Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 14, 1995 TAG: 9508160037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Berube, who lives on the lake with his wife, Pat, is a vibrant force in the strong comeback of interest in wooden boats, those antiques of the '20s, '30s, '40s and '50s that were built before molded fiberglass came along to change boating as certainly as diesel locomotives changed railroading.
``There have been so many destroyed,'' said Berube.
Some were ravished by neglect and saltwater. Others were lined up and burned.
Those that survived have become collector's items. They are the delight of a network of boaters bound by a love of wooden boats, by magazines that include WoodenBoat, Antique Classic and Rusty Rudder and by clubs, such as the 23-member Smith Mountain Lake Antique Classic Boat Association. On Saturday, the club displayed its pieces of Americana at an antique boat show docked at Bernard's Landing, where high-sheen mahogany and polished brass sparkled, like the gleam in the eyes of the proud owners.
Berube has owned his Chris-Craft for six years, and was still restoring little details right up to show time, replacing a screw here, shining a chock there.
Is the job ever finished? Pat wonders.
``He doesn't know he has a wife or children,'' she said. In reality, she is a partner in the project, making the curtains and bedding, suggesting color schemes, doing the wallpapering. It's just not her entire life, she said.
``Well, hey, it keeps his mind going - that's great,'' she said.
Paul Berube, 61, retired 15 years ago, leaving the stressful life of an air traffic controller. He was assigned to the Roanoke airport the last 17 years of his career. The Berubes moved to the Beacon Cove area of Smith Mountain Lake in 1973.
They bought a 1955 wooden, 18 1/2-foot Chris-Craft Continental in 1982, but Paul longed for something bigger. Seven years later, he spotted a classified advertisement in a Richmond newspaper for a 1956, 35-foot Chris-Craft Constellation. It was one of 269 craft of that model built in Michigan from 1955 to 1959 in lengths that ranged from 31 to 55 feet.
``She was in pretty rough shape,'' said Berube. ``Three brothers used her for fishing,'' he said, placing emphasis on fishing, as in "Ugh."
``Pat said, `The boat is too big, and there is too much work.' I said, `The vessel isn't big enough, and I know what I am going to do with it.'''
Berube struck a deal and had the 6-ton boat shipped to Smith Mountain Lake, where he christened her the Heritage, as in ``keep your heritage.'' His first entry in the boat record log, which he keeps aboard the craft, reads: ``I know it will need many hours of T.L.C. in the future. But what the hell. Life goes on to make this a short trip. Aug. 12, 1989.''
He went to work with a sander and varnish that costs $40 a quart, the trappings that gladly made boaters discard their wooden boats when care-free fiberglass flooded the cruiser market in the '60s.
``I had to do it in stages,'' he said, which included stripping gobs of paint. ``All the woodwork was painted with four coats of paint. It had aqua, tan and two coats of white. The mildew was this thick,'' he said, indicating one-quarter of an inch with his thumb and finger.
In the best shape were the twin 225-hp, 318-cubic inch marine block Chryslers, but Berube tinkered with them, too.
Around the lake, he became known as Capt. Seaweed, looking the part, with his flowing beard, his pirate's earring and his multitude of tatoos, enough to decorate a half-dozen sailors. He has the countenance of a man of the sea, a role that comes naturally.
``I am an East Coast sailor from Massachusetts,'' he said. ``I have been around these [boats] since I was a kid. We lived on an ocean. If you lived on the ocean, you owned a boat. So this is just a natural.''
A boat show really isn't necessary to draw attention to Berube and the Heritage. They get that every time they travel up or down the lake. Often Berube will spend the night on her, anchored in a cove. Her cabin will sleep six. Hanging aboard her are 10 fire extinguishers, just in case, and there is a diving tank handy.
``If I hit anything at night, I can put the diving tank on and shove a sheet or something in the hole so that I don't sink,'' said Berube. ``I don't want to lose her. She is a head-turner. To say so myself, she is a piece of art.''
So what would Berube sell her for?
An identical craft sold for $70,000 in New York recently, he answers, as if to avoid the question for a moment. ``I don't know. It would be a tough decision. If I did sell it, I would get one bigger. I'd look at a 65-footer. I would boat around the world. Just hang it up where I wanted to. It would take me five years. There would be no grass to grow on it, no bushes to take care of.''
That was a serious thought a half-dozen years ago, Berube said.
``But Pat told me divorce papers would go with the deal,'' he said.
by CNB