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RESTORING A MASTERPIECE by Mary Kelley Hoppe Every wooden boat has a story to tell - but Trumpys are the stuff of legends. Captains of industry, heads of state, and scores of American presidents have entertained, celebrated and negotiated aboard these magnificent vessels, dubbed the "Rolls-Royce of American motor yachts" by the New York Times.
Dan Avoures specializes in restoring these wooden classics. The naval architect owns NOA Marine in St. Petersburg, one of only two boatyards in the U.S. dedicated to restoring Trumpys. He grew up on the Anacosta River just outside Washington, D.C., apprenticing with his dad, a renowned boat builder. His first years were spent living aboard a Trumpy-designed Coast Guard cutter built in 1923. Before opening his own boatyard in 1983, he spent 15 years as a design consultant for the cruise ship industry, working for Disney, Royal Caribbean and Holland America, while continuing to design smaller passenger boats.
Restoration is a sentimental, expensive venture. "It's not an investment with an economic return," he says, but storied vessels like these hold a special allure. Replanking a hull, modernizing the yacht's electrical and mechanical systems, and restoring her salons and fittings to "Bristol condition" could cost a million dollars or more.
While time and the sea have taken their toll on these grand motor yachts, even an untrained eye can catch a glimpse of the classic beauty that lies beneath the sagging planks and cracking paint of a Trumpy awaiting overhaul. Timeless still, she defined an age of elegance. NOA Marine is located at 13030 Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg. Contact Dan Avoures at 727-576-9315 or visit NOA online at www.noamarine.com. |
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Built in Annapolis from 1948 until 1972, Trumpy epitomized monied elegance and style in its day. A list of owners reads like a 'Who's Who' of American affluence: DuPont, Guggenheim, Morgan, Dodge and Chrysler. Even the Presidential Yacht USS Sequoia was designed by famed naval architect John Trumpy Sr. She was host to every American president from Herbert Hoover to Jimmy Carter. Jackie Kennedy surprised JFK with his 46th (and last) birthday party aboard the Sequoia in New York City in 1963, just after Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday" to the president at Madison Square Garden.
Handcrafted with mahogany hulls, oak frames, and gleaming white hulls accented with varnished teak, a Trumpy yacht, with its signature scroll, boasted all the amenities. A collector's gem like this runs anywhere from $400,000 to $800,000 today for a 60-footer in good condition.
Today, he operates a full-service yard on the Pinellas approach to the Gandy Bridge, catering to boats up to 85 feet long, but Trumpys are his passion. He's one of a dwindling breed of wooden boat craftsmen operating in Tampa Bay. Many have died off; others have moved on, driven out of business by the recession in the early 1990s and a recreational boating industry now devoted almost entirely to fiberglass.
Avoures is currently restoring the Silver Swan, a 72-foot Trumpy built in 1947. The owner, an Atlanta eye surgeon, bought his future "retirement home" from a charter outfit in the Virgin Islands. But first, NOA Marine has to replank part of the hull, replace teak decking, install new engines and completely rewire the yacht. Then, the yacht will be detailed according to styles popular in the 1920s. A varnished teak boarding ladder with solid brass fittings, for example, will serve as the new entryway.