Photos of an unknown vessel were published in the Aug. 10 issue of the Gazette-Journal, along with a request for information. The identities of the craft and its builders were unknown, that is, until Elwood King of Guinea sat down to shed some light on the subject.
The vessel in the photo was the Delvin K, a 60-foot deckboat built locally and first captained by Mr. King’s father, Willie King, in 1948. The photo also show shipbuilder Sydney Smith and an unknown assistant standing on the deck of the vessel as she is being built in the front yard of Taylor Miner who owned property on the York River.
The vessel featured a kitchen and pilot house above deck and was made entirely of local timbers. The 21-inch keel was cut out of the woods of Guinea and C.B. “Buck” Rowe “sold kegs of spikes and other materials” to the builders of the Delvin K from his store at Bena, making the vessel a true local product. She also featured a 671 GM diesel motor.
King said that th...