By Ted Lyman, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter
Green Hornet is our second Philbrick; the first, Born Again, was restored by my father and me in 1980 — the year we joined ACBS.
Born Again in 1980.
It was during the follow-up restoration of Born Again in Don Philbrick’s Oakland shop in 1990 that Green Hornet fell into our ownership. Living in Oakland and often dropping by Don Philbrick’s shop, I was aware that he was building a number of 21 ½ foot follow-up runabouts to his popular 17 ½ foot utility model of years past (our first Philbrick.) Don had decided to re-enter the new boat market after shifting mostly to restorations in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I saw Green Hornet come together as a finished boat in the period 1977-79, along with what became over the next few years eleven, identical “sister boats.”
Those not sold in advance were being marketed and sold through a broker Don had lined up in San Rafael. One of the first sold was to Ray Dolby of Dolby Labs fame. When Green Hornet came back into Philbrick’s shop in 1990, it was in very sad shape. We made an offer and the rest is history. Born Again was sold and our efforts shifted to Green Hornet’s many needs.
Green Hornet is the fifth of that series of eleven, going to its first owner around 1979. We don’t have the name of this person, but we do know that he had big plans as Green Hornet was to be the tender on his San Diego-based yacht, not yet built. Our boat has oversized and especially strong lifting eyes to raise the boat up to the yacht’s deck, hoisted by its crane. This owner had specially printed stationary with Green Hornet’s distinctive transom art and who knows what else made up as he took ownership of his new ”dinghy.”
The yacht never got built and Green Hornet eventually found itself on SoCal’s Big Bear Lake, suffering mightily for years while tied to a mooring ball under slowly deteriorating canvas. When it showed up back at Philbrick’s shop to be sold by Don, it was a cosmetic mess. Working with Don’s input, my wife, Jo Anne and I refinished the boat throughout 1990-1991 and basically brought Green Hornet back to life.
For the past 36 years, we have spent many hours on the water in the Delta with family and friends and have been regular participants in ACBS events throughout Northern California for decades.
This story was originally published in the Summer 2017 issue of Western Wood, the Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter newsletter.