WATER WAGON
By
A Floridian frolic aboard the Best Bet as the author tells of the dream boat he diagrammed and planned on Midway during the war. Back in Florida he was laughed at by everyone, but a naval architect studied his drawings and built the water wagon -- part cruiser, part houseboat and sometimes the trailer for a Jeep. Then there are the thrills of the shakedown cruise, through rivers and lakes as Best Bet went through her paces, nearly sinking, taking tight turns on canals, and rousing frantic interest with her appearance. A second trip through the Everglades and round Cape Sable to the Keys and a third up the East Coast complete the saga. The experiences of good and bad experiments, the possibility of navigating by birds' knees, the type of life and food, and the beautiful places to get lost in, make this chronicle of a hybrid boat a shot in the arm saline solution for all the spars and tar boys, afloat and ashore.