1930S-STYLE COMMUTE TO WORK

After some serious restoration it is hoped that Scout will motor on into the next century

- NIGEL SHARP

In the early part of the 20th century, it was fashionable for wealthy American businessmen to travel, on a daily or weekly basis, between their country homes and their city offices through inland waterways. The vessels on which they did so were typically fast, luxurious, narrow, sleek and stylish and, not surprisingly, they became known as commuter boats. It was not uncommon for a businessman to leave home every morning in his dressing gown and then use the voyage time to prepare for work by shaving, dressing and having breakfast on board. New York was a popular place for such commuter boats, which typically travelled between various parts of Long Island Sound and Wall Street, but this is the story of one that was almost certainly originally used on the Great Lakes.

Cormar was designed by Walter McInnis of Eldridge- McInnis and built by Defoe Boat & Motor Works in Bay City, Michigan in 1930. Walter McInnis served an apprenticeship with Thomas F McManus, who specialised in designing American fishing schooners. He then worked as a draughtsman at George Lawley & Son in Neponset, Massachusetts until 1926. He then went into partnership with Albert E Eldredge, who had been vice-president and general manager of Lawley’s. Their firm produced designs for hundreds of motor cruisers as well as 13 out of 15 US Coast Guard classes designed between 1932 and 1950, and – often in conjunction with John G Alden – large numbers of military vessels in the Second World War. He retired in 1976 at the age of 83.