RFD # l, Box 866, Gilmanton I. W. ,NH 03837.
My sons and I came across her as we were trying to walk off a
big Thanks giving dinner.
In examining her, I was intrigued with the shape of her stern. I
spent four years in the Coast Guard and had never seen a boat quite
like her. She was in terrible shape, half full of mud and leaves.
After looking her over, we left her resting as we found her. I
thought about her all that winter and the next summer. That stern
really haunted me, ‘Could I bring her back to life?’ I had
never restored a boat before and didn’t have the foggiest idea
how to go about it or where to start. I just couldn’t get my
mind off that enchanting lady, so in November 1987 I went back to
see her. I couldn’t bear to see her exposed to another winter
so I approached the land owner and, the fool that I am, brought her
home.
She carried no identification of any kind, and several leads
from local old timers as to her origin ended in disappointment. Her
photographs were shown to every boat restorer in the Lakes Region,
but no one had seen anything like her. In the meantime, restoration
continued and it was decided that if she hadn’t been a launch
in her old life, she was going to be one in her new life.
It was not until the Fall of 1989 that she was finally
identified and dated, thanks to the efforts of Ken Mac-Stephen of
Ontario, Canada. Mr. Mac-Stephen is an authority on Mullins
‘launches’ (yes, I said launch), and owns a 1911 Mullins
himself. By this time (1989) we were pretty well committed to
design, so what you see before you is not a true replica of how she
originally looked.
As luck would have it, we heard about a true Mullins engine
(very rare) in Calais, Maine. It was in need of complete rebuilding
but it was a Muffins, so we lugged it home, where an old friend
awaited it. The engine, a one cylinder, is 3 HP and turns a 14′
reversible pitch propeller at an outrageous speed of 300-700
RPM.
After two years and eight months of restoration work, on July 1,
1990 she was re-launched and sputtered back to life-a brand new,
very old boat.
The W. H. Mullins Company built their first boat (metal) in 1894
(a kayak). By 1904 they were experimenting with motor boats. Two
years later they were offering both 16 and 18 foot models. In the
next ten years they sold 1,200 to 1,500 launches a year.
Reportedly, Mullins made their own engines until 1908. The price
of their 3 HP (pictured) at that time was $90.00 including all
necessary equipment from batteries to propellor.
After 1908, Ferro provided the engines, first under the Mullins
name, then under their own name. (I have a Mullins/Ferro 3 HP, yet
to be restored).
Salem, Ohio until 1935, at which time the business (including
the Mullins trade name) was sold to the Mullins Boat Company in Oil
City, Pennsylvania. This company continued to build boats until
1939, when the factory was converted for the war effort. Mullins
boats were never built again, but by this time over 100 thousand
had been sold worldwide.
I would like very much to hear from any readers who have
additional information on the Mullins Company or their boats or
engines prior to 1920. Or, if any of my information is incorrect,
I’d sure like to know about that as well.
