Delay in fiberglassing the Batboat. Victim of ID theft.

Demolition work on the boat will go on as planned, unfortunately, there will be no fiberglass work in the near future.

My identity was stolen last week and sadly, I've been preoccupied with getting that situation fixed.

Someone got my credit card # somehow and charged thousands of $$ to it. To my relief, my credit card company blocked my account immediately when they detected suspicious activity.

The fraud investigator told me multiple internet orders were made to places like Abercrombie and Paypal over the weekend.

To add insult to injury, this afternoon I received a bottle of weight loss pills in the mail that I didn't order but was paid for with my card. The person used their email address, but I doubt much will be done about it.

There is no way I can buy the fiberglassing supplies until the new card arrives, which should be next week, and funds to the unauthorized orders are refunded to me. Most of the items have to be ordered from the internet.

Until then, I will post updates on ongoing progress with the Batboat and a tutorial on how to make a Batman Utility Belt.

Batboat Rebuild: Part 1

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 seemed like a good day to begin dismantling the Batboat in order to get it ready for structural repairs and fiberglass rebuild. It looked so nice and I hated to do it but once started I couldn't stop.

Spent about 4 hours that afternoon through the evening. One of those hours seemed to be spent drilling out 5 rusted screws original to the boat but I had a good time.

The boat is about as old as me. I won't say which is better condition, however.

I began the afternoon taking off the rotating light, fin and rear deck. All were secured with a large number wood screws. I had to be extra careful to avoid accidently damaging the autographed side of the fin. It is signed by Batgirl Yvonne Craig and George Barris, the designer of the Batmobile.

The rear deck came off easily. It was very heavy but after a careful balancing act I needed no help. The fin was attached to the top of the large deck with screws and I decided to wait until I could take the time to carefully remove it.


Next to go was the rest of the damp carpet and the 4 x 8 foot, rotted plywood underneath which was wood screwed on top of the even more rotted original floor.

The moldy carpet came off easy but there were many, many woodscrews underneath holding in the makeshift plywood flooring. Some were totally rusted and despite all the rot I ended up prying it off with the claw of my hammer. I checked to see what the crunching sound was while prying and it was the hull flexing under pressure, resulting in three minor holes in the hull cracking through the gelcoat above the water line. My first major Oops! I have to re-fiberglass in those areas anyway. Not much of a big deal.

My first Oops!

With the false floor out the original deck was exposed for the first time. Nothing but rot. Walking on it sounded like a bowl of Rice Crispies.



I ripped some holes in the old deck by hand and there was nothing but compost and more rot. Yes, I said compost. It smells like potting soil in there.

It is normal for an old fiberglass boat to be in this condition, however. The plywood Glastron and other boat companies used back in the '60s was usually 1/2 inch thick untreated ply. Topside of the wood was epoxyed and fiberglassed to the hull while the underside was left bare, making the wood vunderable to mold, dampness and rot. Especially, if water got down there and saturated the foam that is suppose to make the boat float in an emergency.

Interestingly, most of the foam I've handled so far has been dry.

In the case of this vessel water got under the deck because of unsealed bolt holes drilled for bass boat seats. (scroll 2/3 down the page here for the story)

I ended the evening with carefully taking the autographed fin off and dragging it on to the porch to protect it from the elements until I could figure out how to take it apart.

If you are going to buy a boat to rebuild into a Batboat, get one that is very rotted. Trust me, you will be relieved you did. The structural wood in old, all original fiberglass boats (by old I mean 1950s through the 1970s) has to be completely replaced anyway, no exceptions, and rot makes it easier to get it all out. Most of the deck in mine can be pulled out by hand. This will also save you money than buying one in better shape.

Two More Batboat Toys

A couple more 1970s Batboat toys from some other countries.

I know nothing else about them. Just found the photos on the net.

1,000 Visitor!

I woke up this morning at 10:35 to a pleasant surprise. The Batboat Blog site visits counter reached 1,000 views since Feburary 10.

I haven't even started to add info on the Batboat yet!

The 14 minuet page view came from Waldron, Indiana.

I started work on my Batboat yesterday. Completely dismantled it so stay tuned, if interested..

THE OUTLAWS IS COMING (1965) Adam West and the Three Stooges at Redford, MI

When I saw on their website that the Redford Theatre in Redford, MI was showing THE OUTLAWS IS COMING on Friday, June 13 I immediately marked it on my calendar. Who could pass up the rare opportunity to see Adam West on the Big Screen?

I vaguely remember the movie from when I was a kid but never saw it all the way through.

A couple days before the show I checked out their site again and they added that one of the actors who was in the film was making a personal appearance for the evening shows; Johnny Ginger, a local 1960s Detroit TV kiddie show legend.

He played the role of Billy The Kid and was asked by Moe Howard to be in the film because he was the first to rerun Stooges shorts on TV, resulting in the rebirth of their popularity. Other kiddie show hosts who also ran 3 Stooges movies were also in the film playing outlaws.

That is where the title of the film came from. THE OUTLAWS IS COMING :)
Johnny was in the theatre from when the doors opened until they shut the lights off. He was very lively and sharp whited and said he was 75 years old! Didn't look a day over 50, to me.

Adam West had a prominent role in this, the last Three Stooges feature film. I never saw it all the way through until that night. Never liked that film when I was a kid but enjoyed the goofiness decades later.

I could be wrong but I don't recall Moe poking anyone in the eyes that night!!

During intermission Johnny Ginger came on stage and told jokes, sang and reminiced about the Stooges, Adam West, his career and the filming of the movie.

Johnny remembered Moe advising Adam against taking the role of Batman, which he had just won the audition for, explaining it would ruin his career from being typecast as a superhero, using George Reeves at an example. Well, we all know what happened soon after! :)

After the film was over he returned on stage, did a lengthy answer and question session with the audience and told more jokes.

Johnny was signing autographs the moment the theatre doors opened to until late at night in the lobby. He spoke to everyone, including me, treated everyone there very good, and signed my ticket stub and an 8x10.

He only charged $2 and $3 for the 8x10s and was a class act.

The guy in front of me in line asked about Soupy Sales, a fellow Detroit kid show host and friend. Johnny said he was not in good health and could no longer speak. It was sad to hear that but Johnny soon did an impression of Joe Besser, who he said he hated.

Soupy Sales and Johnny Ginger

Despite a brat kid in the balcony who was yelling throughout the film and the Q&A, I had a great time. Even Johnny Ginger commented to one of the staff members about the kid as he was walking past me after his performance. The Redford staff never does anything about these things so I rarely go there anymore.

That night I got to see Adam West in CinemaScope, the Three Stooges and unexpectedly meet and watch an old school entertainer do his stuff. It was a great night and for only $6 per ticket. Okay, the round trip was 225 miles. So what! I had a wonderful time.

8x10 and stubb signed by Johnny Ginger a/k/a Billy The Kid

Cloth Car! Not a boat but this BMW auto caught our eye.

Nothing to do with anti-crime boats but here is a BMW that reeks of Super Hero.

BMW Builds a Cloth Car
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
By Gary Gastelu
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365042,00.html

They say beauty is only skin deep. Tell that to GINA.

Instead of a metal or plastic body, BMW's latest concept, the GINA Light Visionary Model, drapes a flexible fabric material over a moveable wire mesh frame, creating a nearly seamless surface that can alter its form at the whim of the driver.

If you're feeling frisky, you can raise the tail like an angry dog, bulge the fenders as if you've injected them with steroids and reshape the sides of the car to transform it from a sleek roadster into an intimidating racer.

No need to lift the hood to get a look at the engine — it opens from the center like Hulk Hogan tearing off his T-shirt. Even the seats and the dashboard can be customized under their smooth surfaces to fit the desires of the occupants.

Of course BMW claims there are practical aspects to the design as well. The polyurethane-coated Lycra is significantly lighter than more rigid materials traditionally used for an automobile body, requiring less energy to produce it while reducing the overall weight of the car and making it more fuel-efficient.

All of the moveable parts are attached to a solid space frame platform that provides all of the safety found in a traditional design.

GINA won't be coming to showrooms anytime soon, but BMW hopes the overall design philosophy will rub off on some of its future models.

In the meantime, you can see GINA in the flesh at the BMW museum in Munich, Germany.

Cool Picture Of The Week - Junkyard Batboat

Okay, so it isn't that cool.

Here is an old fiberglass boat with fins and an old Batman decal on it. The boat is from the late 1950s - early1960s.

The owner is going to restore it and run it on the water. Nice! :)

I'll see if I can get pictures of the finished restoration. You'll bet it will turn out great!

Batboat Lobby Card

A lobbycard from BATMAN (1966).

These 11 X 14 inch cards promoted the movie by being displayed in the theatre lobby. This one is #3 used for that film.

Cool Picture Of The Week: Worlds First Solar Powered Boat

Solar powered boat gets you on the water gas-free

By Adam Frucci

2:00 PM ON 05/26/08
http://dvice.com/archives/2008/05/solar_powered_b.php

Boats, just like their vehicular cousins on highways everywhere, tend to guzzle a lot of gasoline. And with the well-documented price increases of gasoline making getting behind the wheel of anything with an engine feel like getting punched in the face, boats are increasingly being left at the dock. The Czeers MK1 is a beautiful 10-meter boat that's covered in photovoltaic solar cells. The power it generates from the sun allows it to hit speeds of up to 30 knots, or about 35 miles per hour. While it won't win any races at that speed, it's plenty fast for most people out on the water. And when you don't need to pay $100 to fill it up every week or two, you really won't care all that much about going any faster.

First Comics Batboat? / Not much going on yet but stay tuned

It is still too cold outside for further work on my Batboat so I don't feel like posting much but still have accumulated lots of interesting facts and photos to add.

Especially about the original 1966 Adam West boat and mine.

Should be warm enough to start fiberglass repair soon, however. Working on my Batboat will motivate me to blog more. Can't do much with the vessel now.

Until then, here is an interesting image I just found on my hard drive. Could this be the first comics appearance of the Batboat or, as the Police Cheif calls it, the "Midget Man O' War?"

Could this mean the Batboat originates from the UK? Click the picture to enlarge it. Along the hull is painted "H(er). M(agesty's). S(ervice). Batboat"!

Anyone know which issue this is from?

Another Batboat mystery for me to solve!