By Jeff & Char Appel members of the Big Sky chapter We found the boat in a field in an abandon farm in eastern Montana. Took almost 3 years to finalize the sale. Almost 5 years to restore it. The boat was originally built for Yellowstone Park, for rides on Yellowstone Lake. That is why…
By member Walter Legett, Bayou chapter I looked at the boat on the internet for about three years and read Danenberg’s book on restoration of wooden runabouts. After the third time reading the book, I decided to purchase a wood boat. When I was growing up in Gulfport, Mississippi, the rich folks had these boats…
by Rick Watson member of the Allegheny chapter In the Spring of 1975, I was 12 and my life changed dramatically. My mom remarried and we moved to Conneaut Lake. I had a new home, in a new town . Bob Moss, (Mom & Bob are pictured above), began the process of stabilizing and molding…
By Ken Gimble, Inland Empire chapter ROBUSTO – Name is a series of Cigar shape related boat names owned by a group of us here in North Idaho. 1960 Chris Craft 23-foot Sea Skiff Ranger – One of 51 Sea Skiff Hulls for 1960 and a fewer number of Ranger finished craft. This option included…
by Art Armstrong, Michigan chapter Molly-O has a direct connection to the descendants of Chris Smith as my grandfather, Milton Meier, was a friend of Owen Smith. In 1938 Owen asked him if he was interested in purchasing one if the seven 24-foot boats that were being built for family members. Apparently one of the…
By Rob Midyett, Dixieland chapter I’m not sure when I caught the antique boating bug. I had an uncle who owned a 1965 Chris Craft 17-foot ski boat. He was kind of a “shade tree” mechanic and he took great care of his boat. We would visit with my aunt and uncle each summer and…
By Fritz Horton, Lake Champlain Chapter The Thistle Class sailing dinghy was designed in 1945 by Gordon (“Sandy”) Douglass to reach the post-war market yearning for inexpensive, high-performance one design boats. The design was patterned after then-current versions of the International 14 Class dinghies, in which Douglass had won a bronze medal in the ‘36…
Dianne Shelly member of the Adirondack chapter We Three has been an original item on Long Lake in the Adirondacks since she was delivered to the original owner, WA Raney in April 1946. After the passing of Mr. Raney, his daughter sold the GarWood to Dr. and Mrs. Shelly in April 1996 and she remains…
By John Hart member of BSLOL Chapter It was a few encounters with a Thompson boat around 1965 that launched my interest in wooden runabouts. Whether as a passenger watching the water rush by during a tight turn, as a spotter monitoring the status of a skier, or as a person on the end of…
By Greg Adams, Blackhawk chapter I had always wanted an antique wood boat, and once we started renting a house on Northern Michigan’s Walloon Lake, I knew it was time to starting looking. I decided early on that I wanted something that was uncommon and possibly something with a connection to our family. My wife…
By John Ables, ACBS Member I bought the boat back in 1974 when I was 25 years old and living on a lake in the Grand Rapids Michigan area. When I was a child my dad’s company had several of this same model that were available for use and they were kept on Lake Texoma.…
by James Rand, Inland Empire Chapter My childhood in the 50s and early 60s was spent on Long Island sound where we belonged to a yacht club. My father had Chris-Craft cruisers beginning with wooden ones and later fiberglass. I bought my first boat at age 14. I loved fishing, water skiing, and scuba diving.…