Just sit right back and hear a tale.....Ever ride on a PT-Boat?

This is absolutely not motorcycle related, but I think real cool nontheless! My first boat job out of high school was on a sighteeing boat out of Wildwood, NJ. (The boat is actually the story here.) When I was in grade school, I was facinated with WW II PT-Boats (like McHales Navy). I read all I could about John F Kennedy and PT-109, the South Pacific PT bases and so on.

Well, back in the '70's we had two sightseeing boats that offered rides out in the ocean. One was called PT-109 (but it was an Air-Sea rescue boat, not the real McCoy) and the other was called the Big Blue Sightseer. Turns out, the Sightseer is a real live WW II PT-Boat converted for boat rides (wait until you see the pic). Well, any red blooded, history seeking teenager that loves PT-Boats has got to get a job on one! Hence, my first deckhands job and the most fun I ever had at work!

The Captain (who also owned the boat) loved to play pranks on the customers. We used to feed seagulls off the bow of the boat (away from the passengers) while the Captain would say, "Now Gerry, you keep those birds off the side of the boat. You know what happens when they eat peanuts and crackers!" And of course the passengers would say, "Yeah Gerry, don't feed the seagulls!" Well, while I fed the birds, the other deckhand would be at the back of the boat working his way forward with a water pistol filled with green colored Intensive Care handcream and would be squirting people's bare arms or on bald heads from behind. Of course they always thought it was real right away until the deckhand would pass them on his way to the bow and they would catch on real fast to the joke! :smilie_happy:

In 1984, I bid the boat goodbye after 5 seasons of working (and living onboard). I learned so much, had great fun and spent countless hours cruising day after day on the Atlantic Ocean! I moved on to commercial fishing vessels, tugs, tankers ferries and such, but loved that darned boat!

About 10 years ago, the Sighteer was sold and the new owner (who so happens to be the one that used to have the PT-109 ride) decides he is going to turn the boat back into a historical PT-Boat as a living museum. It's a great idea, except who runs out of money and the boat ends up on land for 10 years (worst thing for a wooden boat). :crying:

If I had the ability, I would have bought the boat myself and finished putting it back into service, but alas, I don't have the money either.

Well, I just learned that the boat has been purchsed by a guy in Kingston, NY that is goping to finish the restore and has moved the boat to Kingston! :clapping: :Egyptian: :clapping: :salute:

So.....what is the big deal? Well, there are only 6 or so surving real WW II PT-Boats in the world and this boat is one of two that can actually be floated and put back into service! The boat was built in Bayonne, NJ by Elco Boatworks in 1943. It is an 80' Elco which is identical to the original PT-109 that Kennedy served on (not the same type as you see in McHales Navy, that one was actually a Vosper). The real cool part for me was to have sailed on this boat for all of those years and to actually live onboard in the same quarters that were used by the sailors in 1943. This boat was originally the PT-486 and it was used in Melville, RI for training. Here are some progression pictures:

And here is the video of the boat being transported by truck to Kingston, NY! :clapping: :clapping: :music: :yes:

cool pics thanks.

great pics, Gerry

I can't think of a more exciting way to experience history!

Have you been in contact with the new owner?
I bet he'd love to hear what you know about her.

dan filipi":1kazinl5 said:

I can't think of a more exciting way to experience history!

Have you been in contact with the new owner?
I bet he'd love to hear what you know about her.

Click to expand...

I have sent him an email message and hope to hear from him soon! For an FYI, here is a Elco Boatworks Naval video of building and testing the 80' boats in 1942:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN47z3n52-c[/video]

Cool Pics Jerry sounds like you have had an interesting life!!

That is real cool Jerry I like anything that has to do with history

opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: :clapping: :clapping: Never rode a PT bud tid get a ride on a duck once :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :music2: :music2: :music2:

I never realized they were that long!

PT boats are full of WIN!

~O~

fixed :blush:

mcgovern61":srt3ndql said:

The Captain (who also owned the boat) loved to play pranks on the customers. We used to feed seagulls off the bow of the boat (away from the passengers) while the Captain would say, "Now Gerry, you keep those birds off the side of the boat. You know what happens when they eat peanuts and crackers!" And of course the passengers would say, "Yeah Gerry, don't feed the seagulls!" Well, while I fed the birds, the other deckhand would be at the back of the boat working his way forward with a water pistol filled with green colored Intensive Care handcream and would be squirting people's bare arms or on bald heads from behind. Of course they always thought it was real right away until the deckhand would pass them on his way to the bow and they would catch on real fast to the joke! :smilie_happy:

Click to expand...

Looky what I found! Num-nuts feeding the seagull!

Drummed up another pic of the boat with me on it!

Fantastic photos and stories :good:

Back in the early 80's, a buddy of mine was assigned to VC-6 which used PT-809 to retrieve target drones from the ocean. Not a very smooth ride in rough seas, but that's why Sailors aren't kids :mrgreen:

brianinpa":2aoqk4ei said:

Back in the early 80's, a buddy of mine was assigned to VC-6 which used PT-809 to retrieve target drones from the ocean. Not a very smooth ride in rough seas, but that's why Sailors aren't kids :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

I can understand that from the PT-809, she was aluminum and a little bit more beam than the 80' wooden Elco I was on. Face it, there is no comparison to the comfort difference between an aluminum hull versus a wooden hull. I will take the wood over aluminum any day!

Shortly after my commissioning in the early
60's I had heard that the 2nd Dist. USCG
had some PT boats for sale at the Dist HQ
in St. Louis. I called as I was interested at
the time. I was told that they had several,
and were $300 for each, my choice. I was
told that they only had two that ran, and
one was still in pretty good shape. If I
wanted it they would load 300 gallons of
fuel in barrels onto it for me to make my
trip back.

As it turned out I didn't buy one, but now
wish I had. Those were all military equipped
but without any firearms. The two still had
the torpedo tubes, but, of course, no torpedoes.
I didn't buy due to the fact that they were
horrible gas hogs if run hard. I figured that
I probably would want to run them hard, but
on the Illinois river it was not a good idea.

I have the idea that it sure would have been
a fun thing, though.

Dave.

Man,that would be cool


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