By Lew Dobbins, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter Most of our club members are familiar with Chris-Craft, Century, Hacker Craft and GarWood boats, being the most common in our boating world. And a few are familiar with some of their engines. But even as common as these engines are, the varied model names, numbers and letters…
By Hank Reiser, Niagara Frontier Chapter In the spring 2024 we had a 24 Fiberglass Lyman for sale at our boat repair and sales operation just south of Annapolis. One day, a fellow named Tom Martins stopped by to look at the boat. We did not make the sale, but during our conversation, Tom mentioned…
By Capt. Mark Manes, Northern California Lake Tahoe Chapter Let’s just say that you have just spent all winter getting your boat ready for the season. Countless hours of sanding, varnishing, cleaning, and painting – and your girl is now finally ready for the show. After easing her gently down the launch ramp into the…
By Bill Berger, Michigan Chapter In March 2004, my home phone rang. “Hello,” I said. The answer: “Do you still want to buy my boat?” I did not understand, so the caller tried again. “This Don Diem. Do you still want to buy my boat?” I still did not know who this was and what…
By John Seal, SML Chapter Unless otherwise noted, photo credits: John Seal The Smith Mountain Lake Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society recently held their annual fall workshop at the home of Alan and Jean Frederick. The 50 members and guests in attendance learned from subject matter experts about 3 topics that are…
By Ted W. Hall – Great-Grandson of George W. Hall, Finger Lakes Boating Museum, Wine Country Classic Boats, Finger Lakes and North Coast Ohio Chapter of ACBS Member In the Finger Lakes Boating Museum’s Copper Nail issue from Fall 2021, I wrote about my Great Grandfather, George W. Hall. He built approximately 40+ boats in…
By Vickie Rutkowski, Rocky Mountain Classics Chapter Late in the 1800s, the great Paris fashion houses had a clever way of selling their creations. Every spring and fall they hired the most beautiful young women they could find. They would dress these mannequins, as they were called, in the best of their collections and send…
By Lew Dobbins, Northern California Lake Tahoe Chapter Like your car, we need to change the oil and filter regularly. Most of our older boats do not have oil filters but one can be retrofitted if you desire. Re- gardless of filter, your oil should be changed seasonally. Every engine has a little bit of…
By Lew Dobbins, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter Several people have recently asked me questions about winterizing boat engines, so, let’s discuss some of the issues and what we need to do to protect our boat engines and get a long life out of them. Like most things in life, there are a multitude of varying…
By Jeff Waco, Rocky Mountain Classics The magnetic compass is basically standard equipment on most boats both large and small. What does a compass do? Almost nothing. Basically, it is nothing more than a disc with some magnets. On the disc are the cardinal directions and degrees. Older compasses did not have degrees, but it…
By Don Leutz, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter As you are most likely aware, there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed when piloting any boat. Much like the “Rules of the Road” that are necessary to follow when driving an automobile, boaters must follow the “Rules of the Road” set by the U.S.…
By Randy Fletcher, Thousand Islands Chapter The float started as a 1947 GarWood Ensign that we were going to put a new bottom on. As the project advanced, it needed more than a bottom, she needed a total all wood replacement to make her seaworthy again. The decision was to scrap the project, sell off…