By Rhonda Parker
St. Augustine - The last of the great wooden shrimping trawlers, the Apple Jack shows a design passed from distant generations for boats meant for hard work and brought to America’s First Coast by Greek Minorcan boat-builders. But while maritime history lovers lavish praise on her, and local artists and writers pay tribute on canvas and in print to her ancient, squat hull lines, with harsher economic times and the advent of more efficient fiberglass construction, the days of a St. Augustine icon may be numbered.
Like a grizzled old dame, her dry dock status appears more like a throne as she presides regally over the more sleek masts and riggings of modern working boats and pleasure craft at the St. Augustine Marine Center and Boatyard down on Riberia Street.
“We have to save this boat,” said Dr. Sam Turner, Director of Marine Archeology for the St. Augustine Lighthouse, and a consultant to the St. Augustine Maritime Heritage Foundation (L.A.M.P). “What she represents is the apex of St. Augustine ship-building in the 20th century.”
Turner, who is currently working on a book about the history of the Old City’s Shrimp boat industry, explained that the Lighthouse Museum would like to see the historic shrimping boat become the centerpiece of an already ongoing display at the museum on St. Augustine’s shrimping industry, but funding for the rescue and restoration of the Apple Jack would take more time than the old boat may have.
“She’s the last one of her kind in St. Augustine. It would be a shame to see her go,” Dr. Turner said.
“She is a queen,” agrees Captain and owner Kenny Thomas, who first purchased the shrimping boat in 1981, which historians know as the twilight of one of America’s oldest city’s leading industries. “I wouldn’t say she ranks the status as a ‘wife’, but to see her scuttled would break my heart.”
Capt. Thomas said due to fuel costs and the shrimping industry’s economic decline, the Apple Jack may have outlived her usefulness as a working shrimper, but not her value as an historic marker in maritime history and a time period when the boat-building industry of St. Augustine supplied the world’s shrimping fleets.
Enter a group of St. Augustine businessmen who have a passion for the city’s history, and an eye on the timeline for upcoming milestone events that include: the 2013 Commemoration of Ponce De Leon’s Discovery of La’ Florida; St. Augustine’s 2015 Commemoration of its 450th Anniversary; St. Johns County’s recognition of the Apple Jack for Florida’s 500th Anniversary – plus the nearly-every-weekend historic occasions that are marked by ritual and historic icons in a city with so many claims to “first”, that like a true Southern Belle, dance cards have a waiting list and writing in the margins.
“You can’t wait on the naysayers. Like Godot in the famous play – they’re waiting for someone else to do it, but meanwhile, they are constantly coming up with reasons why it couldn’t or shouldn’t be done,” said Dan Holiday, owner of the Leather Shop on Aviles Street, and spokesperson by consensus of a steering committee who has decided that saving the Apple Jack can also be interwoven with another pet project: having an example of a Spanish Caravel on hand in the bay for upcoming historic celebrations. The monkey wrench for that project - according to Holiday - is also time and money.
“The Caravel is the symbol of Spanish exploration. Even Columbus wrote of how he favored the smaller, shallow-draft Caravel Niña over the Santa Maria. The smaller Caravels were lighter and more maneuverable, and could go where the big, clunky galleons couldn’t,” Holiday said.
Before a small group of Steering Committee members and potential supporters, Holiday demonstrates with a styrofoam-and-poster board mock-up of a Caravel, and superimposes the model over a to-scale drawing of the Apple Jack with wheelhouse and upper deck outfitting removed to show just how the two vessels match up.
“We’re not looking for something to sail the seven seas. What we’re essentially wanting is a something that could be displayed in the bay like a parade float or authentic-looking model for events like the Ponce de Leon and 450th commemorations,” Holiday said, adding, “The city needs a Caravel, and we all want to preserve the Apple Jack, so what could be more perfect? It’s a no-brainer if you ask me.”
Dr. Turner agreed, “This is doable, and it does buy time on all these projects we’d like to see.”
In fact, Dr. Turner said he was excited about the possibilities, explaining a project already in the planning stages by the Lighthouse Museum and L.A.M.P. to construction an exact, historically accurate Caravel, but says there’s no way a project of this magnitude could be completed in time for the celebrations – although they will be able to complete a Chalupa – which is a small boat used for coming ashore that would normally be rowed or poled, and could be outfitted with a sail.
Tom Rahner, a retired professor at the Theater Department at Flagler College who continues to use his expertise with props to construct to-scale, accurate ship models said he will also lend his expertise as a consultant for the project. Rahner has built everything from full-scale skiffs for personal use to an exacting model now on display at Pat Croce’s Pirate and Treasure Museum. He also built a model of the Shrimping boat for the Lighthouse Museum display.
Says Rahner, “This is not only doable, but really fairly simple. What the project mainly needs is people willing to work hard to do the conversion, and then it can be easy to restore the Apple Jack back to its original state and preserve it for future generations.”
From his homemade models, Holiday demonstrates for his small but enthralled audience how the placement of bow sprites and mast on both a caravel and the shrimp boat are essentially in the same place. He explains how to protect the hull from worm damage, then removal of the prop shaft, engine and wheel house will provide the basic Caravel shape needed for an authentic display. The Caravel’s details like ballast, mast and rigging can be fabricated on the ground, he explains.
Says Holiday, “The hull of the Apple Jack is sound. Now consider that building a hull for a Caravel would cost one million dollars. If we go this route, the cost is a great big zero. The project can be done in time for the 2013 Ponce de Leon celebration.”
Holiday – who has silenced naysayers before – takes a step back so those gathered in the shop surrounded by aviation memorabilia, photos of his travels and the ancient tools of the leather-working craft that includes shoe lathes and tanned alligator hides waiting to be made into wallets, belts and purses with same meticulous expertise he’s used on his shipbuilding dissertation can punctuate with their own “aha!” nods.
Former Mayor and CEO of the 450th Community Corps who was on hand for Holiday’s demonstration says he’s onboard.
“This is the first practical thing that’s come down the line we can afford,” Gardner said, adding the project would have the support of the 450th Community Core.
St. Augustine Marine Center and Boatyard has also agreed to become a main underwriter of the project.
“The premise behind all this is – if you want something done, look to the private sector,” Holiday said. “We need donations and the support of the community, but what its really going to take is a lot of hard work and volunteers willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work because don’t have the luxury of sitting around waiting on Godot if we want to pull this off.”
Capt. Thomas said he’s ready to lend his expertise and knowledge to save the boat he knows with an intimacy only a seaman who has put his life in her hands for the past 31 years could understand.
“She represents a lot of blood, sweat and tears to me, but she also represents something greater in our history.”
Dr. Turner agrees. “She is the last of the great trawlers. To save the Apple Jack is to save a significant chapter in St. Augustine’s history.”
The plan will call for leasing the boat from Thomas for three years for community events, then donating it to a non-profit organization such as L.A.M.P. to convert back to a museum-worthy shrimp boat.
UPDATE: The Apple Jack was moved this week by the St. Augustine Marine Center to a location at the end of Riberia Street (dead end and far-end of the boat yard by the horse carriage stables) across from the Eddie Vickers Field. Citizens attending the Lincolnville Farmers Market may now have a perfect view to watch for progress on the historic boat!
How you can help Save the Apple Jack:
As part of the plan to save the Apple Jack, Holiday and the Steering Committee say the “Plank Krewe” will be modeled after New Orleans Mardi Gras float committees.
What they seek: A group of interested, dedicated people to conserve and create a tasteful replica of a 16th century Caravel. Members of the Krewe will be the only ones allowed on the boat.
Krewe Departments (skills needed):
Painters, carpenters, riggers, engineers, electricians, finance, public relations, and social media
Original Plank Krewe:
First 50 members @ $100
Next 25 members @ $200
Next 25 members @ $500
TOTAL 100 members to build hull and glass = $22,500
Honorary Krewe Members: Corporate Support and Major Donors $1,000-plus
Final Goals:
The plan calls for the converted Caravel “float” to represent the city at upcoming commemorative events, and smaller events such as lead vessel in Blessing of the Fleet and Holiday Regatta of Lights.
Contact: 904-274-1513
Email: savetheapplejack@aug.com
****SEE the March Issue of the SA Entertainer for more on the Apple Jack project!!!!
More Interesting links:
EXCELLENT!!! The Pirate King - A Brief History of the Caravel
By Phil King – February Old City Life Magazine: http://oldcitylife.com/2011/11/saint-augustine-shrimp-history-2/
Scuba News: Trawling through St. Augustine History
St. Augustine Marine Center Web site: http://www.staugustinemarine.com/
Article featuring Dan Holiday and his Aviles Leather Shop: http://tiftongazette.com/entertainment/x323692819/Americas-oldest-street-connects-history-to-great-fun-in-St-Augustine
Tourist Blog Featuring Apple Jack:
http://paulweigel.com/photoblog/?p=345
http://paulweigel.com/photoblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/DSC_0010-5.jpg
St.. Augustine Artist Charles Dickinson: http://www.crescentbeachpaintout.com/2008_paintout/artists/Dickinson.htm
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