When I was 12, my Dad promised me a boat. The promise was because I actually died. I bled out .. I even had a friendly priest secretly give me last rights .. my Dad never knew about that!
My Dad told me if I survived we would get a boat, and we did … the Steph I, named after my sister. Steph I was minimal plywood boat with a tiny cabin and (I think ) an outboard. Of course we moved up .. a 27 ft Cruisealong (where I installed the 110 volt wiring … using zip cord! Hopefully later owners never caught fire?). The a 37 ft Richardson, the gorgeous Steph III! Our final Richardson was this 41 ft boat, the Black Eagle!
We named her the Black Eagle for our family name .. Schwartz (Black in German) and roots on my Mom’s side in the Adler family (Eagle in German). Black Eagle was also the was also the source of the name we have on the Aquila (Latin for Eagle).
It is sad that no one is creating a museum for these beautiful boats wooden boats.