CigDaze

Yep, I sure do remember the black duck part of the show.
Cool name for your Dad's bar.

Nokatay

Hi guys. I saw this old post during a web search. The History Channel show is very factual. But the picture posted is actually not the Black Duck. The Duck had round port hole windows in the cabin. The skipper lived very close to me many years ago and I have been researchng Charlie Travers and the Black Duck out of Fairhaven, MA for several years. The boat pictured in the show was the actual BD.
http://home.comcast.net/~nokatay/rum..._fairhaven.htm

HabanaJoe

Next paragraph down is my grandfather who took up after Bill McCoy in NJ at 15 years old! Story is my Great Grandfather knew Bill and that is how the business started - for those in NJ you know Morgan (Cheesquake) Creek had been a hot bed for smuggleing going back to Revolution War days (Old Spye Inn), Capt Henry Morgan was known to visit there, the very creek where Henry Luhrs started his Henry Ford version of boat building, the same building where I believe a few racers here may have visited (stored boats, worked on boats?) in the day know then as Zuback's?

30ctsutphen

My boat was Bob Mc coys and was called the REEL Mc COY!

Nice play on words. No Idea if there was any relation. Just a cool tid bit.

My last boat was a sutphen Rum Runner, too.LOL

On an unrelated note.

My grandfather spent allot of time between Sag harbor and Milford Ct back in those days and built some interesting places for people.

Nokatay

I have to admit that I have lived on a small island my whole life and never owned a boat. But the seed has been palnted and I may begin small. There is a marina on the island where several Formulas and other fast boats dock. Occasionally there is a poke run with some boats fitted with helicopter engines I believe. The sound of them rounding the back of the island is amazing! The Black Duck used 2 Liberty V12 aricraft engines and was capable of close to 40 knots. At Charlie Travers farm there was a machine shop with "nearly a dozen engines" ready to go. Some of his other boats used a Brazilian V8 used in planes and cars. I forget the name at the moment but Charlies stepson told me Charlie "loved those motors." The DUck also had a #50 muffler/silencer and smoke screeen capability. The Black Duck had sister ships, The Nola, Hobo, Tramp and Madame X. I'll try to dig up some pics for you.

Nokatay

Here's the Nola. Built at Casey Shipyard Fairhaven, MA. She went down in flames after liquor sacks on deck ingnited under machine fire.
http://boatchases.com/yahoo_site_adm...215047_std.jpg

The history of these boats is facinating. If I'm not mistaken surplus WW1 subchasers were used because of their speed. The designs carried over to 50'ers used by the rum runners. They probably influenced the PT boats designs too.