My Skeeter Hydroplane

Photo courtesy of Craig Svenson

During the summer of either 1950 or 1951, I saw the plans in Science and Mechanics magazine for building a small speed boat which they called a hydroplane. At the time (I was either 12 or 13), this magazine was one of my favorites. After reading the article, I decided that I had to have this boat, so I immediately started purchasing the material specified in the plans. The plans called for an all wooden frame with a plywood bottom and sides. The large deck was covered with stretched canvas as depicted on the magazine cover to the left.

Photo courtesy of Craig Svenson 

I remember starting construction under our beach house at Pawleys Island next to the shower. Back then, I possessed zero power tools, so I had to use an old handsaw to cut out the curved frame members as well as all other wood components. I remember the article specifically stated that the “Skeeter” could be constructed at very low cost and completed in about a week. Well, that proved to be a slight exaggeration, because I had to transport the frame from Pawleys Island to Georgetown in the back of my Father’s pick-up after school started in the fall. Fortunately, the boat was slightly less than 8 feet long with a very light frame (See photo on right). I finished it in the backyard of my parents’ home it Georgetown. My oldest brother, Clyde, who was 10 years older than me, helped me with the final steps of construction.

The following photos taken in the backyard in Georgetown are the only photos that I have of my Skeeter. The photo on the left shows my sister-in-law, Julia Ann with her son and my nephew "Chip". That's Chip and me in the photo on the right. Notice my brother's Studebaker in the background.

I used my 5 HP Scott-Atwater outboard motor to power it. My Father, who sold Scott-Atwater outboard motors, had given me the used motor the previous year for use on my 12 foot flat-bottom cypress boat which I used exclusively in the creek at Pawleys Island.

Obviously, the Skeeter wasn’t blindly fast with a 5 HP motor, but it felt pretty fast. I usually left the boat on our dock, which was on the north end of Pawleys Island creek behind our house. One day, this guy came by in a boat powered by a 10 HP Mercury. Now everyone knew back then that Mercury outboard motors were much more powerful than the advertised HP would indicate. Anyway, this guy saw the Skeeter and stopped to look at it. He then asked me if he could mount his Mercury on it and give it a try. I figured that this was probably the only chance that I would ever get to see how fast it would go when properly powered because I knew my parents weren’t going to give me any big motor.

After launching the Skeeter off the dock and into the creek, this guy disconnected the Mercury from his boat and mounted it on the back of the Skeeter. I figured that the guy would start off slowly and gradually get up to speed, but to my surprise, he must have twisted the Mercury’s twist grip throttle on its steering arm to what had to be full throttle. The Skeeter suddenly jumped out of the water and took off like a “bat out of hell”. I thought to myself that this guy was nuts and I may never see my boat in one piece again.

It was about a quarter of a mile from our dock to the north end of the island which was the direction he was heading, so it took a few minutes before I saw him barreling back toward me. He was flying when he passed our dock going south and circled around the big sandbar near the causeway bridge and made his way back to the dock with the Skeeter gradually coming down off of a plane and settling into the water. He pulled up to the dock, shut down the Mercury and calmly said, “That was fun, but I don’t think it was much faster than my boat”. Well, I’m not sure about that because it looked pretty darn fast to me. The guy then transferred the Mercury back to his boat, thanked me and sped away. He must have been a visitor to the island, because I never saw him again.

Building the Skeeter was a very good experience for me. It gave me confidence in my ability to create something with my own hands. Thinking back on those times, I realize how lucky I was to have parents that would allow me to pursue this kind of endeavor. Obviously, I didn’t have many resources of my own, so my parents must have helped me buy the material and the time spent with my older brother putting the finishing touches on the Skeeter was pretty neat too.

Incidentally, Science and Mechanics magazine continued to be published into the 1980's with its last issue coming out in 1984. Another great magazine bit the dust.

My King Midget

In the early fifties, my mother, sister and I took a trip in our 1949 Dodge from Georgetown SC to Cincinnati OH to visit my brother, Dorrance, who was attending the College of Music.

Prior to the trip, my sister and I had seen advertisements in Popular Mechanics magazine about the King Midget automobile that weighed 500 lbs and got 75 miles to a gallon of gas. Since it was manufactured in Athens OH, we were somehow able to convince my mother to stop by Athens on the way back to Georgetown where we received a demonstration of the King Midget’s features. Note- that's me standing next to the King Midget in the backyard of my parents home.

This car was approximately 8 feet long, weighed 500 pounds, carried 2 people, and was powered by a 7.5 horsepower air cooled Wisconsin engine with a top speed of 35 to 40 miles and hour. In addition, a number of options were available including an electric starter, an alternator, a 2 speed transmission with reverse and a removable canvas top. The basic car had a pull-cord starter, no alternator and no reverse gear. The King Midget rep stated that they would not sell the car to such young drivers with the manual pull-cord starter.

Both my sister and I were very intrigued with the car and upon returning to Georgetown , we were able to convince my parents that we should purchase one. I promised to pay for my half of the cost with earnings from my Charlotte Observer paper route. I’m not sure what my sister promised, but after much cajoling, my mother agreed to our proposal and she in turn somehow convinced my father to go along with it. If I remember correctly, I think we paid around $650 for it.

It was shipped from Athens to Georgetown by railroad (with all of the options listed above) where my brother Clyde picked it up and drove it to our home on Highmarket St. in Georgetown. It was painted California Coral (yellow) with a beige canvas top and it was a beautiful thing to behold – at least in my eyes.

I was only 13 and one half years old at the time, so was unable to drive it right away. Back in those days, you could get your SC drivers license when you were 14, so I didn’t have to wait too long. I even got my license in this car. I have a vivid memory of the discussion between the two SC Highway Patrol officers about which one of them was going to ride with me during the road test.

Fortunately for me, my sister who is about 2 years older than me soon lost interest in the car and I became the sole driver of this little jewel. I drove it everywhere and even delivered Sunday newspapers in it as well as pulling my small 12 foot boat back and forth to the boat landing. I spent a lot of time working on this car because the brakes shoes wore out very quickly and the chain drive wasn’t too reliable either. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, maintaining the car was rather enjoyable because I had to improvise a number of fixes due to the difficulty associated with getting spare parts.

My parents owned a house at Pawley’s Island where we spent each Summer. I drove the car from Georgetown (about 12 miles) and back on numerous occasions despite the rather low 37 miles per hour top speed.

Although the King Midget was very small, slow and lacking in amenities (like no speedometer, radio or gas gauge) I have many fond memories during my early teen years tooling around Georgetown and Pawleys Island in this very unique little car. It was definitely an attention getter. I eventually sold the car to another Georgetown resident, but have no idea of what happened to it. I moved on to rebuilding and driving a World War 2 Jeep manufactured by Ford. I'll cover that vehicle in an upcoming post.

Production of the King Midget ceased somewhere between 1967 and 1970. You can read all about the history of the King Midget at http://www.kingmidgetcarclub.org/. My King Midget was the Model II version.