For "Jaws" Boat It's Hammer Time

Cricket II & her captain said to have inspired Peter Benchley

The boat that allegedly played an inspirational role in Peter Benchley's terrifying fish tale "Jaws" is about to go under the gavel. Following the passing of her skipper, Captain Frank Mandus, in September, the 40-foot Cricket II is now for sale through a Long Island firm, David R. Maltz and Company.

According to the East Hampton Town News today, company vice president Richard Maltz said Mundus' widow told him that her husband had long wanted to sell the boat. The auction will open on January 14 and run through February 4. Bids will be entered exclusively online. Those wishing to bid on the Cricket II must register with the company and submit a certified bank check for $5,000.

The late Capt. Mundus "earned a reputation as one of Montauk's most colorful and successful charter fishermen" the paper reported. And his vessil was part of the legend.

"Aboard her broad wooden decks, Capt. Mundus honed the art of hunting sharks. His bloody displays of shark carcasses, which he towed back to the dock and hung off the Cricket II's transom, justified the name he called himself, 'Monster Man.' He advertised his trips as 'Monster Fishing' expeditions with a large sign hung from the boat's superstructure. In 1986, he and angler Donnie Braddick and two other men caught a 3,400-pound great white shark, the largest fish ever caught on rod-and-reel."

Capt. Mundus is said to have been the inspiration for the character of Quint, the grizzled shark-obsessed fisherman in Peter Benchley's novel, "Jaws," played by Robert Shaw in the movie.

The auction for the Cricket II will include some of the boat's fishing equipment, including a cloth sail, the boat's original fighting chair (the one from which Capt. Braddick fought the record white shark), a bucket painted with the words "Monster Mash" - the name Capt. Mundus gave to the special concoction of ground up fish parts he used to attract sharks - and a garbage can painted with the words "Monster Trash."

Maltz said that registration for the auction will begin on December 15.

(Photo from East Hampton Town News)