.  

The next boat I bought was a 25’ cabin cruiser, inboard motor, again made out of plywood.  I rented a slip on the Mianus River in Cos Cob, Connecticut.  It came with a spot on land to keep the boat during the winter.  My wife K and I rebuilt this boat and, when we were done, it looked like new.  She reupholstered all the seats in the cabin and out on the deck. She also made curtains and a canvas top to cover the deck with a sun roof over the helmsmen seats. I started to have trouble with the motor; it was a 357 Chevrolet engine.  One day, while out inspecting with the aerial truck, I found a Chevy that was all smashed up on its side and no license plates.  My crew on the truck and I disconnected the motor from the body and the transmission and used the aerial ladder hydraulics to lift the engine out.  We moved it into the back of my van.  After removing everything from the engine block, I took it to a shop to be rebuilt. While the boat was on land during the winter, I built a block and tackle over the engine compartment.  With the help of a few friends, I removed the engine out of the boat and installed the rebuilt one.  We had many years of fun on that boat.   

The kids learned to fish on that boat.  In 1976, they saw the Tall Ships come into New York Harbor from that boat.  They loved to cruise along with their heads stuck up through the hatch.  We all spent many overnight trips on that boat.  


One weekend, we were docked at a marina in Connecticut and a huge yacht pulled up next to us.  They went down into their cabin to get dressed to go to dinner in the dining room at the marina.  When they got off their boat, there we were, sitting on the back deck, watching the news on our TV, feet up, drinking wine and eating fresh clams and mussels that we had harvested hours before.  There was a fresh-caught fish cooking on the portable grill.  They stopped, smiled, and said “Wow, some people really know how to live.”  It was a great time! We used it until I retired, sold our house and boat, and moved to Florida.   

For the next 25 years, we were rarely without some type of boat!  I guess they’re in my blood.



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