Secret Boat Works

The Secret Boat Works

by Carlton Hendricks

Antique speed boat photos seem to come in one of three types...The most common would be the far off shot in the water where you can't get a good look at the details of the boat...Then there's the head shot kind where the boat is docked and the people in the boat are the main subject...where typically you can only see a few details of the boat...The most rare is this full length type where the boat is the main subject and the details can be studied...So if you can find a photo like that from the horse and wagon era you've really got something....

re 1920 powerboat racing has...over the last couple years...become one of my favorite areas of sports antiques...However it is one of the toughest to find...So this was a remarkable eBay pick-up...On the surface it might not seem too special but let's take a closer look...To begin with, what do you see in this photograph?...Answer: An old building with people standing around a boat...an old archaic scene of a boat works...likely with the staff...If we weren't featuring it you might briefly look it over and forget about it...Moreover from what I gathered Secret Boat Works was never a big name in early powerboat racing. Although it did enjoy some notoriety locally around Bay City Michigan where the photo was taken, and did get some small write-ups in national boating journals as we will shortly see. Yes I did say powerboat racing...The boat they're standing around is likely a speed boat model built for competition. Though I could not find a specific reference to the "102" boat in this photo, I did find reference confirming George Miskin actively built speed boats...If I had to speculate I would say the boat in this photo was likely a project the company had been working on and were proud of. Proud enough to emblazon the Miskin name in huge letters on the cowl...In a little bit we'll read about some drama revolving around George Miskin and another boat builder Charlie Trudell over the use of the name "Secret"...Which may have had something to do with that huge name on the cowl.

As mentioned, George Miskin and his Secret Boat Works wasn't a big name...That could have been due to various factors...Maybe he was already up in age when he got into the speed boat game...or perhaps it was a lack of funds...Chris-Craft, started about the same time as Secret. They lucked out when principle Chris Smith got a pu$h start from the notorious politician, horse race gambler, and vaudeville promoter Jack Ryan....and after that partnership floundered because Chris Smith couldn't pay his debts to Ryan....Industrialist Gar Wood stepped in and kept him afloat...The Smith-Ryan concern of Algonac Michigan, later to be re-christened "Chris-Craft", was only 129 miles from the Secret Boat Works. The other weighty name in pleasure boats, Hacker-Craft, was even closer, 115 miles...located on the opposite side of Lake St. Clare Michagan from Chris-Craft. So as you can see the Great Lakes region of Michigan was a breeding ground for early speed boat startups.

Before we get into George Miskin and the Secret boat works lets look at what else was happening with the gasoline powered engine c1910. When you do it's almost entertaining to observe mans competitive nature and eagerness to be "the fastest". I have the vantage of collecting motorcycle, auto, and powerboat racing the same 1910 era as this photo. By that I can tell you the same thing was happening across the board...Everyone was starting to understand the possibilities and potential the gasoline engine had on going fast in automobiles, motorcycles...and boats. A lot of tinkering and tweaking was going on everywhere as motor driven vehicles evolved...not only in the United States but the whole world...particularly western Europe. The Europeans caught hold of the fever as much if not more than the Americans.

POWERBOAT RACING TAKING HOLD IN EUROPE SAME TIMELINE AS SECRET BOAT WORKS

1906 French Postcard

1907 German Postcard

Now about the Secret Boat Works principle Mr. George Miskin...I wasn't able to lean much about him on my own so I enlisted the help of the Bay City Historical Society...Even they were a bit limited in what they found. One thing I was hoping for was a photo of him so I could I.D. him in my photo...to no avail...they couldn't locate one....So I did what I could and just started making up my own names...see the collage below I made in jest.

Alright back to a serious look into this photo...The Bay City Historical performed a formal research and brought some interesting tid-bits...They sent a street map of neighborhood of George's home at...

EVERYTHING BELOW MISHMASH NOTES THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE USED - NOT YET PUBLISHED

Speaking of other boat builders let's take a quick look at the c1910 speed boat building business. My vantage

Chris-Craft Boats and Hacker Boats are the most well known of the early speed boat builders.

and what was its significance...That was my question when I first saw it...Now who the people were, is locked in time...however I was however, able to uncover some of the history of George Miskin and his Secret Boat Works...Some, not all...actually what I did learn may leave you with more curiosity than before you read this piece.

As a collector of sports display antiques, until recently I was not a big photo collector. However I've grown to be a fan...But I prefer large images...by larger I mean about 8" x 10" at least. Or as in this case, if not large, then especially interesting

Let's take a close look now at this photo and the Secret Boat Works named on the building...I was able to dig up some interesting things on the internet but not enough to suffice so I called in the Bay City MI Historical Society...I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the exorbitant fees they charged for research...$5.00 per hour...

So...we have three sources of information about this photo...1. what we can see in the photo face value...and 2. what has been recorded about George Miskin and his boat building enterprise by newspapers and journals. And 3. the Bay City MI Historical Society. Let's look at the photo first...

1. We see a boat...

2. We see a group of people standing around the boat...

3. We see a worn building with a large sign for the Secret Boat Works.

We'll never know the names of the people for sure and exactly why they are there but let's speculate...First of all we must ask...why was this photo taken...Was it for advertising purposes for the Secret Boat Works?...Was it for George Miskin's personal use?...Was it specifically to advertise the boat in the photo?...On the one hand everyone in the photo appears to be in their Sunday go to church clothes...The clothes they are wearing aren't what you wear to build boats...So I think we can rule out it was taken at random...On the other hand if it was for advertising you'd think they would want to paint that building first...

My best guess would be it was intended as nothing more or less than to mark the completion of the boat...Because considerable effort had gone into it's design and fabrication....and the completion merited celebration. They are probably employees...and owner George Miskin probably told everyone to dress up for the momentous occasion, for a photograph...Speaking of Mr. Miskin...I would take a stab at the gentleman in the center as being him...That is fifth from left, with the wheel in front of him...just seems to have the intensity in his facial expression...And speaking of that wheel...The archaic style used by horse drawn wagons was one of the first things I noticed...It reminded me of the wheels on the late 19th century cast iron rowing toys.

Every one of the faces in the photo would have a story...but we can only speculate at this point. Below some satirical speculations:

QUICK LESSON IN

POWERBOAT SPEED PRINCIPLES

Brad on YouTube explains Hull Speed

By writing this feature I learned a little about marine technology...What I found out was there is a principle called "Hull Speed". According to the Hull Speed principle, the element of "drag", i.e. the resistance of water against the hull of a boat moving forward, will limit the speed the boat can obtain. That's no surprise...simple logic...But what I didn't know is the resistance is so great . t

And speaking of that cowl...that would be an early example of drag coefficiency disbursement...A sign they were looking to shave seconds off the clock...Later I'll be showing you statements they made that show speed was paramount to them...Mind you now...when I say "speed"...this photo is so early in the genesis of the sport, we're talking bragging about 30 MPH...Which would be a laugh chat the hull speed of any motor driven/motor propelled boat can't be increased without a motor strong enough to lift the hull, the front of the boat, out of the water so that the boat is propelled over the water as opposed to driving thru the water. In other words hydroplaning...Boats from the period of the boat in this photo, c1910 were very limited in speed because boat motors had not yet been developed that were powerful enough to obtain hull lift. So generally speaking...boat builders from the era of this c1910 boat were still in the learning stage. Which implies we are examining a boat from the very beginning of powerboat racing

On instagram I met a gentlman named Anthony G. Moore who builds new classic c1920 style wooden boats. I sent him a request to examine the photo and tell me what he could...Below our exchange:

d...... that early powerboat designers were up against....which could not be broken until motors powerful enough lift the hull out of the water thereby reducing the drag

On Friday, February 21, 2020, 1:46 PM, Carlton Hendricks wrote:
Hi Anthony…The attached shots are high resolution and should give you good clear visual of the boat…I also attached another boat George Miskin made, the General, just as an FYI….I’m doing a feature story on the photo for my site and would very much appreciate any insight you would have…as I’m a novice…to me it looks like it’s made for speed because of the low profile…

The photo was taken in Bay City MI pretty sure…
Kindly -carlton
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From: Anthony Moore
Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2020 5:04 AM
To: Carlton Hendricks
Subject: Re: Secret Boat Works Photo

Hi Carlton
Well, after studying the pictures it’s really hard to say what their intent was. It was common to build sleek boats to achieve the highest possible hull speed even if they weren’t going to race. The drag was quite literally a drag. The photos of the boat by the shop don’t seem to include an engine or it’s too low to see. I can’t make out any driveline on the underside either. It’s very possible it was going to be raced but I can’t say for sure. Each region had their own boating culture and style, I’m mostly familiar with the Canadian stuff.

Thanks for passing along the pictures, I wish I could step into them for a minute....

Anthony
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On Monday, February 24, 2020, 4:08 AM, Carlton Hendricks wrote:
Hi Anthony…Thanks s much for looking it over…one question…when you say “The drag was quite literally a drag.”…..what does that mean…I don’t know what a drag is if it’s part of the boat
Best -carlton
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From: Anthony Moore
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 8:25 PM
To: Carlton Hendricks
Subject: Re: Secret Boat Works Photo

Well, I just mean that early motorboat design had the hull shapes very much like a canoe to eliminate any and all resistance or drag.