Faster than lightning: Flipper renovated

You could smell the same salty air that the anglers enjoyed aboard the Flipper 60 years ago at the Destin History and Fishing Museum Wednesday.

A crowd gathered to watch the ribbon cutting of the newly renovated wheel house that once sat upon the Flipper.

The inaugural class of Destin Forward, the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce’s leadership and education program, began a restoration of the rotting and peeling mass that was donated to the museum by Charles DuPlantis, owner of Boogies Watersports.

The class took donations and funds raised in a yard sale to start the 15-month overhaul of the wheel house.

“We cut the old base off, it was rotted away,” class member Ian Smith told The Log. “We [also] painted it and restored a part of the roof.”

The new-and-improved Flipper is a perfect tourist photo-op and is now situated on a concrete slab in front of the museum. It has been equipped with a small stair case and railing that leads up into the vintage pilot house.

Once a charter fishing boat, the Flipper is now a hands-on exhibit at the museum. The size and accessibility make it easy to climb in and take a trip back in time.

The ribbon cutting also included the presentation of a check for $384.12 left over from the project funds as a donation to the museum.

“We wanted to do something to give back to the community,” Smith says.