ACBS was inaugurated on January 25, 1975. Happy anniversary! By the spring of 1975, though newly formed, ACBS was already an active club with representation at major boat shows and new chapters forming. Read all about it in the very first ACBS publication, the Rusty Rudder!
(Or, for Immediate Relief, Just Get Out on the Water) Whenever I want to feel better, fast, I head straight for the water. The simple act of motoring across the bay or just floating around, especially aboard a vintage boat, is the finest therapy for anything that ails you. Whether you’re aboard a vintage runabout,…
By Anders Johnsen, ACBS Nordic Chapter (All pictures by the author) Historical background With the world’s second longest coastline it´s quite natural that boats have been a central part of our history all the way from the Vikings to modern times. As in many other countries, motorized boats used for pleasure started to appear in…
In the early 1980s, a group of vintage boat owners living on one of Michigan’s many pristine bodies of water in the Grand Traverse region organized the Long Lake Wooden Boat Club. Gradually, they became aware of an international organization called The Antique and Classic Boat Society; from this awareness would come the Water Wonderland…
Join the Lake Champlain Chapter for a video workshop on how to tune up a Flat Head Marine Engine. In this five-part video series, you’ll get a primer on checking engine compression, the distrubutor and water pumps for proper function and setting the timing. And, you’ll learn how to torque head bolts, about the fuel…
It all started back in 1978 when a group of folks wanted to have a boat show. The show was to feature both Vintage and recently wooden boats that had been in continuous use, a “user” boat. The show was a great success and the Village of Alexandria Bay has opened their docks for a…
Adventure lovers will remember Gene Porter’s story of a trip north along the veritable aquatic superhighway that is Lake Champlain and its appendages into the heart of old French Canada. Invited to judge the very first Montreal Classic Boat Festival. In 2008, inspired by to revisit the beauty of this country by waterway, Gene loaded…
During the month of August in 2010, Gilbert Vacheret, a founding member with a French delegation of the club Société Nautique de Bordeaux, went to the U.S. to meet with the ACBS. Lou Rauh introduced Gilbert to several chapters and one in particular, the Water Wonderland chapter, offered him the opportunity to visit the…
By Bjorn Bakken, Bay State Classic Boat Club While living overseas in my country of birth, Norway, from 2012 to 2014, a childhood friend told me: “I know of a rare wooden boat in a barn.” Many of us have heard of stories like this, but it’s like winning the Lotto when you see the…
It all started with Merl W. “Bill” Baldwin, Jr. (June 6, 1935-October 14, 2015). Known as “The Helmsman,” Bill wrote science fiction–specifically military space opera. The Helmsman Saga (8 books) was his best-known work, hence his nickname. He worked at NASA at Cape Canaveral supporting Project Mercury and later as a contractor for the NASA Manned Spacecraft…
Boating is in my blood. I have been on the water since I was eight years old, when dad bought our first family boat and a tent. Boat number two, our 18 ½-foot Weymouth cruiser, (yes, a cruiser, and Mom, Dad and three kids slept aboard), meant that every summer we’d spend family vacation time…
By Joe Frauenheim, PNW Chapter Member I grew up in Buffalo, New York, in a family deeply involved in the marine business. In 1977, fellow boaters had started the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the fledging Antique and Classic Boat Society. But, shortly thereafter, in June of 1979, I moved with my family to Bellevue, Washington,…