By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter
Published: Wed, July 03, 2002 - 4:24 pm
Last Updated: Mon, August 27, 2007 - 1:11 pm
Last Updated: Mon, August 27, 2007 - 1:11 pm
Jere Hough
one boat being built in this room. And there's only one person working on that one boat, and he's hammering all those nails by hand, one by one. Is this anyway to compete in the 21st Century? Apparently. Because Stauter Boats have been made this way since the middle of the
20th Century, first on the Causeway by Mr. Lawrence Stauter and, since 1979, made here by the Lami brothers, Gene and Vincent.
Gene Lami comments, "I've had people who've picked them up and said, 'Well really, Gene, I shouldn't put this in the water, I ought to put it in my living room'."
These are pretty boats, handcrafted with gorgeous woodwork. And this beauty is more than skin deep.
Lami continues, "We're still using all brass or silicon bronze fasteners. We're still using the genuine mahogany. We're still using the
best marine plywood we can find to go in them."
In the beginning all boats were made of wood because wood has Positive Buoyancy...it floats. Wood boats ride differently over the water and go faster on lesshorsepower. These days it takes two to three months to build a Stauter boat; and they only turn about twenty per year...all custom ordered, but no boats bigger than 19½ feet. Price range is $2800 to around $6000.
Meteorologist Jere ough is sitting in a brand new boat. "Beautiful Stauter boats...made essentially the same way for over 50 years. It's nice to know that sometimes, time doesn't change everything."
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