New life for fire boat Old No. 9

When World War II utility boat Old No. 9 finally went to dry dock in 2002, it’s understandable if you thought it would never be heard from again.

After all, through its 61-year history, Old No. 9 had gone through face lifts, modifications and changed countless hands as it aged, each owner telling themselves they’ll fix it up.

And each time, Old No. 9 was passed on to someone else.

Passed along to someone else, that is, until it was steered into John Matthews’ capable hands with the Boy Scouts of America’s Sea Scouts base in Newport Beach. Thursday morning, Matthews and sheriff’s officials watched Old No. 9 splash back into action at Basin Marine Shipyard off Harbor Island Road in Newport Beach.

“If we didn’t fix it up, it was going to end up a bonfire,” said Matthews, 67. “She was in real desperate straits.”

Matthews was familiar with Old No. 9 long before he started fixing it up for the Scouts in 1999. He said he remembered being on a boat in Newport Harbor as a child, when the engine went out and Old No. 9, which at the time belonged to the Harbor Patrol, had to tow the boat in.

The harbor patrol got Old No. 9 in 1947. Before that, it was with the military as a yard utility boat since its launch in 1941. The harbor patrol added a cabin, water pump and a bridge, and Old No. 9 became the patrol’s first fire boat. It was eventually replaced and used as a utility boat until it was auctioned off in 1977. For the next 32 years, Old No. 9 went from owner to owner, getting fixes here and there, but time continued to wear on it.

Matthews worked on Old No. 9 for three years at the Sea Base, until he had it moved to dry dock in June 2002. For the next 7 1/2 years, Matthews slowly made Old No. 9 new. He spent $21,000 in storage costs over the years. He didn’t dare guess how many hours he spent on the boat, or the costs to rebuild it.

“For what I put into it, I bet she lasts longer than me,” he said with a laugh. “I was working on it so much, I’d go to work to relax.”

It was a labor of love for Matthews, said Bob Kingaard, who owned Old No. 9 from 1990 to 1994. Kingaard owned the boat when it last won the local Character Boat Parade in 1992.

Ann Matthews, John’s wife, watched as her husband and others made some last-minute adjustments to it before it sailed back to the Sea Scouts’ Sea Base down the harbor.

“It means the world to him,” she said.

Now that this project is done, John Matthews’ next project will be working on their house, which he’s been neglecting for the last seven or so years, she joked.

John Matthews said he restored the boat with two things in mind: preserving a piece of history and paying back the Sea Scouts for what they’ve done for his kids. He said his two sons and daughter went through the program.

“She’s part of the history of the harbor that needed to be saved,” he said.