For The Love Of A Wooden Boat

Written by Patch Editor Patricia A. Miller

Ask Matt Smith to describe the lure of wooden boats and he doesn't hesitate.

He recalls the scene in the 1981 film "On Golden Pond," when aging Norman Thayer grudgingly allows young Billy to take his prized Chris-
Craft - the Thayer IV - out onto Squam Lake in New Hampshire.

The boy shouts out his joy as he spins the vintage boat around in circles, his arms raised towards the sun.

"Freedom," Smith said.
 
The Thayer IV and the U.S. Mail Boat Mariah - also used in "On Golden Pond" - are the featured boats in the Toms River Seaport Society's annual Wooden Boat Festival in Huddy Park this Saturday. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

But the beautifully restored boats at the festival had disappeared for decades after the movie was made in the summer of 1980. Pat Curtin - the film's marine coordinator - had purchased the Chris Craft U22-1460 after the movie.

But he was so upset over Fonda's death in 1982, he sold the Thayer IV and the Mariah to a family who declined to be identified, said Seth Katz, a well-known wooden boat restorer and the owner of Katz' Marina in Lake Hopatcong.

There were actually three "Thayer IVs" prepared for the movie - the original U22-1460 built in 1950, the "U22-1802" a backup boat that was never used, and the "crash" boat used in the scene where Norman and Billy venture too far into Purgatory Cove and crash into the rocks.

The U22-1802 was purchased by another buyer, who still displays it at boat shows. But it was not the boat actually seen on the film.

The long quest to find the U22-1460 ended in 2011 when the boat was discovered in a Massachusetts barn, said Matt Smith, a graphic designer and founder of the online www.woodyboater.com.

For years, some had claimed that they owned the U22-1460 featured in many scenes in the film starring Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn and Jane Fonda.

"Everyone claimed to have the "On Golden Pond" boat," Smith said. "We had to do some detective work."

But no one had been able to find and authenticate the actual boat, until that day in the barn, Smith said.

Curtin and Smith discovered the same family that had purchased the boat many years ago still had it. The patriarch of the family had loved the boat, but died several years before.

Smith took Pat Curtain on the trip to the Massachusetts barn. He knew the "Thayer IV" well, right down to a scratch on one side.

The family Curtain had sold the Thayer IV to do many years ago had kept the boat in the barn as a memorial to their father. The "Mariah" was kept out in a field, Smith said.

Smith ended up purchasing both boats. Then it was time to find someone to restore them. Enter Seth Katz.

"We decided it needed to be restored to the film," Smith said. "I sold Seth the boats. He offered to do the restoration for free. I sold them for what I paid for them. These boats will never be sold."

"Everybody that touched the boats along the way understands how valuable they are," he said.

Katz did the restoration work on both boats in record time - five months. But it was not an easy task.

"The bottom was shot," he said of the Thayer IV. "Most of the frames were bad. The engine was bad. It was bad."

The Mariah, because of its time outside, was in even worse shape. But both boats were fully restored by March 2012, Katz said.

"I will never sell them," Katz said. "I did it to save these boats."

The Wooden Boat Festival will also feature music, food, about 30 crafters and nautical artists, along with performances by the Valhalla Pirates.