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oo Memories of Freeport's Waterfront c-- Fred Scopinich, Jr. was born in o Freeport in 1927 and spent his youth , on Woodcleft Avenue at his father's ro boatyard, Freeport Point Shipyard at jo the foot of Woodcleft Avenue. He is an owner/president of The Hampton <; Shipyards in East Quogue. £ TJ by Fred Scopinich, Jr. fi The charter boats _, ^ As 1933 came to a close, prohibition ^ ceased and the waterfront bars and § grills were open again. The country ^ was deep in a recession, but Freeport g had another card to play...the charter boats. Sport fishing was in its infancy. Office chairs were converted to fishing chairs. Heavier rods and reels were being developed. Fly-bridges with a pipe frame were being fashioned as was bow pulpits. Harpoons and a drum of rope were mounted on the front deck. A crow's nest mast was fash- ioned and fitted with to spruce outrig- gers that folded out similar to today's stabilizing booms on a dragger. Some early charter boats even had a steady- ing sail to reduce motion. Two homing pigeons were carried on board in the event of mechanical prob- lems, so a message could be sent ashore. Marine radios were not in exis- tence yet, but were being developed by Ray Jefferson and Travis of Freeport. Their boat Shangri-La was a 35-foot cruiser with a 50-foot antenna mounted on the trunk cabin with double stays leading forward, aft, port and starboard for stability. This company would later be known as Jefferson-Travis. Roy Merritt was quick to adapt to the sport fishing trend, establishing the Caliban Fleet on Woodcleft Avenue. He retired his old slow 40-foot wide beam powered catboat and built his new fleet to go offshore fishing. His two sons Buddy and Allan operated Caliban II and III. By 1940 his fleet included a twin engine Freeport Point- built Caliban V. The Merritts were bringing in all kinds of game fish, 400 and 500 pound tuna, huge turtles, sharks etc. and dis- playing them on their dock. Huge crowds would gather summer evenings to view the catch of the day. The Boatmen's Association on the northeast side of Woodcleft soon estab- lished itself, sending 8 to 10 charter boats out every day and more on week- ends. Carl Forsberg started operating his Viking Fleet on Woodcleft and soon moved to the head of the canal, which was a swimming club previously, now Staten Island Boat Sales. After World War II Carl moved his. fleet to Montauk. Ben Eldred chartered with his Empress Ann and his brother Mel with his Juliana establishing Eldred's Dock on Woodcleft at Suffolk Street. This became Earharts Dock. John Coward chartered his very modern Toxaway on Woodcleft as did John Stouffer with his Jolly. Rudy Dalder charted his Freeport Point-built Lady Lou one dock south of Otto's Restaurant. In 1947 Roy Merritt had a desire to move to Florida. He purchased an unfinished surplus P.T. Boat and installed two 6-71 GM surplus diesel engines in this boat. He put his family and possessions on board, including his car on deck, and'headed to Florida establishing what is now a world- famous boatyard run by his grandchil- dren. Open boats The open boats or head boats always were an attraction, also bringing huge crowds to the waterfront. One of the early boats I remember was the 70' Selnada sailing from the foot of Woodcleft Avenue. The Selnada was a two-masted sail- ing schooner built for one series of schooner races off North Carolina. When the races terminated, the boat was sold. Willet Carmen, father of Leon, Stewart and Morton, purchased this boat and sailed it to Woodcleft in the early 1920s. The Selnada sailed open boat customers in and out of Jones Inlet to the fishing grounds before bridges and parkways. Sometime in the late 1920s it was decided to convert this vessel to power only. The conversion work was done at Freeport Point. The two masts were removed, the boat was hauled and the lead outside ballast keels were removed and sold. This was quite a task, sawing one-inch bronze bolts with hacksaws and rolling the lead keel out from under the boat. A forward bul- wark about 42 inches high was added to the bow, a pilot house was con- structed aft, and the schooner bow which was above the waterline was removed. A new deep stem was added and the bow was re-planked to suit. A Sterling Viking engine was installed to com- plete the conversion. Willet's son Leon (Wink) Carmen operated this remodeled boat from the 1920s to 1944. The Selnada met its demise in the hurricane of 1944. The boat parted its lines during the stormy night and drift- ed westward from Woodcleft Avenue towards South Long Beach Avenue. At that point, the 70-foot boat drifted south and through Denison's Lead across Scow Creek and settled on top of an island on the north side of Reynold's Channel at Lido Beach. A heavy-duty 70-foot tug, the Credenda belonging to Sam Georgegeson, was moored in Woodcleft Canal. The next day, at high tide when the marshes flooded, the Credenda tried to pull the Selnada off the marsh but was unsuccessful. The Carmens stripped the Selnada and set fire to the boat. An end to a long and successive career as a legendary stal- ward of Freeport fishing was finished. Other head boats during the '30s and '40s included the 65-foot Atlantic owned and operated by Abe Stencil, docking on Woodcleft by Manhattan Street, now Captain Ben's. The 60' Lydia R was another open boat on Woodcleft run by Captain Hogan White. Later in the 1950s the 65-foot Sailfish sailed out of Woodcleft by owner Fred Brinks. In the mid-'50s Captain Russ Redfield sailed three boats out of Woodcleft at Richmond Street. They were the 65-foot Captain Russ, a 55-foot Captain Russ II and a 40-foot Captain Russ III. To be continued... ATTENTION FUNDRAISING CHAIRPEOPIE Sell First Time Subscriptions To The Freeport/BaldwifT Leader $ 6 per Subscription For Organization Freeport and Baldwin residents want to The for the following reasons: Keeps them aware of local issues Keeps the community in touch with familiar faces Keeps them abreast of school issues Keeps them up to date on new store openings and affords them the opportunity to take advantage of sales Offers complete coverage of community events Left work hand in hand to support our CALL Ask For Joan Oliva or Ann Johnson THE LEADER 3197AU2707FF
