The Orca

[sjogren]

Oh ya, come on up! Get in touch.
Stanley was hard and kinda wild, check edit above



Tiger was caught south of here...??
They tried to keep it around in case it could be used again but started to stink
and was towed out and set adrift

[striper101]

I just remembered about Stanley sword fishing... He was harpooner but stayed up in the mast to help spot. When a fish was spotted he would put a piece of heater hose ouer the fore stay and slide all the way to the pulpit and stick the fish. It was a big western rig he was way up there.. 30-40 ft?

Now that sounds like some of the stories that Stanley has told me over the years! From what he has said he was basically Crazy!!!!

[striper101]

Oh ya, come on up! Get in touch.
Stanley was hard and kinda wild, check edit above

The next time I come up, I'll let you know!

[sjogren]

Talked with John Parkinson Jr. today(see above post) and asked about Orca
He said it was built by movie people. Sorry about that Misconduct
A bunch of stuff was added to it here including the spotting tower. The tower made it so top heavy it wanted to roll over. Some of the Island guys that worked on it went all over the Island getting lead including the lumber yards.
Well they rented the lead to the movie by the pound ,by the day!
The boat had no interior and was lightly built so the interior shots were done on a set ,from what I've learned from John Jr.
The other good one he told me was that when filming the shot where Quint slides down the deck into the sharks jaws they used John Jr's skate board.
Every time they tilted the deck quint did'nt slide very good so John Sr. thought of the skate board and used his kid's.
I was also told that many houses were built by people here making the movie money.
Oh ya... He confirmed about Stanley being model for Quint as well.

[sjogren]

I edited my last post when I should have done new one.

[POON MAN]

we got to see a lot of the original being filmed

even tried walking down the sidewalk a few times in edgertown trying to get in the shots but no go !!!! we must have got the axe !!!!

pretty cool times

I remeber seeing the remains of the ORCA only a few years back it was just siiting on the beach rotting

[sjogren]

Yep fun time. All the buzz here.
In the opening scene at the beach party the movie peeps asked who had the weed and to roll 'em up. In front of the paid police detail, the locals were pretty nervious about that!

[Op-orca]

Does anybody know who built the orca?I would like to build an exact replica of it and make it go fast.I think it would be unique to own that boat.I have a 23' now but I'm going to need a bigger boat.

Howdy Blackwell, Just got your PM.

Thanks for the big welcome everyone. I just happened to wash onto this forum while cruising the net as it were, looking for any new Orca data. Great to be here. Looks like there are quite a few vet MV Islanders here as well. Just the kind of folks I want to talk to.

We've been researching ORCA officially since I started Operation Orca in 1998 after finding ORCA (1) missing from the lagoon attraction at USH. Oddly not even the staffers there knew where it had gone and thus over the years my journey then turned into building an exact replica. Along the way I've had the great fortune of meeting a great bunch of folks including Joe Alves (Spielbergs art director and the person who found the boat for the production), Kevin Pike ((the gentleman who helped transform it into the ORCA from a simple Nova Scotian lobster boat named Warlock) and many many more.

We’ve had several false starts and for one reason or another…call it Murphy’s law we end up having to start almost from scratch. The thing we have gained each time though is more knowledge and we have more than enough know how to build this boat as it was for someone that wants it done right. We had one person commission one several years ago and we’d started building the keel but he had to move into the city and no longer could use a boat. In any case, the adventure getting there has been half the fun.

And yes you could say I like the movie the boat was featured in. I went to MV last year and was able to research the site where remains of ORCA (2) still are/were. Not much was left but I completed that journey and was able to make a few friends on the Island. One person I didn't get to meet that trip was Lynn Murphy. Hopefully next trip.

[Jagsare1]

I thought the story was always that Peter Benchley used Frank Mundus as the model for Quint?

[Op-orca]

I believe it was built specifically for the movie. By movie people.


Not by any known builder.


When it sank in the movie, they actually left it there, for some time.


I know a guy that has the machete that Quint stuck in the gunnel.

You're partially correct.

Orca was originally call 'Warlock' and was an old Nova Scotian when purchased by Joe Alves for the film. There was then a second copy Orca built that was open bottom and used barrels for floatation. The same kinds of barrels used in the fiilm to bring the shark to the surface.

In any case, Orca(2) was the one left with local boat wrangler Lynn Murphy after the film wrapped, and because it had a molded fiberglass hull, portions of that hull still exist (in pieces) even though being left to the elements.

Orca(1) however, was sold to another crew person and was shipped back to LA where it was used as a live aboard until being sold back to Universal for the JAWS attraction in '76.

BTW: Is the person you know who owns the machette named Chris by chance?