“Majestic”
1936 22′ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout
Guy Marvin III
August 7, 2018
Owners Story
I came across Majestic in the early 90’s when taking one of my Correct Craft Skiers over to Mark Brundick’s at Cummer Boat Company for repair. Mark proudly pointed her out to me and encouraged me to climb aboard and check her out. I refused saying I had no interest in wooden boats. Just fix my Correct Craft. As time went on and I frequented Mark’s shop, that wooden boat began to grow on me. I came to find out she belonged to Larry Mullins from Palm Beach Gardens. Here her story gets a little vague for me. As I understand, she was originally delivered to a family in Maine. She took her name from her engine, a Chrysler Majestic. That family used her until the patriarch’s death in about 1960 at which time she was transferred to his sister who kept her for a couple of years before replacing her with a brand new Chris Craft Super Sport.
She was sold to another family in New Hampshire who used her for a few more years until her engine failed. And somewhere along the way during this period she got to visit the bottom of Lake Cobbosseecontee in Winthrop, Maine. At some point thereafter she was left exposed to the weather.
In the late 80’s our Gary Sherb picked her weathered hull up, put her on a flatbed trailer and brought the old girl to Florida. He put a new bottom on her and she was sold to Larry Mullins. Larry had her restored to her beautiful former self and enjoyed her for a few years before another beautiful wooden boat caught his fancy and he placed her with Mark Brundick for sale.
In the intervening time the boat really began to grow on me and I could see Laurie and me riding around in style in Majestic. One day when the price got right, I called my oldest son, Guy IV, and we decided to make an offer on Majestic. Larry accepted our offer and we were in the wooden boat business. The first event I remember taking her to was Homosassa Springs where I recall making a fool of myself trying to get used to handling our new toy.
That was in late 1994 and we spent the next year learning about our new wooden boat hobby and getting to know our new group of friends in Sunnyland and the ACBS. We also spent some time getting to know Majestic. While she was originally powered by a Chrysler Majestic engine, she is now powered with a Chris Craft Hercules MBL producing 158 horse power pushing her along at a respectable maximum speed of 40 MPH, pretty amazing for this old girl. She is very comfortable cruising at 25 MPH, a good speed for cruising!
In 1996, Majestic made her first St. Johns River Cruise under the leadership of Cruise Director, Dean Guy. Dean announced his retirement as Cruise Director at the end of that Cruise and in my euphoria after my first Cruise, I volunteered Laurie and me to become the new Cruise Directors. Since nobody else stepped up we got it by default. Surprise! Surprise!
Twenty-three years later Majestic has led every St. Johns River Cruise, South, and in some years both the South and the North Cruise covering more than three thousand miles on the St. Johns River which amounts to something over four hundred hours running time and many more hours socializing with our friends. While one must take into account that many participants are repeat customers, Majestic has led the way for more than twenty-two hundred individual participants in the boats over the years. And in all those years she has been a faithful participant at all the Sunnyland Antique Boat Festivals, taking part in pretty much all the activities.
