< Previous100 COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016Nice RidesStory by Michael A. Smith | Photos by Stuart VillanuevaLove and CorvettesA courtship and enduring marriage revolve around Chevy’s sleek roadsterDid a yellow 1965 Corvette lead to the marriage — now running past 40 years — of Jim and Denise Cowart? Maybe not, but a Corvette never hurts in affairs of the heart.In 1972, Denise’s VW bug was stalled in high water on 23rd Street in Galveston.Her father called a young man he knew at an Exxon sta-tion, and Jim Cowart arrived in the yellow Corvette that rainy day.He rescued Denise and the bug and a courtship ensued, which included tooling around Galveston in that yellow ’65.The couple wed in 1973, and, as with their courtship, their early married years revolved around Corvettes.The newlywed islanders owned a pair of ’60s-era Corvettes — a roadster and a coupe. They helped found the Lone Star Jim Cowart bought his wife, Denise, a 1964 Corvette Stingray roadster for the couple’s 30th anniversary in 2003.(Left and right) The iconic Corvette logo is featured prominently on the Stingray roadster. (Middle) Taillights are reflected in the chrome bumper. COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016 101Vettes car club, which drew members from among other young cou-ples with a bug for Chevy’s sleek sports cars.“It was just a group of young couples who liked to hang around and drive Corvettes,” Denise Cowart said. “We did car shows and fund-raisers; it was a lot of fun.”The car club was to be short-lived, however, perhaps inevitably.“The kids started to come, and the Vettes all went,” Jim Cowart said.The Cowarts, who now live in Santa Fe, didn’t give up on classic American cars because they had children, however, they just moved on to those with back seats — ’55 and ’56 Bel Airs, for example.Also inevitably, their children grew up, moved out and the Cowarts found themselves able to get back into the Corvette game. That return was just as romantic as those initial dating drives.“I bought this car in 2003,” Jim Cowart said, gesturing toward a Ermine White 1964 Corvette Stingray roadster. “I gave it to Denise for a 30th anniversary present.”The well-preserved ’64 Stingray came with Chevy’s luxury pack-age — power steering and brakes and air-conditioning — which had just been introduced in 1963, according to Hemmings Motor News.The ’63-’64 models marked a substantial evolution in the Corvette’s styling and performance, especially in the addition of independent rear suspension. Improvements in those years moved the Corvette into the ranks of bona fide sports cars and may have saved the model from being canceled, according to Hemmings.The year models offered three optional V8 engines, all 327 cubic inches, with horsepower ranging from 250 in the base model to 360 for the top-shelf fuel-injected version. Fuel injection added a whop-ping $430 to the price.The Cowarts’ ’64, which probably sold new for just less than $4,000, left the factory with a 300 horsepower 327, blue paint and a white leather interior, all since replaced.It’s now sporting a 1990-vintage 350 cubic inch V8 pickup truck motor with cylinders bored .030 over stock and outfitted with a roller camshaft with more lift than Chevy gave the original. The cam adds a nice lope to the V8 rumble piped through stock mufflers.Jim Cowart calculates the 350 is probably pushing 360 horsepower; it’s mated to an automatic transmission and pushing a curb weight of less than 3,100 pounds.While the Cowarts’ ’64 is a looker, it’s not the show, but the go, they like best about it.“It’s just a nice car to drive,” Denise Cowart said. (Left) The Cowarts’ Corvette Stingray featured cherry red interior.(Below) Keys on a Corvette keychain hang in the ignition.(Left, bottom) The Cowarts’ 1964 Stingray has more horsepower than the original models coming out of the factory. 102 COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 201624HOURSERVICE7 Days A WeekLocated Across From Galveston County JailBonding From The County Jail Bonding From All City JailsGale Lilliman - Owner •GALVESTON •HITCHCOCK •SANTA FE•TEXAS CITY •DICKINSON •KEMAH•LEAGUE CITY •FRIENDSWOOD •LA MARQUE409-762-0188CHECKS ACCEPTEDGulf CoastBail Bonds5324 Ball St.If you find yourself “Hooked” callMeMbership at its best!Join TodayGolf, pool, tennis, Dining, eventswww.AffordableAirTX.comSERVICE SPECIALWith This Ad expires 4/30/16$69Brent Ballard 409.925.8275TACLBO22538ESay Goodbye to Window Units with a Modern, Affordable Central A/C & Heating System!FREEESTIMATESFINANCINGAVAILABLEAFFORDABLEAIR & HEATWE ARE HERE FOR YOUWHEN YOU NEED US!SERVICING YOUR CITY SINCE 1994!donate goods.hunt fortreasure.Pickup Scheduling: 409-763-1691 • 601 51st, Galveston, TX 77551 COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016 103RE/MAX Leading Edge3616 7 Mile Rd | Galveston, TX | 77554 www.tomandgerri.comTHETOM&GERRITEAMTOMtom@tomandgerri.com 409.789.2297 GERRIgerri@tomandgerri.com 409.789.1672 3726 Marina BlvdGalveston, TXThe Emerald500 Seawall Blvd | Unit 1109Galveston, TXPoint West Condos26934 Bay Water Dr | Unit 103Galveston, TX921 Marine | Unit 106Galveston, TX7 Cozumel CircleGalveston, TXThe Dawn Condominiums7000 Seawall Blvd | Unit 933Galveston, TXEngaging Minds, Embracing Spirithfcsgalv.org • 2601 Ursuline, Galveston, TX 77550409.765.6607HOLY FAMILYCATHOLIC SCHOOLGALVESTON2014awardsREADERS’ CHOICETHE DAILY NEWS2601 Broadway • Galveston, Texas 77550409-765-5538 • FAX 409-765-6753Dentistry for the whole family.Serving Galveston Since 1919Our office services includeBleaching • Crown and Bridge Extractions • Dentures and Partials Root Canals • Implant ServicesWilliam L. Glenn, III., D.D.S.Dr. Alyssa Edwards104 COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016Stem to Stern(Clockwise from top) Lt. Ian Fundling, of the Jamaica Beach Fire Department, operates the department’s Sealegs amphibious rescue boat. Fundling displays medical supplies aboard the rescue boat. The compass aboard the vessel. A stokes basket used for water rescues is affixed to the side of the boat. COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016 105Come Visit!Tour the ships that dueled for supremacy of the violent seas of World War II! In the deadly cat-and-mouse actions of submarine vs. convoy escort, the USS Cavalla, sub SS-244, and the USS Stewart, destroyer escort DE-238, earned places in naval legend. Special events and group sleepovers are welcome!Call: (409) 770-3196 or visit: www.americanunderseawarfarecenter.comLocation: Seawolf Park, Pelican Island, Galveston: 51st St. north from Broadway and continue past the bridge on to the park.★★★GALVESTON - 25th Street Specials!!GALVESTON - 25th Street Specials!!409-763-2800 david@davidbowers.comThe House Company RealtorsDAVID BOWERS REALTOR®SINCE 19761723 25th, 3 BR/4 BA $424,5001825 25th, 3 BR/2 BA $374,50025th Street is a great place to call home!Close walk to the beach and walking distance to the cruise ship terminals.(I know, I do both!)1314 25th, 5 BR/3 BA $295,000PENDINGStory by David Canright Photos by Stuart VillanuevaThe call came in to the Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department one day in February. A fisherman in a little rubber boat in West Bay was adrift and helpless, the battery of his trolling motor having failed. The re-sponse was immediate, and the department’s newest water rescue boat, Sealegs, arrived at the scene to save the fisherman’s day.“We’re a fire and rescue service, not a towing and salvage company,” said Lt. Ian Fundling, head of the department’s Marine Division.”We’ll get you ashore, but we’ll leave your boat.”In this case, however, the boat was so small the rescuers just dragged it aboard the Sealegs and took it in with its hapless operator.Sealegs is a 22-foot rigid inflatable boat with a special talent: It can drive down the road on its three wheels, turn across a ditch and around dunes, drive over the beach and launch itself into the surf under its own power. When the water is deep enough, its wheels lift, the 150 horsepower outboard motor takes over, and the boat becomes a fast first responder to any emergency on the water.A 10-year-old design created by Sealegs Ltd. of New Zealand, the boat is the latest answer to the problem of combining land and water transportation in a single vehicle.Until now, the most successful craft for this purpose was the DUKW, built for the U.S. Army to transport troops and supplies ashore during World War II. The name was not an acronym, but a manufacturer’s code, and it was immediately and forever known as the “Duck.” The German wartime counterpart was named with characteristic German logic: Landwasserschlepper (land water tractor). At war’s end, some remain-SealegsAn amphibious marine craft becomes fast first responder to any emergency on the water106 COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016Stem to Sterning Ducks were turned to service as tourist attractions at several waterfront locations, including Galveston.Where the Duck can travel at 50 mph on a good road, Sealegs can manage only up to 10 mph. The Duck afloat, on the other hand, is high-sided, cumbersome and slow, while Sealegs speeds to the site of an emergency at up to 50 knots. Its crew is able to drag a distressed boater or swimmer from the water over the boat’s inflated sides and into the rescue stretcher ready at the rail if needed.Working with the U.S. Coast Guard, the stretcher and its human contents can then be lifted by helicopter to an emergency room. In fact, Sealegs, equipped with lifting eyes and harness, can be airlifted herself by heli-copter to an offshore search and rescue site.“We cover the bay and the beach from 103rd Street to San Luis Pass,” said Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department Chef Kyle Baden.The coast guard doesn’t operate boats in Galveston’s shallow West Bay, which isn’t considered “navigable waters” for its purposes. But the coast guard does work closely with Jamaica Beach, the Galveston Island Beach Pa-trol, and Galveston Fire, Police and EMS within an interagency framework called Galveston Marine Response, which was first seriously organized after Hurricane Ike struck in 2008.Jamaica Beach, with a year-round pop-ulation of about 900, swelling to between 3,000 on summer weekends, is the only city besides Galveston on the island. The Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department is a private nonprofit organization, and so able to re-ceive direct donations.Sealegs, fully equipped with hydraulic motors to drive her wheels, and with radios, GPS, searchlights, loudspeaker, emergency medical supply box, fire pump and more, is “not an inexpensive boat,” Baden said. She takes her place in the Galveston Marine Response network as a result of a gener-ous grant from The Moody Foundation, an island-based charitable organization.As she speeds across the water, Sealegs embodies technology, philanthropy and the dedication of skilled volunteers, all coming together to make coastal waters safer. The Jamaica Beach Fire Department’s amphibious rescue boat, Sealegs, features hydraulically operated wheels, allowing it to operate in shallow water.“We’re a fire and rescue service, not a towing and salvage company. We’ll get you ashore, but we’ll leave your boat.”– Ian Fundling COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016 107409-761-0585GAY@GALVESTONRE.COMGAY FUNDLING, BROKER 409-737-2020Home Sweet Home!21602 San Luis PassSea Isle5/3$319,000Nate Pacini, REALTOR409-771-62981602 32nd Street GalvestonCOMPLETELY REMODELED!3/3 with rear, ground floor garage apartmentBilly Hill, REALTOR409-771-821123154 BuenaTerramar Beach2/1 .5 - $225,000Becky Dundee, REALTOR409-939-599512832 E Camino FamosoSpanish Grant4/3$549,000Joanne Edge, REALTOR713-865-25004119 JacksonSea Isle2/1.5$220,000Gina Heird, REALTOR409-599-933016626 Jean LafitteJamaica Beach2/2$125,000Gay Fundling, BROKER409-761-0585108 COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016HomeportLouann Barnett and husband Steve Rogers renovated an 1893 period house in the Lost Bayou Historic District of Galveston. The couple had every intention of renovating and selling it, but the more they came to the island, the more they fell in love with it. COASTMONTHLY.COM / April 2016 109Story by Sue Mayfield Geiger Photos by Jennifer ReynoldsAbout four years ago, Houston residents Louann Barnett and husband Steve Rogers bought an 1893 period house in the Lost Bayou Historic District of Galveston with the intention of renovating and selling it.Yet, the more they came to the island, the more they fell in love with the city of Galveston.“We loved the restaurants and the beach, and eventually decided it would be great to have the house as a second home for our-selves,” Barnett said.Initially, her husband wasn’t too sure about it.“I liked the house, but thought she’d lost her mind, because re-doing a house over 100 years old is quite an undertaking,” Rog-ers said.Because they had used Greymark Con-struction Co. to remodel their Houston residence, they turned to them again to help with renovations, which began in March 2015.A 1900 Storm survivor, the raised house with 11-foot ceilings had good bones. The exterior was in fairly good condition, but the interior was another story.“The previous owner had done some work on the house, but nothing had been completed,” Barnett said. “He had amassed and left a huge collection of materials, so Greymark’s project manager, Dwayne Crow, was able to use certain items when renovat-ing.”It took about nine months to finish the house, which now has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.“Leslie King, owner and president of Greymark, was also a big help,” Barnett said. ‘Quite an undertaking’Island period home gets new life and an unexpected visitorNext >