This is the Jessidean, built by my Dad in the mid-30's in Dayton, Ohio.
She had a Gray Sea-Scout Engine, a gorgeous Mahogany front deck, and the bow cleat was a replica of a dirigible, made of Brass. My Dad designed it and it was made with the help of a Pattern Maker and family friend, Oscar Higgins.
It was a beautiful craft and a perfect boat for fishing. In the evening, a pair of canvas buckets would be dragged on either side of the boat for a perfect troweling speed. I am not sure of the exact length.
She was a very seaworthy, heavy, craft. She was used primarily on Burt Lake, but stored in the Winter on Mullett Lake at Obie's Boat Yard. In '45 or so, we vacationed and had her out and running. When time to leave my brother and I were going to take her to Obie's. We had to cross Burt Lake, go through Indian River, and travel the full length of Mullett lake. A distance of around 25 miles. When you exit Indian River, the channel is quite a distance out into Mullett Lake.
Burt was relatively calm, Indian River scenic, and as we entered Mullett we saw whitecaps, and were facing a strong headwind. We were concerned about turning around, or making a turn of any kind, so my brother determined that all we could do was to head straight across the lake, into the wind. From the wash and the wind, we were taking on a lot of water. I was manning the small hand pump until the water came up through the floorboards and started using a bucket. We plowed across the lake.
At the far end it became calmer and we were able to turn in to the boat yard. There was somewhat of a crowd waiting for us. Mom and Dad and people we didn't even know. Apparently many saw us out there and were aware of our predicament and followed our progress driving down the road and keeping an eye on us. We were congratulated for our achievement. The Jessidean had probably saved us, other less heavy deep bowed boats perhaps could not have made it.
A family friend was retiring to Florida and bought the boat. We tried to locate her once but had no success. She was responsible for a love of "old" boats that I still have today. She was one of the great loves of my life. My Mom was Jessie, my Dad, Dean, thus the Jessidean
