NEWS & NOTES
The last time I saw Bob Smith was at the Annapolis Boat Show, just a few short years ago. He was perched on a stool in his American Diesel booth, behind a table that was decorated with Ford Lehman diesel engine parts—pistons, valves, water pumps, exhaust elbows—that had failed due to corrosion, poor maintenance, or abuse. Bob saw me coming, looked me in the eye, and with a straight face said, “Well, it looks like they’ll let anybody in here.” Then he’d smile, stand up, and come forward with an extended hand and a solid grip that said, “Welcome, friend.”
Robert Frederick Smith, or “Diesel Bob” as some called him, made the journey to Fiddler’s Green in January of this year, leaving behind a legion of boat owners who, whether they knew it or not, were able to take to the water and cruise efficiently because of his untiring efforts.
I first met him when I joined the Passage Maker magazine staff and began attending TrawlerFest events all around the United States. He was already well-known in the distance-cruising community as the owner of American Diesel in Kilmarnock, Virginia, and as a big supporter of the Marine Trawler Owner’s Association (MTOA). Rob Dorfmeyer— Passage Maker’s then publisher and TrawlerFest’s general manager—held him in the highest regard.
“Bob Smith, or ‘Dad,’ as I used to refer to him, and introduce him to attendees at the many TrawlerFest events at which he presented, had a following of which legends are made,” said Dorfmeyer. “His two-day, six-hour TrawlerFest University classes were highly sought after, always the first to sell out.”
“He encouraged boaters of all degrees of experience, regardless of the diesel brand they owned, to learn the principles and practices of maintaining and using diesel engines in a hands-on classroom environment that included disassembly and reassembly of a working engine,” Dorfmeyer recalled. “At the completion of each class, the students rolled the engine outside the classroom and watched as Bob hooked up fuel and electrical sources. Graduation was always accompanied by a smooth-running engine.
“Over the last few years of working as a yacht broker, I have called Bob many times while on my side in a bilge, describing an engine’s characteristics and condition,” Dorfmeyer explained. “If I had a question—any question at all—I could count on Bob walking me through almost every nut, bolt, and component on that specific engine. In many ways, he would help most anyone who owned a boat, or was interested in purchasing a boat, powered by Ford Lehman diesels.”
Bob Smith was born and raised in New Jersey and, like most of us who are imbued with the water gene, grew up operating and enjoying boats of all kinds. He was a toolmaker’s apprentice for Bell Labs, attended night school at Rutgers University, served seven years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, and stood up for his community as a volunteer fireman for more than 20 years.
Joining with Roger Lehman in 1959, Bob helped to engineer the now ubiquitous Lehman-marinized Ford-UK diesel engines. It would be hard for me to estimate the number of boats built and powered by these reliable, fuel-efficient diesels, but they must number in the thousands. When Bob purchased Hale Marine, a marine engine distributor, and eventually moved it to Kilmarnock, Virginia, in 1981, American Diesel was launched. They supplied replacement parts for Ford Lehman diesels up to 140-hp.
“Bob will remain well-known to the entire boating community, young and old alike, for his unceasing efforts to educate owners through lectures and articles, about the proper care and consideration necessary for long diesel service life,” Dorfmeyer said. “The legacy that he leaves behind for the Ford Lehman diesel brand, for owners of those engines around the world, and for the American Diesel Company (americandieselcorp.com) is a credit to his name and his hard work. His very capable and diesel-experienced son, Brian, will carry on the good work that would make his father proud.”
As for me, I will never forget him. From his handshake to his quick quips, he was an original. I wish Brian, and Bob’s loving wife of 50 years, Gail Dockery Smith, both of whom were often found in the American Diesel booth, peace and prosperity in the years to come. Fair winds and following seas, my friend.
–John Wooldridge with Rob Dorfmeyer