wooden boat: Richard Shanahan loves his Streblow 28
The vessel weighs in at about 8,000 pounds, but it used to do 55 miles per hour. It runs a little slower today, having been repowered.
The Streblow 28 is constructed with white oak framing and Philippine mahogany planked deck and sides. That's right. It is a classically beautiful wooden boat. But Richard has learned classic beauty and wood are not necessarily high priorities for Southwest Florida.
"It forced me to buy a piece of property on the water when I moved to Boca Raton," Shanahan said. "I couldn't find any place that would take a wooden boat. So I ended up buying a house on the water that I couldn't afford. That was back in 2000."
He also designed a lift for the boat and worked together with GEM Remotes to design the remote for the lift. All of that simply proves what all boaters' wives already know - some men really do love their boats.
Shanahan's love for boats started when he was young.
"I grew up in Chicago. My dad had a lake house at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. My mom and dad were divorced, so I spent my summers at the lake," Shanahan explained. "Basically, I've been boating ever since I was a kid."
He got his first little fishing boat when he was about 10, and his family was among the first to have jet skis on Lake Geneva.
The big boat, though, was a wooden Streblow runabout. Shanahan's father, Richard Sr., started with a 23-footer, then moved up to a 26-footer. Finally, he convinced the Streblow family to build him a 28-foot runabout.
"That was back in '85," Richard said. "My dad died in '88, so me and my brother kind of inherited the boat. Basically, I've had it ever since."
When Richard moved to Florida, he brought that boat with him and quickly learned that
wooden boats are rare in this part of the world.
Also, like most northern boaters who move to Collier County, he learned some things about navigating the local waters.
"How this area became a boating community I don't know because it's shallow water, not very easy to navigate," he said, voicing a common frustration. "Where I'm from if you go towards the middle of the water the deeper it is. I've found that here it's just the opposite. The edges are deeper than the middle, which is a little amazing. So I'm driving a boat that can easily run aground. And if I do, I'm really in trouble."
Shanahan has figured a way to deal with shallow water. "I got a little 16-foot jet boat. Now, I map out where the shallow spots are, then take the other boat out."
His first day of boating here was memorable for several reasons. He and his brother were bringing the Streblow from Boca to Marco, a trip of more than 300 miles that started with propeller problems and a repair delay of several hours. At the end of a very long day, they arrived in the Marco area about midnight under just a sliver of a moon while disagreeing on how to interpret the GPS.
"My brother was saying, 'The house is this way,' Richard recalled. "But he was pointing over Caxambas Pass and some hotels. So now I know why mutiny happens."
He continued, "Ironically, I drove the 300 miles from Boca and got almost to my house before almost touching bottom. We stopped, backed up, figured it out and went ahead."
A few days later, a friend shared some local knowledge, took Richard around by boat... and grounded it three times.
"I am absolutely shocked," Richard commented. "The bottom constantly changes here."
But, like others who boat around Marco, he is overcoming his dismay and learning how to keep track of the bottom.
He plans to buy a sailboat in the next few years.
"I love sailing," he said. "But living in a very shallow area, I don't know which sailboat I'm going to get. Maybe a trimaran."
Capt. Carl has held his U.S. Coast Guard Captain's License since 1994. He was a columnist for the Englewood Review of Englewood, Fla., before moving to Collier County. He can be contacted at marcocaptain@comcast.net.
©Marco Island Sun Times 2006
