A signature on my boat

[Bill Dunn]

I would just like to tell you guys what a great site you have here. I bought a 1959 Sea Lancer in November of '07 and found this site shortly after. I was at the show in Marinette last summer and shared this story with Andeas and he got a kick out of it, so I thought I would pass it along.
I bought the boat from a family friend who had owned it since about 1970. It hadn't been in the water much in about 20 years, so I decided to ( I know some of you guys are going to cringe ) 'glass the bottom to the lapstrake at the sprayrail. I rolled the boat and started sanding the bottom to the bare wood. In one spot I started seeing some scratches going across the grain. I carefully sanded the area and found the name Jim A McVane scratched in the boat. The only thing I could think of is it was done at the factory. Knowing it was built in Peshtigo, I went on White Pages. com and found a James A McVane that was in his mid- seventies and lived just outside Peshtigo. I wrote him a letter and he e-mailed me back saying he worked there from '57 until about '65 but worked in the paint shop, so he wouldn't have access to the boat at a time to be able to do that. He said he had a cousin that worked there at about the same time, and his name was also Jim McVane. He said he moved down towards Green Bay about 30 years ago and he lost track of him. So I went back to White Pages and found a James McVane in Oconto- just outside Green Bay. I wrote him a letter and he called me a couple days later and said he worked there about then. And he said he worked in the wood shop and said it sounded like something he would of done, even though he didn't remember doing it. He had a pretty good chuckle out of it and thanked me for finding him and wanted a picture of the boat. I got some good pictures of the name before I painted over it.
Everyone keep up the great work. most of my questions have been answered before I can ask them.
Thanks Guys,
Bill

[thegammas]

cool story! thanks for sharing!