Barbour Boat returns home

Published: Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 18:08 PM.

It was in August 2011 when Steve Novak found his wooden love.

The New Bern resident was in nearby Beaufort when a friend told him, You really ought to go into the Maritime Museum now; its free. Look around.

He did, and among the shad boats, models and Blackbeard memorabilia, he came upon something really remarkable: a 1958 Barbour Boats Silver Clipper, a shining, streamlined, wooden runabout.

I thought, Gosh, this is gorgeous! Novak recalls.

Although he had never owned a boat before, Novak went home and plied his Google skills looking for an original Barbour for sale.

He finally located one, newly restored by Will Stahlgren of Heritage Wooden Boat Services in northern Maryland. He showed the images to his sea-faring neighbor who told him, Gosh, thats a good-looking boat, and heres some questions to ask them.

So I did, Novak says, and the long story short, I bought the boat.

Its named the Zingo. Thats not his choice, however: the monicker was painted on by Stahlgren, who said he named it in honor of a game he and his grandfather used to play.

It is a gorgeous boat, a 16-foot, 7-inch meticulously restored 1960 Barbour Silver Clipper Deluxe mounted by a 1962 Mercury 70 horsepower outboard engine.

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Barbour Boat returns home