The
Rattlesnake
This
is the big one. There was more time
spent in the building of this boat than in any other two boats combined. The only part of this boat that wasn’t
crafted by hand is the bell. The twenty
plastic wood cannon barrels were individually cast from a rubber mold that was
made from a hand-carved wooden original.
The cabin doors open and close on hand-made hinges as well as the twenty
gun port hatches. The boat was only
sailed once. It still has the equipment
in it and it could be sailed again with a little work. I doubt very much that will ever happen.
This
boat was entered in the WRAM model show in 1971 and it came in second place
among the model boats. The first place
boat was a WWII destroyer that had a working hand-made four-cylinder gas engine
that was on its way to being displayed at the Smithsonian Institute after the
show. It was the last time he entered
anything in the show. It wasn’t because
the Rattlesnake didn’t win first prize but because of the inhospitable
treatment he received the following summer when he tried to join their
club. I was there and I saw it. He tried to ask a couple of people questions
about joining. Those that didn’t pretend not to hear him gave evasive answers.
There
are a couple of deviations from the actual ship worth noting: The real Rattlesnake was steered by a tiller
but my father put a steering wheel on the model at my request (so he let me
think). Also, there is a male figurehead
on the actual privateer, but there’s a well endowed female figurehead on the
model.
The
boat is currently in my dining room.
