Remember Hermione, the 1925 Elco?  Jody Reynolds, one of the Owners, sent us some photos that Gretchen Coyle had taken.   The first one is Mike Wright and Jody Reynolds, watching the Marshall Cat regatta at famous Useppa Island (on the SW coast of Florida). This was one of the few warm days of the winter.  The second was shot as Hermione arrived at Little Egg Harbor, NJ, after her passage from southwest FL.

This summer we got a chance to see Hermione, a 56′ Elco.  They Owners brought Hermione up the inter-coastal from Florida to attend the Antique Boat Show in Clayton this past August.  She is a 1925 Elco registered in Dover, Delaware and is kept in excellent original shape. Built in Bayone NJ, as were al the Elcos, Hermione has a rich history. Owner Capt. Mike Wright is the fifth Owner of the boat and he can be reached for charter information at this site.

You can learn more about Elco and a cruising companion of Hermione, Zephyr III in this post.

This past summer at the Clayton Antique Boat Show there were two very special boats. They were both manufactured by Elco and were built in Bayonne N.J.

Zephyr III (pictured above and below) is a 1928 50′ Elco.  Major restoration started in 1992.  The Owner,  John Cowle, is from Toronto with home port in Picton Ontario. Zephyr III has twin screws with gas engines.  The picture above was taken during the Sunday parade. Gadfly is behind.

About ELCO

The 1893, the Electric Launch Company incorporated and began building electric motor boats. In 1919, when the range and power of gasoline engines grew, Elco converted to gasoline. During World War I, the company built sub chasers.  After the war they began building pleasure crafts such as the Cruisette, Veedetts and Flattops. During World War II, Elco manufactured the famous PT boats building 399 of those famous 80′ torpedo boats. The most famous of these was PT109 captained by LTJG John Kennedy. In 1949 the company was shut down. It is estimated that 7500 boats were built and about 400 are still in use. A new Elco company was started in 1987 and is still in existence today making electric launches.

The picture below was taken at the Clayton Town Dock, and you can see a laker in the background.  Click on both pictures to see the detail on this gorgeous antique cruiser.  The second Elco will be featured in an upcoming post.

The Antique Boat Show was not as well attended as in past years.  The lack of larger boats at the town dock was unusual, but there was still lots of activity at the show, auction and flea market.  Managed not to drag a boat or anything expensive home, but admired many items in the process.  Some of the workmanship on the wooden canoes and art work was exceptional.