A boy and his boat

The following account appeared May 14, 1961, in The Birmingham News Monthly Magazine. My father, the editorial cartoonist for the News for 38 years, casually mentioned to a colleague that my grandfather and I were building a sailboat. The newspaperman smelled a story, and arranged coverage of the launching. The reporter made one small mistake; we named the boat “Skipper,” after our Cocker Spaniel. My Dad later drew a picture of Skipper on the stern.

Alabama lad’s dream boat sets sail

By JERRY BRYAN

photos by Roy Carter

Dreams are not always built of gossamer threads of the imagination. They can be fashioned of wood and canvas and hardware. Young Chuck Brooks of Birmingham knows that now. But it took nearly four years of planning and working to replace his filmy dream boat with the solid stuff that makes one sail.

Almost before he could spell the word, young Charles G. Brooks, Jr. had become fascinated with boats. He would sit by the hour at the feet of his maternal grandfather and listen to stories of sailing yachts on the Great Lakes.

Leonard P. Matson had come from a seafaring wing of the old Danish family of Rosendahl. The hereditary name was reserved for those sons who chose to remain at home and follow the traditional channels of business. To three sons who fared away to sea it was denied. Instead, they were called Matt’s sons. The name soon was contracted to Matson.

Chuck’s great-grandfather was among the adventuresome three who chose the sea. He sailed for America at the age of 11.

So unto the third generation, the love of a spanking breeze in a full sail lived in Chuck Brooks when he listened to his grandfather’s stories.

Instead of picture books and indoor toys he turned to the outdoors. Baseball, yes. Little Boys League play, but the sight of a boat would make him drop his glove. He loved the feel of a fishing pole even better than a bat.

Before he was 10 he began laying plans for his own sailboat. So eager was he for boating his father, Charlie Brooks, News editorial cartoonist and artist, bought him a boat and motor. That was good. But it did not fill the yearning for boats his ancestors knew, sleek craft driven before a breeze.

Matson had built sailing boats as a hobby during his years in Chicago. He had owned and raced a 22-sq. meter sloop and a 50-foot yawl.

So when young Chuck confided his yearning to the sympathetic ear of his grandfather four years ago it struck a responsive chord. Sailing craft are not simple to build. And they can be expensive. But Matson had a wide range of information on boat building. He finally hit on the Windmill as a practical boat to build. A Windmill is a 15½-foot sloop with a 4-foot, 8-inch beam. It is a good boat for a two-man race crew or three sailing for pleasure.

The Windmill is one of the newest classes of sloops. Most of the 500 now sailing were  built by amateurs. Fed by the do-it-yourself urge, Windmills have increased rapidly.

The key to the construction is the mould or frame on which to build the hull. Matson learned that Bill Haywood of Ensley had built a Windmill and still had his mould. That was a big jump in the direction of success, for fashioning the frame requires a lot of tedious and exacting work.

So with plans assembled and a frame on which to construct the hull, the old boat builder was ready to go. Meanwhile, young Chuck had started accumulating money, for it was understood this was to be his very own project. Christmas and birthday presents were in cash by Chuck’s request. In the summer, the neighbors found him an ever-ready hand for mowing lawns.

There was no ceremonial keel laying, because this boat is built upside down. So the start was quietly made.

Material frequently ran out. It was then up to Chuck to supply more money. After more than a year, with Chuck carrying as much of a labor load as a 13-year-old might, the job was completed.

Proudly they assembled the expensive sails. The sloop takes a Marconi rig, mainsail and jib, and a 20-foot mast which seems to a young boy to tower to the sky.

There are several things about rigging a Windmill that are mighty important. Just the right cant of the mast; the proper lead of the jib sheet and finally the sanding, and polishing, shellacking and painting of the hull. All of these things must be just so to get the most out of the craft.

But eventually the launching day was at hand. Off to Guntersville went the launching party, the most excited being young Chuck.

Eagerly they slid the trim hull down the trailer runners. How would it ride the water?

Anxiously, they trimmed the sails. How would she take the breeze?

Shove off!

And then young Chuck and the old sailor were running before the wind. At last! Did you ever see a dream sailing? Well, Chuck did!