ADVENTURERS RECOVER SUNKEN TREASURE

It wasn't exactly like the ranching adventure Billy Crystal roped in "City Slickers," but with the help of three friends Chuck Smith finally landed himself the houseboat he's always wanted.

The four Cape Girardeau men traveled to Kickapoo Island north of St. Charles last weekend to dig the sunken houseboat from the Mississippi River. It wasn't their first adventure together and it probably won't be their last, they say.

The 28-foot 1958 Safety Craft houseboat was given to Smith on the condition that he pull it out of the island mud that covered half the boat.

A friend who lives near St. Charles told Smith about the boat. "The owner said he'd give it to the first person to get it out," said Smith, who works at Procter & Gamble.

Since Smith likes the river and has always wanted to own a houseboat -- or at least one with windshield wipers -- he rounded up his friends the gas company salesman, the painter and the construction worker to help. The prospect of an adventure didn't hurt either.

"That's how he called me up," Bill Ingram said. "He said `Are you ready for an adventure? I finally got a houseboat but there's one problem. It's sunk.'"

Ingram and Smith, who have been friends for almost 15 years, have done some unusual things together over the years, so references to the "City Slickers" movie are not uncommon.

"It came to my mind a couple different times," Ingram said of the comparison.

After Thanksgiving dinner, Smith and his brother Mike, Ingram, Newt Gilliland and Smith's dog Rex left to recover the boat and didn't return until the following Sunday night when they docked it at Arnold.

Getting the boat off the island wasn't easy. The crew spent most of the time baling out water and mud.

"It will look 100 percent better after we get the mud off," Smith said. "I have to get it cleaned up and dried out to see what I've got. But there are enough unique pieces to it that it was worth it."

One unusual feature is a wicker steering wheel.

Smith isn't sure how long the boat had been under water. He had heard it was as little as four months, but a previous owner said it was closer to a year.

Because the men were working in water, they couldn't wear gloves. And since it was cold, their hands would stick to the metal hull every time they touched it, Ingram said. They built a plywood and plastic form to make the salvaging job a little easier.

After two days of work, they pulled the boat out of the mud and moved it down the island. It wasn't until then that they could see the name of the boat -- The Classic. Then they had to dig 3 feet of mud out of the cabin so it could be towed away.

"When we left Kickapoo, people were lined up to watch us," Ingram said.

And they were quite a sight. Two ski boats were tied to The Classic to help steer and keep it in the channel.

None of the men had any tow-boat experience except for Smith. For part of the trip, they sat on a bank and practiced tying knots so they would know what to do once they got on the boat.

During their voyage, one riverboat captain radioed them to say they were either crazy or must really know what they were doing.

"I called back and said we had one guy who knew what he was doing and the rest of us were green," Ingram said. Smith worked on a riverboat for about six years.

"I had the rig and the experience," Smith said. "I wasn't worried. I respect the river a lot. I took the experience of working on the those boats. I knew how they would handle and how fast they could stop."

But there was one thing Smith and his crew didn't plan on -- running out of fuel. Early Sunday morning, one of the ski boats ran out of gas and got caught up in the current. After some delicate maneuvering, the crew docked the boats and hitched a ride into town for more gasoline.

Later that afternoon, they decided to dock the boat at a marina near Arnold. Smith brought the boat back to Cape Girardeau Thursday. He plans to dry it out and restore it in the spring.

"Before it's over, I plan to own every kind (of boat) there is," Smith said, adding that he owns five other boats now.

And once the houseboat is restored, he said, he owes each crew member a ride.