May 2025

One could argue that the pride and joy of Tim’s work on SLATER is the restoration of the motor whaleboat, the last one of its kind left. On the first day of April 1998, a big lift came on when the Albany Water Department brought down a crane and crew to get the whaleboat off the ship. The boat was moved to the nearby Scarano Brother’s boatyard where they are storing it under cover. They are experts in the building and repair of wooden boats, and work began on a grant to enable them the restore the boat. That grant came in March 2000, when Board Chairman Frank Lasch secured a NYS House Member item through Assemblyman John Faso for restoring our wooden motor whaleboat.

In May 2000, Roy Gunther completed the rigging of the Whaleboat davits and took advantage of the Michigan Manpower to swing them free. In June, Roy had both whaleboat davits swinging free and was getting them ready to receive the boat at the end of the summer. In July 2000, work started on the whaleboat. Project manager, Roy Gunther met with Scarano Boat Building, and they have worked up a plan to rebuild the boat. Roy also located and purchased an engine and transmission for the boat. He had the davits swinging freely and was getting ready to rerig them. The plan was to get the hull watertight at Scarano, repaint it, and do as much exterior work as the funding allowed. The crew will then float the boat, tow it to the SLATER, hoist it into the davits and do the interior work themselves.

In August, down at Scarano’s Boat Building, Roy Gunther and Larry “Rocky” Rockwood continued the work on the Motor Whaleboat. The inside repairs were started, and the boat was inverted so all the seams could be caulked and sanded. It received a topcoat of grey on the hull and would soon be seaworthy once more. Rocky spent his whole career working in boatyards in Maine. He was putting five days a week volunteering on the boat so we can try to have it back aboard for the DESA Convention in September. He could pull and replace caulk twice as fast as any two of our other volunteers. Back on the SLATER 01 level, the davits had been rerigged with a new nylon line in preparation for receiving the boat.

Unfortunately, time wasn’t on the crew’s side. Rocky and the gang at Scarano's worked their tails off to try to have the boat ready for the September Convention. Roy Gunther had the rigging ready to go, Clark Farnsworth came down with his boat ready to tow the whaleboat up, and Hack Charbonneau spent two days aboard prepping, but it wasn't meant to be. Time ran out, so they decided to wait until after the Convention to bring the whaleboat back. It may have been a blessing as now Larry and the crew can take their time to finish her up right. By Thursday, September 28th, our whaleboat went back into the water. We were, and still are, indebted to the folks at Scaranos' boatyard who got the job done and within budget. However, the real hero of the job was Larry "Rocky" Rockwood. He put in as many or more man-hours than the Scarano folks did, caulking, sanding and painting. The boat would never be in the shape it's in without him. He did most of the tedious time- consuming stuff, leaving the Scarano crew to utilize their time on the finish carpentry. As a veteran of many years working in boatyards in Maine, Rocky provided the technical expertise we needed on the project. Even Rick Scarano, who was at first a little reluctant to let our volunteers into the yard said, "We couldn't have done it within budget without Rocky." They even gave him a "Scarano Brothers" tee shirt when they finished the project. On launch day, in October, Clark, Rafael Suarez, Gene Cellini, Chuck Ray, and Tommy Moore headed down to Scaranos' in Clark's famous yacht "Edith", or more affectionately known to us as the "Minnow". The whaleboat was relaunched without ceremony at about 1100. The crew took her in tow with Clark at the helm of the "Minnow" and Raf and Gene in the whaleboat. Raf used her rudder and tiller to keep a straight course behind Clark and the trip took about 45 minutes. They tied her to between the SLATER and the seawall adjacent to the aft camel.

In June 2001, Roy Gunther and Rocky are continuing their work restoring the interior of the whaleboat. In August, the crew would tow her back to Scarano's for the installation of the engine. Well August came and went and the whaleboat was almost done. The scheduled date for launching was the Saturday before Labor Day. Rocky wanted to lower her to the water and let her hang on the falls for a couple of days to let her swell up. Roy had been conferring with Rick Scarano, and Rick came down to look the boat over. It was then expected to have Clark tow her down to Scarano's the Tuesday after Labor Day for the installation of the engine. To that end, Doug Tanner was fabricating new stainless steel fuel tanks for the boat.

On Saturday, 1 September, 2001, the crew lowered the whaleboat into the water. Rocky and Roy wanted to give the seams a chance to swell up, so we let her hang in the falls for a few days. The following Wednesday, Clark brought the "SS Minnow" down from Schenectady with Chuck Ray and Don Shattuck. In the face of a strong north wind and whitecaps, they lashed the whaleboat alongside and towed it down to Scarano's Boatyard for the engine installation.  In October, Rocky and Roy continued to work on the whaleboat at Scarano's yard. The plan was now for them to keep it over the winter. The engine is in place, and Doug completed fabricating and then modifying the fuel tanks as with the new engine, the tanks had to be slightly larger.

The big news of July 2002 was that the whaleboat was back! On Thursday, 11 July, the whaleboat motored back from Scarano's Yard under its own power with Rocky Rockwood, Roy Gunther and Beth Spain aboard. It was a great sight to see and the culmination of a dream we've all had ever since SLATER arrived here from Greece back in '93. We hung the boat off the falls in the water initially to let her swell. After a few days we moved her around to the starboard quarter and tied her off the fantail bitts and the pier. We had to access her with the Jacob's ladder. Rocky and Roy continued to work on her, by installing the running lights and doing the permanent piping for the bilge pumps. Dick Walker did the legwork to get her legally registered in New York State. We believe it is the last operating whaleboat in the country restored to her original navy configuration. If you know otherwise, let us know! We figure that at least 5,000 of the wooden hulled 26' motor whaleboats must have been built over the years spanning World War I to the 1950's, before they were replaced with fiberglass whaleboats. To be the owner of the last of the breed is quite and honor and a responsibility, much like caring for the SLATER.

By November 2002, we completed the restoration of our wooden 26' motor whaleboat and now have the only known operational restored whaleboat in the country. Lawrence "Rocky" Rockwood, Roy Gunther and the folks at Scarano Boatyard get the credit for this one. But it's been Beth Spain who treated it like her baby all season. The big event of October was getting the whaleboat out of the water. We planned to pull it while the weather was good, but the last half of 2002’s October and November were as cold as anyone could remember. Not only cold but the day the crew pulled the boat, it poured rain. Just like the real Navy. This time they rigged the boat falls to the capstan based on a photo of the operation Pat Stephens had put on the DESA website. Those guys must have known what they were doing, because it came up like a dream. Only problem was we couldn't get it to sit right on the chocks. Roy Gunther, who was smart enough to stay out of the rain, came in and with the help of Rocky and Bob Lawrence, straightened us right out.

In May 2003, Rocky Rockwood and Roy Gunther spent their time getting the whaleboat ready to launch caulking, sanding, and painting. In June 2003, Rocky and Roy were back at it repainting the whaleboat. They sanded and refinished her inside and out, and everyone was asking when she'll go back in the water. In July, Rocky and Roy were putting the finishing touches on the whaleboat in preparation for our seasonal launching. It was expected to put the boat in the water Saturday, 19 July. August come and with the whaleboat now in the water, Rocky and Roy had done all the tweaking they could do. The boat ran fine on its seasonal test run and bobs up and down proudly under the gangway tethered to the fantail and the seawall, in the water where she belongs. They checked their baby dutifully every week, keeping her clean and dry. With the boat out of the davits, they were then working on touch up painting, and on restoring wooden blocks on the davit guys and doing a complete rebuild of the big blocks for the boat falls. Those were all getting pretty rotten. 

In October 2003, the “Boat Crew”, Roy Gunther, Rocky Rockwood and Beth Spain, had a new program. They would take the whaleboat out every Tuesday to keep it running smoothly. Tuesday is our slowest volunteer day, so we were hoping the chance for a whaleboat ride would get more workers to show up. We were also training additional crew how to handle the boat so it will get more use next season. Frank Lasch and Dennis Nagi, both small boat owners, were the first takers in our training program, and both proved to be pretty adept boat handlers. The first qualification is being able to get up and down the Jacobs ladder, since we don't have a regular accommodation ladder. That was also on the list. Roy Gunther completely rebuilt the lower blocks for the boat falls, fabricating new cheeks out of wolmanized oak. And Rocky donated a brand new Ruhle self-checking electric pump to make sure his pride and joy stays afloat.

In November the whaleboat was back aboard for the season. The crew came down 1 November to hoist it aboard. The weather was unusually warm and sunny. Rocky, Roy and Dennis tried a new trick. They hoisted the boat up backwards, so that the starboard side is now facing inboard and will be easier to paint and caulk next spring. This led to a lot of jokes about who doesn't know forward from aft, or "The whaleboat is okay, the SLATER is backwards!" And then the inevitable confusion on the windlass crew when they said, "Hold the stern and raise the bow!". The cover was put on and the engine was winterized for the season.

 May 2004 brought decent weather and with it, Rocky dropped his electrical parts restoration like a hot potato and went back to his first love, the wooden whaleboat. He repainted the whole inside and the inboard side. With the help of the USS HUSE crew and Hack Charbonneau, we lowered the boat, reversed it in the falls, and brought it back aboard so he could caulk and paint the other side.

Later the next month, on the 26th of June, the whaleboat went into the water for the season. Hack Charbonneau, Frank Beeler, Barry Witte, and Nelson Potter handled the anchor windlass and the falls. At the boat, we had talker Alan Fox, Bob Lawrence, Stan Murawski, Joe Breyer, and the boat crew Rocky Rockwood and Roy Gunther. It was a small crew, but we didn't have any real problems. We got all the lines fair led, and picked her up, swung her out and lowered away. That simple process took about two hours. If they were rescuing a pilot, he didn't have a chance. And it was flat calm to boot. Roy rode the boat down, and we towed him around to the fantail. Then he and Rocky secured the boat off the port quarter as we let her sit for a few days to swell up. Meanwhile the deck gang got all the lines secured and restowed all the tackle.

Then bad news. The whaleboat was sinking. The electrical cord to the bilge pump had pulled apart and she was taking water. Down in the boat, ET1 Jerry Jones had climbed down the rickety Jacob's ladder and was pumping furiously with the hand pump. We got the pump plugged back in, got some buckets, and it took about fifteen minutes of continuous bailing to get the water back down. After that the pump seemed to keep up with it fine. It is interesting to note that the whaleboat has a backup bilge pump hooked up to the 12 volt battery that should have come on when the 120-volt pump failed. It didn't. Jerry's only comment was, "I'm sixty-five years old, and I've never lost a ship. I wasn't about to go down in SLATER's whaleboat." And he made it back up the Jacob’s ladder okay.

In August of 2004, it seemed like we've had a lot of rain in August, so we were kind of apprehensive as the week of the HARVEY visit approached. Monday August 17th, we made the final preparations for her arrival. Part of the planning included having Dennis Nagi take the whaleboat out and meet the HARVEY. We thought it would be nice to have the one part of the SLATER that can get underway, get underway. Dennis showed up around 1030 to get the whaleboat ready, but low and behold, Roy Gunther and Larry Rockwood had beat him to it by an hour. They had just checked out the engine and headed over to the Albany Yacht Club fuel dock to fill her up with diesel. Tim hadn’t paid much attention to how much time had gone by but around noon, Dennis mentioned that the boat had been gone an awfully long time and was nowhere in sight. Then Tim started to worry. In this day of instant communication between continents, we had a boat out with no radio or cell phone, because it never ventured out of sight of the mothership. Tim suggested that they might have gone down river to Scarano's Boatyard to show the whaleboat off and look around. Dennis gave them a call, and no one knew anything about our whaleboat. Another thirty minutes passed and the County Sheriff's boat went by with the Albany Police Boat nearby. Tim flagged them down and casually mentioned that there was probably no problem, but if they happened to spot our whaleboat while on patrol, I'd like to know where those guys were. Rocky and Roy aren't the type to park at the Riverfront Bar and Grill and drink lunch. Tim was up in the office when fragmented reports started coming in. Rocky appeared briefly in the gift shop to get his car and go back to Scarano's to pick up Roy. The boat was stuck at Scarano's. Rocky brought Roy back and Roy took off. Rocky called his wife and he took off. All Tim knew was Rocky and Roy were gone and the boat was at Scarano's. Doug Tanner, who always happens to be in the wrong place at the right time, was there that morning, rigging the accommodation ladder. He volunteered to take Dennis and his truck down to Scarano's to find out what the story was. About thirty minutes later Doug was back without Dennis. Yes, the boat was at Scarano's. It wouldn't start. Electrical problems. They had flagged the HARVEY down, and HARVEY was towing the whaleboat upriver to us. Just about the time Doug finished with his report, the HARVEY appeared down river, plumes of water shooting from all her fire nozzles, making her usual grand entrance. There, behind, in tow, the large American flag flying proudly from her stern sheets, was our whaleboat. At the tiller was Professor Dennis Nagi gritting his teeth as he was soaked by the HARVEY's spray. The HARVEY made her approach promptly at 1400. We pulled the whaleboat around to the portside and got the HARVEY secure. When they got around trying to diagnose the problem, they went through the whole electrical system. They ended up pulling the starter apart and surprise, it was full of rust! It went home with Roy and was on his bench and the plan was for it to be back together within the week. After a fanfare of a month, in September, the shipfitters and the boat crew finished the coxswain's stand in the whaleboat.

In the winter months of 2005, Rocky keeps the whaleboat covered with a tarp rigged on a wire from the stem to the rudder post. During the last heavy snowfall, the crew came in to find the tarp sagging in the middle. We thought the wire had broken, but it turned out the weight of the snow had broken off the rudder post from the top pintle up. The whole thing is rotted inside. Another woodworking project for the spring. Just glad that didn't happen when we were out joyriding in the whaleboat! Spring came and Rocky was back to work. He had got the whole portside sanded, caulked and painted. He would fabricate a new rudder with Roy Gunther as soon as Roy got back from Florida. Summer then hit and Doug Tanner and Bill Camp installed a seawater pump and strainer in the whaleboat. The pump and strainer were generous donations made by Bill's son, Barry Camp, who owns Camp Marine Services in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. This was the second year in a row that Barry Camp has made a major parts donation for the whaleboat, thanks to his Dad's enthusiasm. Rocky had been sanding, caulking and painting the whaleboat for the past month. When he had everything done but the outboard side, we lowered the boat, turned it around, and hoisted it back up with the starboard side inboard so Rocky could sand, caulk and repaint the side without having to use a skyhook. Lowering and raising the boat took longer than planned, but actually went flawlessly with yet another experimental way of leading the falls to the capstan. This was the most successful attempt yet. Roy completed fabricating the replacement rudder for the whaleboat out of oak, and it looked just like the original. By the end of Summer 2005, it was big thanks to the efforts of Rocky and Roy, the whaleboat was in better shape than ever. Rocky spent a lot of time salvaging and cleaning the hardware from the old rudder and Roy spent several weeks procuring the lumber, taking measurements and making patterns from the old rotted rudder and fabricating the new rudder. Roy even donated the cost of the lumber. Both then went away for the close of summer, so Erik Collin enlisted the help of Ken Kaskoun, Bob Callender, Gus Negus, and Larry Williams to make some other repairs to the whaleboat. They fixed an oil leak that was where the dipstick tube entered the block. A little tightening fixed that, but it required pulling the instrument panel.

In September, bad news hit the crew. Roy Gunther would be moving to Florida. Roy, along with Rocky, was critical in the restoration of the whaleboat and he would be missed by the crew.

By October, the engineers solved all the problems with the emergency diesel generator and the whaleboat diesel, so all the engines that were supposed to be working were actually working! Doug Tanner and Tim Benner were working out of the whaleboat checking out the hull on the starboard side when they found a soft spot about a foot and a half above the waterline and poked a quarter size hole in B-1 behind the wireway. They put a temporary doubler over it. In November Erik Collin and Frank Lasch motored her around the starboard side to get her aboard. They had to lay off while we got the davits swung out and the falls lowered. That year the weather was perfect. No rain or wind. Some people suggested we postpone it for a bad day. We still hadn’t resolved the problem of how to keep the two falls from binding together on the capstan, but with Doug's stoppers, they got her level, two blocked and swung in. They lowered her on to the chocks and got her secured. Then Gene Jackey got out the pressure washer and washed down the bottom while the marine growth was still soft. Erik took charge of laying up the boat for the season. Following Rocky's instructions, he got all four bilge plugs out and removed and charged the battery. On the engine he cleaned the water filter and drain by removing the plug at the bottom of the filter, both bilge pumps, filled the fuel tank and added fuel stabilizer, and circulated enough antifreeze through the engine so she's good to thirty below zero. He rolled out the hull with a mixture of linseed oil, a little turps and a dash of Japan dryer to help keep the hull from drying out. Erik said if the traffic weren't sol oud, you could hear the wood purr. Then he rigged a lifeline cable with a turnbuckle over the boat and Bob, Gene and Don helped him stretch the boat cover over it and lash it down.

Summer of 2006 came and in August, the whaleboat was launched. The crew let her set in the falls for a couple of days before hauling her around to the quarter and tying her off the accommodation ladder. Rocky completed three months of painstaking work on the whaleboat that included recaulking seams, sanding, painting, repairs to the rudder, and making a new bracket for the bell. He was assisted by Gene Jackey and Ken Kaskoun. In the process of restoring the boat Rocky found three frames that have begun to dry rot. By summer of 2007, repairs would still be going on. In July 2007, Rocky and the crew at Scarano’s, removed the decking over the bow and the coxswain's stand and found a good bit of dry-rot in both of these hard to reach places. Rocky worked with Scarano's carpenter to replace the rotted members. As it seems with every restoration, the rot was a lot more extensive than we had anticipated, but we're taking our time in an effort to get the boat right. Ribs that were cracked, split or rotten were removed and, where needed, sister frames were installed. The ceilings were reinstalled and primed and painted. This was no easy task as almost all the screw heads were painted in or broken. Considering the need for future repairs, all new stainless-steel screws were used.

The bench seats in the forward section of the boat were completely rebuilt involving all new frames and marine plywood front sections. Most of the original bench structure was badly wasted. They were then all primed and painted. To access the bow section, the bulkhead was cut following the hatch openings. Bad ribs were removed, in part or whole, and replaced with sister ribs where necessary. Some soft wood was found on the surface section of the stem. The lifting eye was removed, the wood saturated with thinned epoxy, the seat of the lifting eye rebuilt with epoxy putty and the lifting eye reinstalled. All was then painted with a linseed oil mix and then primed. To get to the aft section, the deck had to be cut out and the bulkhead removed as well. The deck that was in place was bedded in Sikaflex, and then it was screwed down. Rotted, broken or cracked ribs were removed and, where necessary, new ribs or sections were sistered in. All wood was painted with a linseed oil mix and then primed and the deck section painted. Styrofoam flotation will be installed under seats and in the forward and aft sections. The hull and keel have been checked for dry rot. Where needed, seams were caulked. The hull was faired, sanded, primed and painted with two coats of marine enamel.

In February 2008, SLATER was awarded a $10,000 contribution by the Board of Directors of DESA (Destroyer Escort Sailors Association) to complete the restoration of the whaleboat, particularly to address dry rot. In January of 2009, “Boats” Haggart made new gripes for the whaleboat and had been overhauling our block and tackle. Rocky Rockwood was always there after every snow storm to clear the snow off the whaleboat cover and tighten the lines to keep the cover tight. In April 2009, Doug Tanner took his welding gang up to the whaleboat for a couple of days to pull the headblock off the forward davit for overhaul. In June, we overhauled the head blocks and boat falls this winter, and Boats Haggart reversed and rereeved the fall lines. Everything was good to go, but we were making new pins for the head blocks. Almost everyone had been involved in the whaleboat in one way or another. Dave Mardon’s wife's cousin Bill Fuller made the new head block pins over in his machine shop in Wilton, New Hampshire. Super Dave, Doug Tanner and Gene Jackey removed the head blocks. Gene rebuilt them. Russ Ferrer replaced a missing roller bearing and got temporary pins. Mike Dingmon was there every time we’ve had to lift the headblocks. And of course, Boat’s has done all the rope work and rigging.

She was ready for her maiden voyage of the season in August. After "Rocky" Rockwood finished repainting the inboard side, we successfully lowered the boat, turned it in the davits, and raised it backwards so Rocky could repaint the outboard (now inboard) starboard side of the boat. She sat that way for about three weeks, and we finally got her in the water on Saturday, 15 August. Rocky did a great job on the caulking and there was minimal leakage. We did a quick job of getting the accommodation ladder over the side and we pulled her around to the port quarter and let her swell up for a couple days. The following Monday Larry Williams, Ken Kaskoun, Gus Negus, and Super Dave Mardon took her out for a maiden voyage. Fortunately, they had the paddles aboard, because that’s how they got home. Gus Negus diagnosed the problem as a clogged fuel filter and spent several hours tinkering with our Westerbeke. By the following Saturday he had her up and running and they completed a successful test run.

Painting, caulking, and repairs kept steady with the regular putting of the whaleboat in the water and exercising her. In March 2012, Rocky and Dave Jeffries completed the wood work on the whaleboat and are in the process of repainting. In April, the entire brain trust of Gary Sheedy, Gary Lubrano, Rocky Rockwood, Gus Negus and Mike Dingmon were in the whaleboat completing the installation of a new volt meter. In July, Rocky tried to pay back a debt. For as long as Rocky had been taking care of our whaleboat, the good folks at Scarano Boatyard have been extremely generous to us with their time, space and materials. To show our appreciation, Rocky presented Scarano’s with a framed copy of the Len Tantillo print “Contact,” commissioned by Gordon Lattey. The print depicts SLATER in action in the Atlantic, and it is a small token compared to what the Scarano brothers have done for us.

In October, the Fall Work Week was in town and Laird Confer and Roy Brandon with Jim Ray went on to work on putting a pad eye on gun tub 24 for hoisting the whaleboat and replaced a rotted stanchion on the tub. The following weekend the whaleboat was hauled aboard without incident. Tim too the whaleboat from the accommodation ladder to the boat falls as coxswain with Gus Negus as the engineer. Doug Tanner, “Boats” Haggart and the rest of the crew did a great job getting everything rigged and the boat safely aboard. There was little binding of the falls on the capstan this year, so Tim hoped they could remember what they did for next year. Doug brought his pressure washer in, and Earl Herchenroder and Don Miller got the bottom cleaned off before the growth and slime had a chance to harden. The following weekend Rocky and Boats supervised the midshipmen who got the boat covered and secured for the winter.

In March 2013, SLATER had help from USCGC KATHERINE WALKER. Four Coasties went to work on the whaleboat. They uncovered the boat, stowed the canvas, and then power-sanded the whole bottom for Rocky. After, Bill Wetterau teamed up with Rocky to get it ready for launching. Together they proceeded to repaint the interior and exterior of the boat. In the process, they discovered that the rudder was severely dry-rotted. “Boats” Haggart and his crew lowered the rudder to the main deck where Rocky and Bill started digging out the rot. It didn’t take them long to discover that a complete rebuild was going to be required. We contacted our woodworking expert, Steve Dull over in Connecticut, who did such a fine job with the bridge deck grating last year. He agreed to take on the project so we made plans with George Christophersen to pick up the rudder and take it over to Connecticut. In the mean time, Rocky was waiting for the crew to drop the whaleboat and lift it backwards so he could finish the work on the outboard side. By June, Steve Dull completed fabrication of the new rudder and it is truly a thing of beauty. Steve and David Jalbert got the press involved an article appeared in The Litchfield County Times. Also, between “Boats” Haggart, Doug Tanner and the rest of the crew, we got the motor whaleboat lowered and rehoisted with the bow aft and the starboard side inboard so Rocky could finish painting what was formerly the outboard side. He accomplished that in short order, working between rain days, as well as replaced a section of rotted bulkhead he found in the engine compartment.

In August, Gus Negus, Rocky, and the engineers put their heads together to solve the fuel pump problem in the whaleboat. It was Tim’s understanding that it was a bad check valve. The shipfitters were working on that annoying leak under the hedgehog projector and dealing with the corrosion inside the pedestal of the aft whaleboat davit. On a whim one Monday in Septmber, when Gene Jackey had nothing better to do, Tim suggested that he might want to open up the aft whaleboat davit pedestal, scale and Corroseal inside the pedestal to arrest the corrosion. This Gene willingly did, and when Doug returned to town, he determined that the davit pedestal was so badly deteriorated that it was a more immediate crisis than the leak under the hedgehog projector. The hold-down bolts all needed replacement, and the lower section of the pedestal needed replacement. He cut a large opening into the pedestal to do a thorough inspection, burned more paint just before the DESA Convention, devised a plan to replace the deteriorated section of the pedestal in two parts without lifting the davit, ordered the replacement pieces, braced the davit head from the 01 level with a pipe jack, welded braces to the davit on the main deck, and then left town on a consulting job. The project could not continue without Doug’s expertise. Seeing the writing on the wall, Rocky decided to have the whaleboat stored ashore at Scarano’s boatyard that winter.

Down at Scarano’s Boatyard in the new year, Rocky spent some 40 hours working on the whaleboat; a good part of that time working under the boat, scraping black paint, loose caulking, and pulling out some rotten wood. The big job had been cutting out a section of the engine bed backing and cutting out a section of rot on the engine bed. Needing wood to replace all the bad stuff, he asked Eric Collin if he had any scrap cedar he could use. Later in the morning, Rocky stepped away from the boat to get a drift to drive the bolt out, on returning there was the wood waiting for him.

In August 2014, With the completion of one project Doug Tanner turned his attention back to the aft whaleboat davit pedestal. There was a lot of debate about whether or not we should have let the shipyard handle that project, and now we’re all wishing we had. That said, Doug completed and pressure-tested the deck doubler inside the pedestal to make sure the welds wouldn’t leak. He then added some reinforcing to the inside of the pedestal and has got the inboard half of the outer shell fitted up. The next part would be the most challenging. He had to build a platform hanging over the side of the ship so he could work the outboard side. The lower portion of the outboard side of the pedestal, which has rusted paper thin, would have to be cut away and replaced. Then, all the bolts that go through to the Engine Room to hold the pedestal to the deck would be replaced. Three months later, in another davit-related issue, we discovered that the wooden whaleboat blocks have deteriorated and needed to be rebuilt. Boats Haggart and his intrepid crew of Walt Stuart, Thomas Scian, Paul Guarnieri, Kenny Skarrup and Bill Holt removed the blocks from the davits.

In March 2015, down at Scarano’s, Rocky replaced the starboard seat front with ¾” marine plywood in the engine space. On the engine cooling water feed line, he replaced the gate valve and the rotted wooden backing plate. Then, he put a ball valve in the sea cock. On the underside of the boat, he installed a scoop strainer on the through hull pipe, to keep the system from clogging up.

A summer of exercising the whaleboat came and went and in preparation for winter, Rocky Rockwood wanted to take the whaleboat back to Scarano's boatyard for the winter so he and Bill Wetterau could work on it under cover. So, on the morning of 26 October, Larry Williams, Mike Dingmon, and Ken Myrick got underway and made the last run of the season. Over that winter, the engineers, Karl Herchenroder, Ken Myrick, Gary Lubrano, and Mike Dingmon were in maintenance mode and among others have maintained a float charge on the motor whaleboat batteries.

After many long years, in June 2016, it was sad to report that Rocky has announced that this is his last year for physically maintaining the boat. Tim heard it was almost a tearful farewell when he left Scarano's for the last time. They consider Rocky part of their family. For our part, we are indebted to the good folks at Scarano’s for the time and material they have donated to the boat, as well as all the assistance they had given Rocky over the years. Rocky had a similar concern to Boats about someone to carry on following his retirement. Having obsessed over the whaleboat for almost 20 years, he worried that no one in the crew would give it the same loving care that he had given it. However, it looked like carpenter Tommy Moore would step up to the plate to give the whaleboat the same care that Rocky had.

In April & May 2017, with Tommy Moore now leading the project, he had been sanding and reinforcing a crack on the rudder when, unfortunately, he found some softwood in the keel forward. We asked Eric Iverson, the foreman from Scarano's Boatyard, to come up and assess the condition of the whaleboat before we put it in the water. His assessment was that the keel needed the professional attention of the yard, and he was concerned about the starboard strake. He also recommended putting a sling under the boat when we lowered it. Doug Tanner borrowed a nylon sling from his friends at 3-D Rigging, in Glenmont, and secured the sling to a chain fall on the forward davit. Mike Dingmon and Cliff Center worked to get the engine running.

The whaleboat was dropped off at Scarano’s and In July, Eric Everson and his crew were making excellent progress on the whaleboat. They stripped all the paint off the exterior of the boat and found the wood rot was limited to the small area of the keel where we had found it. It had not spread to any of the other planks. They cut out the rot, and scarfed-in a couple pieces of wood where needed. Thanks to the relationship Rocky Rockwood developed with the folks at Scarano's over the years, the yard crew seemed to share a special affection for the boat, and really wanted to see the repairs done correctly. By August, the whaleboat was back home. Down at Scarano's Boatyard, Eric Everson launched the boat on Monday, 28 August, and let it hang in the travel lift slings overnight. The plan was to bring it back on Tuesday 29 August. The whole gang showed up, including Larry Williams, Mike Dingmon, Tommy Moore, Walt Stuart, Tony Esposito, and Ron Prest. But Eric was afraid that the boat hadn't swelled up enough, and wanted to let it sit another night. Take off was the next day.

In June 2018, after nearly 20 years, we tried something new with the whaleboat. Aware that the Navy used to lower the boat without the windlass, we thought we'd give it a try. Actually, lowering it without the windlass, by slipping the falls on the cleats, was relatively easy. However, lifting the boat and getting it swung out without the windlass was a bear. We used block, tackle, and stoppers to lift the boat, and that took all morning. The consensus is that in the future we'll stick with using the windlass. By July, with the whaleboat back in the water, Tommy Moore sanded and painted the seats and floorboards. Up on deck, Boats Haggart and his crew replaced the forward davit guy. Mike Dingmon, Steve Klauck, and Larry Williams got the whaleboat engine ready, and took her out on the first trip of the season. The season went by quickly and in October of 2018, Mike, Karl, and Gary worked with the NPTU Navy volunteers, among other projects, winterized the whaleboats engine. Tommy Moore worked on scrubbing the barnacles off of the bottom of the whaleboat with a wire brush.

In May 2021, Walt Stuart, Paul Guarnieri, and Boat Haggart completed rigging the whaleboat davits and monkey ropes. Tommy Moore, Mike Dingmon, and Larry Williams made final preparations to get the whaleboat ready for her return to the mothership. The whaleboat was hoisted into the lift slings on Thursday, 27 May at Scarano’s Boatyard. After letting it set in the slings with a hose running for several days to swell up, the boat was expected to return to SLATER sometime in early in June. Tim believed this was the earliest we’ve ever had it in the water and running. We did get the whaleboat back in June and Tommy Moore had it newly and shipshape, and we were, as we had been, indebted to the crew at Scarano’s Boatyard, who took extra care in giving it time to swell up.

It was April 2023, and down at Scarano’s Boatyard, Tommy Moore was still sanding, caulking, and painting our motor whaleboat. On 19 May the beloved whaleboat came home from Scarano’s Boatyard. Tommy Moore organized the crew; and the engineers, James Miles, Mike Dingmon, and Jim Niemynski, met with Tommy and Larry Williams at SLATER’s parking lot. They all hopped into Tommy's truck and made the three-mile drive to the boatyard. The whaleboat had been soaking in the water for a couple of days, so the wood was swelled up enough that the pumps on the boat could keep up with any water that made its way through the planks. Hopeful for an uneventful trip back to the ship, they made it about halfway before their 12v bilge pump stopped working. Luckily, the leaks were slow enough that they weren't reaching for the hand pump or bailing out water with a bucket. They arrived at the ship and hooked up the 120v pump. The lines were secured, and the whaleboat awaited some more work. Besides that, they picked a windy day, and got soaked with the spray, but it’s all perspective. Coxswain Larry Williams said it was the best day of his life. Later in the year, more bad news. In September, the fuel pump on the whaleboat broke. Attempts to resurrect it failed. The engineers began looking for solutions. First, they bled the pump, and it still couldn't pump fuel. The lift pump was pushing fuel through the injection pump, but nothing else. Next, they attempted to resurrect the injection pump with an off the shelf seal kit. "It’s already broken, we can't break it any more than it already is " Jim Niemynski said. He was right. The pump didn't pump after that either. After scouring the web, James found the diesel shop of dreams: Sheaf Diesel in the UK. They specialize in old, obsolete diesel injection pumps. James got a quote from this shop for about $475 + shipping. They even offered an expedited exchange in case we needed the whaleboat back online sooner. Sheaf sent us a rebuilt unit, same part number, zero play in the input shaft. This pump is indistinguishable from a new unit. When warmer weather came around, in March, the engineers fitted the new pump and were able to finally hear the Westerbeke 4-91 running again for the first time since September.

At the same time the pump died, Tim had dreams of bringing the whaleboat back aboard using the radial davits and the capstan. The last time it was hoisted aboard was 2018, and it is an ability Tim didn’t want to lose. Handling a whaleboat with radial davits is a lost art. However, Doug Tanner gave Tim a reality check and noted that the aging process was taking a toll on the crew, and unless he could find some additional muscle, bringing it aboard wasn't a good idea. It was the end of an era.

In May 2024, since bringing the whaleboat back home, the engineers had been busy tidying up some little issues, and we’re happy to say that it is fully operational again. Mike Dingmon and Tim Stasyshyn got the throttle and shutoff cables fitted, installed new gaskets, and installed a new water pump impeller. A test cruise down the Hudson went smoothly.

We thank everyone who had a hand in restoring the motor whaleboat to the state she is currently in. Especially Roy Gunther and Lawrence “Rocky” Rockwood whose work and memory lives on every Monday when the whaleboat gets exercised in the summer and our friends at Scarano’s Boatyard, who have been great partners for 20 plus years.