It would be cool if it stayed! By JESSICA COOLEY and STACY FAISON/The Lufkin News
A Facebook campaign has been launched to save an old boat sitting in the middle of a construction site that is to be home to a Denny’s restaurant in Lufkin, and one Lufkin man has come forward with his memories of time spent on the boat at Sam Rayburn Reservoir as recently as the late 1980s. As of Monday night, the
Facebook group “Keep the boat by Jack In The Box on 69S in Lufkin, TX” had more than 1,100 likes. Page creator Jonanna Zeagler-Mason said she started the group as a joke last week after she and co-workers discussed the boat’s future.
“I just started the page Friday to be funny. I had no idea it would have 1,000 likes so soon,” she said. “I’ve heard several different stories (about the boat) on the page. It goes to show that social media can get the word out.”
While there are numerous stories circulating, some speculate that the boat has been sitting on the property at the corner of Loop 287 and state Highway 69 south since the 1960s in the wake of a Category 5 hurricane, Carla. A construction worker at the site said he was told it has been there exactly 22 years. Zeagler-Mason said she was contacted by a man who claimed he put the boat there, referring to it as the “Lady of Lufkin.” Though she asked, he did not go into detail on how long ago. The Lufkin News’ attempts to contact the man via telephone and Facebook were not immediately successful Monday. Lufkin High School Class of 1988 graduate Kevin Wagoner on Monday night recalled the days when the boat, which he says was owned by his friend John Dorsett’s dad, David, was still — well, somewhat — seaworthy, as he went to Sam Rayburn with the Dorsett family for the first time in what he estimated was the summer of ’87.
“It was super hot, and we got out in the middle of the lake and we noticed the smell of gas. And the boat would not start. So we called — I guess we had CBs back then — I don’t even know who we called. Oh, what was that marina?” Wagoner said. “But they brought us gas, and we made it about halfway back and we ran out of gas again. Then they came and hooked us up again with more gas. And they were not very happy about it. I remember that.”
Wagoner said David must have had the boat repaired, because he and John took the boat out again.
“Just me and John took it out a couple of times, and I remember because we were real nervous — nervous about docking it, because we were not very, well, seamanship, you know,” he said, laughing. “And we didn’t have any problems, except being nervous about docking it. And after that, it seems like his dad took it out of the marina and brought it back to the house and left it.”
When asked if the boat, which Wagoner guessed was a 1970s model, was nice and if it was fast, he answered both questions with an emphatic “No.” But when asked if he believed the boat was nice back in her prime, he said, “Oh, Bayliners? Yeah, definitely.”
And when asked if the boat was fun, Wagoner repeated the question with an incredulous tone. "Was it fun? Have you ever been out in the middle of July, stuck in the middle of a lake?”
Wagoner did say he got to steer the boat on occasion.
“I drove it a few times,” he said, then corrected himself. “I navigated it. Is that the word?” he asked with a laugh. Like her page’s followers, Zeagler-Mason said she would like to see the boat, parked on rusted barrels, stay where it is. One Facebook follower said: “My daughter is obsessed with this boat. I think they need to decorate the area in a nautical theme with a fountain and ropes and stuff. Since we are so close to the lake we could make this boat a part of the decor. It could be unique to the area.”
Wagoner said he sometimes wondered why the Dorsetts never fixed the boat.
“I thought about why they didn’t fix it, but I knew it needed so much work, it would cost so much,” he said. And when asked what his thoughts were on what should become of the boat, he didn’t hesitate.
“Dispose of it,” he said. A call to Denny’s corporate office for comment was not returned Monday. Jessica Cooley’s email address is [email protected]. Stacy Faison’s email address is [email protected]. Staff writer Nick Wade also contributed to this story.
