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Miniboats will sail at Mirror Lake

The high-dollar replicas cap off a monthlong event.

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 12, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - The final day of the "The Water Is Wide: The Art of Boat Building" will showcase minivessels on Mirror Lake.

The Studio@620 along with the Bay Area Electric Boaters and the Tampa Bay Ship Models Society, will host the event from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Mirror Lake along Fifth Avenue N.

Although many kids are expected to visit the shore of the downtown lake, the event is far from child's play, said Bob Allison, vice commodore of Bay Area Electric Boaters. "Kids will love to see the boats, but the owners of the boats are the drivers/operators," he said.

"Some of these boats took years to build and are worth as much as $30,000. For example, we've got one yacht that has a mini Humvee and a speedboat on top," said Allison, who worked as yard superintendent at Mount Pleasant Boat Building in South Carolina before moving to Florida in 1983.

Along with Allison, who plans to bring a mobile dock to help his fellow operators climb in and out of the water, Larry Green, commodore of Bay Area Electric Boats, will be on hand with his PT boat. "I might also bring my tugboat, but I'm partial to the PT boat. I'm interested in military history, and it's fun to operate," said Green, who has invested $1,800 in the 4-foot boat.

To hold the program, the city of St. Petersburg had to amend a city code relating to radio-controlled boats on city-owned lakes. At a recent City Council meeting, officials created an ordinance that allows the boats to run at specific times and on specific bodies of water.

Each owner will operate his or her boat with a radio, requiring separate frequencies for each. Visitors will see yachts, military vessels and tugs all made to scale.

The monthlong program has succeeded in its goal, said Dave Ellis, artistic director at the Studio@620

"We have definitely celebrated boat building in Tampa Bay, and one of the best memories of this program for me is when a participant came up and said, 'Look at all of these boaters, sailors and boat builders who have joined together. This has brought together a whole community.'"

FAST FACTS

'Water Is Wide'

The final day of the "Water Is Wide" project also includes a boat-building demonstration by Bob Pitt of the Maritime Museum in Cortez, the final workings on a project led by the Sea Quest Kids program, and a 7 p.m. roundtable discussion with boat builders. For information, call 895-6620.

[Last modified December 11, 2007, 23:44:09]