Restoring the Cricket II

“Jaws” swims on.

Thirty-four years after the blockbuster was released, the movie and its offshoots are still scaring the bejesus out of people and earning a lot of money doing it.

There are Jaws theme parks in Orlando, San Francisco and Japan. There’s a documentary. There are toys, posters, games, T-shirts and fan clubs. Martha’s Vineyard hosts JawsFests.

All of which screams that a monument to Montauk fishing with the Cricket II as its centerpiece simply has to happen.

To explain:

Frank Mundus was the legendary Montauk shark hunter who was the basis for the crusty, crazed Capt. Quint in the movie. Mundus died a year ago and his boat, the Cricket II, upon which the movie’s Orca was based, went to auction. It was bought for $51,750 by Jon Dodd of Rhode Island, who has begun renovation.

Meanwhile, however, efforts to keep the boat here as part of a monument to Montauk fishing were under way. At the helm was Henry Uihlein of Uihlein Marine in Montauk, where the Cricket II has been berthed.

As a result, the two men ended up at odds. That’s unfortunate because they have a lot in common. Most importantly, they both had fond connections with Mundus dating back to their childhoods. “My father had that effect on a lot of young men,” the captain’s daughter, Patty Mundus of Greenport, told me last week.

Dodd, who won the auction, was 13 when he started writing Mundus letters, offering to swab decks if he could go along on a shark-hunting expedition. “He was my Mickey Mantle,” Dodd said.

Same sort of thing for Uihlein. “As a kid I saw those sharks being pulled,” he recalled. “There was a lot of excitement. He gave me sharks’ eyes and taught me how to make marbles out of them by burying them.”

Uihlein went on to run the marina where the Cricket II was kept. “Frank trusted me with the boat,” he said. “He came to me two or three days before he died and told me to take care of it. He wanted the boat here.”

The captain’s daughter agrees. “I like the idea of the Cricket remaining in Montauk, not just as a memorial to my father,” but as part of a monument to Montauk fishing.

Uihlein said he’d succeeded in getting the county to donate a piece of land to that end, but now the campaign is scuttled. The money’s not there and “the boat is gone,” he said. “It’s no longer Frank’s boat.”

Patty Mundus agrees. “It’s very unfortunate it’s already been taken apart,” she said. “It was in sort of artifact state before. Now the whole boat’s been gutted.”

Dodd says he didn’t know about the memorial idea when he won the auction and began restoration. When he did hear, he said he would be willing to part with the Cricket II if his $71,850 investment could be reimbursed. More recently an unnamed Montauk accountant sent him an e-mail suggesting he could cover his costs by donating the boat to Montauk. That interests him.

“I’ve been reading the comments about what a shame it is, etc.” Dodd said. “I’m not extremely desirous to get rid of it, but if something special could be done …” He had planned to use the rebuilt Cricket II for family outings, but he too likes the idea of it being “the centerpiece of a monument to commemorate Montauk as the fishing capital of the world.”

As for the loss of artifact status, he said the things he’s done, such as removing the gas tank, would have to be done anyway. If there’s truly interest, however, he said it should happen quickly before major expenses are incurred.

This is too good an idea to let fizzle. Think of all the Montauk anglers who might contribute. Maybe Steven Spielberg would help too. (I called and got as far as his publicist’s secretary. No reply yet. Also no reply from East Hampton’s supervisor-elect or acting supervisor.)

But I hope we don’t let this one get away. Something’s not right about Martha’s Vineyard hosting the highly successful JawsFests. It was all based on our shark, our Mundus and our Cricket II. It ought to be our attraction too.

Long Island Business News / November 23, 2009