ACBS President Gene Porter

      Vintage boating will be in full swing by the time this letter is published. I’ve been fortunate this past spring to follow the season north from its traditional kick-off on Florida’s St. Johns River— which, though quite diff erent in fl ora and fauna from my native Northern region—shares many features of Yankeeland’s historic routes to upstream riches. The ACBS-sponsored Hudson Extreme Cruise last fall traversed some wild and scenic country, but none wilder than the St. Johns…and featured many fewer alligators!
       The Sunnyland Chapter’s April show immediately followed the St. Johns Cruise and drew a spectacular array of boats to their new site in Tavares, with new docks and much, much more. Later in April, I cruised another historic waterway, the Tchefuncta River, courtesy of the Bayou Chapter—our newest—which hosted the Spring Meeting of the ACBS Board on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, near New Orleans.
      As many of you know, most of ACBS’ business is conducted by the twenty-plus committees, each of which is led by a Board member who takes on the responsibility of guiding a specifi c agenda for at least one year. These activities range from management of our growing Scholarship Fund, to shepherding our membership management system upgrade project, and many more, as those of you who are, or have been, active in helping manage your local chapter are well aware. Board meetings provide the opportunity for these committee activities to be integrated into a coherent overall management approach on a quarterly basis. And holding these meetings in interesting new locations (see the invitation elsewhere in this issue of Rudder) helps justify the considerable personal expense that Board members incur in taking these jobs.
      Like many other long-term members of ACBS International, one of the very best locations in my album of past meeting locations is Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. All the members of the Board are excited to have our Annual General Meeting and International Boat Show returning to Coeur d’Alene in 2008. Despite the increased cost of airplane and motor fuel, I urge our members to tighten other segments of their budgets and plan to bring a boat to this wonderful location. And if you really can’t bring a boat, please plan to attend and participate.
      As I have mentioned in previous letters, we at ACBS International are expanding our efforts to better ensure that the benefi ts we offer to our Canadian members are no less than the benefi ts we provide to our US members. In addition to the highly valued Directory and Rudder that go out to all members, advantageous insurance arrangements are high on the list of benefi ts valued by US members. To date, similar benefi ts have not been widely available to our Canadian members. We are working to change that. At present, members of all Canadian chapters can already benefit from the arrangements in place between the Toronto Chapter and the Purves Redmond Insurance Brokerage. Robert Purves helped to found the Toronto Chapter and is a long- standing member of ACBS International.
      Returning to the price of fuel, I hope all members will take into account the relatively small cost of their annual bill for boat fuel, even at these elevated process, as a fraction of the overall annualized cost of vintage boat stewardship. Such a comparison should help convince you to continue to use your boat(s) in full measure. We are not the Antique and Classic Boat Museum; our boats are being preserved and maintained not just for display, but for use; hopefully, frequent use. But if the cost of fuel for your big thundering V-12 inboard really is a concern, please bring one of those wonderful early 70s outboards out of deep storage and back into service. Remember, the ACBS Classic Class of vintage boats has now been extended through 1975.

Happy vintage boating
Gene Porter
President, ACBS, Inc.