"Leave Your Cares At The Dock…."

Posted by John Brantuk on Oct 1st 2013

Editors Note: The following is the experience of one of our boatbuilders (Michael Maddox, AKA BarnacleMike) at the 2013 Gathering of Glen-L Boatbuilders, reprinted with his permission from his personal blog.

Leave my cares at the dock? Done.

There was an old Chris-Craft ad from the 1960’s I stumbled across online not long ago. I don’t remember which model it was advertising (an early fiberglass runabout, I believe), but I do remember the tagline: “Leave your cares at the dock.” Leave my cares at the dock. That’s exactly what I’d been wanting, and needing to do for weeks. So I did just that — I left my cares at the dock. After all, Sept. 20 was G7 weekend, and the Glen-L boatbuilders were back in town. What better way to relax than riding in hand-made classic boats? This is now the third Glen-L gathering I’ve attended. Each year brings a little something new. This year, for me, it was an eye-opening lesson in fuel consumption. I simply had no idea just how quickly an outboard motor will use up a full tank of fuel when it’s pushing a boat fully-laden with adults up & down the river for any distance. Wow! I tell you, it makes me all the more grateful to the kind people who took me out for rides in their boats. This year I rode in a couple of beautifully-finished Zips. I got some ideas to possibly use on my own. I also rode in a very nice Monaco, and in Bob Brandenstein’s splendid Malahini. There was a tent sale this year, and after the gale-force winds Saturday morning (which I luckily missed), I bought a pair of cleats & a U.S. Yacht Ensign flag for the Utility. I also bought a bell. My daughter’s been asking me to put one on the boat since I first laid the keel. She saw the bell at the tent sale & just HAD to have it... so I bought it. For now I use it to wake her & her brother up for school.