Just another day in Jamestown

Despite the late spring, it seemed a typical May morning in Jamestown, R.I. A few boats were out on their moorings; others – on the hard and on the floats – were being put in commission.
I cracked the windows as I drove into the village. A handful of boat owners bustled along the waterfront, carrying tools, buckets and tote bags. Gulls cried, a southwest breeze was rallying in fits and starts, the dank yet pleasing scent of kelp, salt and sand wafted into the car, and a three-wheeled rigid inflatable drove down Narragansett Avenue as I approached the intersection near Conanicut Marine. What!?
I was bound for the Rhode Island Boat Show at Conanicut Marine, to meet David Stewart, Points East’s Rhode Island/Connecticut sales rep, who had set up a display on the seawall there. I followed the amphibious RIB into the parking lot, to discover that this wondrous vehicle was a 23-foot, five-inch Sealegs Amphibious Marine Craft. Sealegs has a showroom and customer-service center in Bristol, R.I.
The amphibian is powered on land by an inboard engine that drives hydraulic, motorized wheels that can be steered. The wheels are retractable or extendable with the push of a button, “similar to an airplane carriage,” the brochure says. This model, the 7.1m RIB, reportedly with a $125,000 price tag, had a 150-horse outboard that, the technical specs say, can drive the vehicle over 40 knots on the water. The amphib has a top end of five mph on land. There are four other models, from 20 to 25 feet, five inches long, including a cabin version (the 7.7m Cabin) of the larger size.
As I walked farther into the show area, I did a double take: Was that the 1930 America’s Cup J-boat Shamrock’s old deckhouse that sold day-cruise tickets and T-shirts on Newport’s Bannisters Wharf? Yes it was, and the elegant, deeply varnished structure is now known as The Newport J-House (www.newportjhouse.com). It’s mounted on wheels, and it’s available for weddings, beach parties and clambakes, yacht club receptions, and other social gatherings “. . . adding a touch of vintage charm to any memorable affair.” Read: a cozy, classy spot to take a load off, relax, and knock back a few.
The deckhouse left Bannister’s in 1999, said J-House owner and America’s Cup veteran (America3 1992, Young America 1995, Stars & Stripes 1999, USA 76 2000-03) George J. “Geordie” Shaver. Then it was moved to a carpenter’s shop in North Kingston, R.I., for a refit before serving as a promotional tool for IYRS, the Rhode Island boatbuilding school.
Long story short, Geordy said, “The house was left for dead” until it was discovered by the buyer of the structure in which it was stored. Geordie bought the museum piece in 2010, and it’s a regular on the Newport Polo circuit. The J-House was awarded the Alex & Ani Best Tailgate Award at a 2013 Newport Polo Match.
Feeling like I’d once again stepped through the looking-glass (Jamestown can do that to you), I climbed into my car and headed for the barn. It had been just another day in Jamestown.