Farley Boats – Fiction Favorites

Today we are visiting an absorbing place. I have mentioned the Farley Boat Works in a couple of posts and have featured the Farley Boat planters sponsored by the garden club. Today though we are going to the mother ship. The actual Farley Boat Works and Museum.

Farley Boats set the standard along the Gulf Coast for fishing and sport from 1915 to the mid-1970s. Three generations of the Farley family designed and built the Farley Boat in the back of their home in Port Aransas, Texas.

Here is a shot of works taken in the sixties.

Farley Boats

No Farley Boats were made from the late seventies until The Port Aransas Preservation, and Historical Association (PAPHA) opened the restored Farley Boat Works building to the public on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Boat building lessons for the general public commenced the same day.

Here is how the building looks today

Farley Boat Works

The Boat Works Manager Frank Coletta supervises the activities which include, boat building lessons, restoration,, and fundraising. Behind Frank is a partial view of the workspace.

Farley Boat Works

Above where Frank is standing is a sign that captures the essence of the boat works.

Farley Boat Works

The next photo shows a bench with every kind of clamp needed to hold pieces of wood together.

Farley Boat Works

The next shot is a skiff under construction

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I mentioned earlier that Frank supervises fundraising for the boat works. A man project is the construction of a handmade kayak which is sold at auction. The last one sold for thousands. Here is the next one being made.

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One project of the boat works is the design, fabrication, and launch of the first Texas Schooner in over one hundred years. The sign below welcomes donations for spars and sails on the finished craft.

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Here is the schooner being built under a tent outdoors. You can see the rudder laying on its side on the concrete blocks

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There are other exhibits on the grounds. Here are two. This room gives you a history of the works and contains an example of an outboard motor powered boat.

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This room has a more classic Farley Boat.

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There is plenty more to see including a collection of old outboard motors and other artifacts. If you are in Port Aransas a visit to the Farley Boat Works is a must. The museum and boat works is located at 716 W. Avenue C, Port Aransas, TX 78373

This week’s personal item started as a trip to the library and then moved from there. Our town has a library, and it is a very nice one. In fact, they are very helpful folks there. During the winter, when all the Northerners come down here to escape the cold the use of the library expands twenty-fold. I have always wondered how this kind of increase does not cripple library operations. There is an organization called Friends of the Library who does a great job of fundraising with special book sales. Although I must say the staff never allows the overcrowding to reduce their friendliness or courtesy. Here is a picture of the front of the building.

You may wonder about those little boats (green and blue) in front of the building They are cement and are depictions of a watercraft called a Farley boat. These are for the yard and made in honor of the Farley Boat Works. There are a number of them all over town. I think one day I will do a pictorial of just the Farley yard boats. The Farley Boat Works was a Port Aransas original and manufactured fishing boats from 1915 until the mid-seventies.

The works is now a museum where a limited numbers of boats are in production. The picture above shows how it looks today.

Here is a picture from in 1936 of President Roosevelt and a Farley boat and an unlucky Tarpon. Port Aransas used to be the Tarpon capital of the US. The great Texas drought in the fifties brought the building of dams to preserve water had an effect on freshwater spawning for the Tarpon. Also, runoff from fertilizers altered the coastal waters and overfishing spelled the end of Tarpon fishing in Port Aransas.

I got lost in the story of the Farley Boat works and the Tarpon. I was going to let you know My GRL is in the library and here is a picture of her sitting in the New Books section. (You have to look close to find the little blue cover and yes I pulled her out of the alphabetical by the author arrangement for the picture. I did put her back after ) Thanks to the Port Aransas Library staff for putting up with my foolishness.

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Thursday – A Little Personal