by Bruce Collemer member of the Southern New England chapter This is a about a magical career in boating and a magical boat. I started in boats at the age of 8 yrs old living on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. My first few years were mostly spent keeping my boats afloat. After high school,…
by Paul Graham member of the Pacific Northwest chapter In 2016 I was restoring a 1958 Dorsett Monterey and was not looking for another boat. But when I was on the water watching the Blue Angels fly during the Seafair festivities on Lake Washington, I saw a boat I would love to have. I wasn’t…
by Casey DeHollander member of the Water Wonderland chapter My first memory of wooden boats goes back to my uncle’s Chris-Craft U-22 on Lake Charlevoix. She was a real head turner. Another uncle owned a cottage on Big Star Lake. I spent a lot of time there in the summers watching the fastest boat on…
by Matt Foley & Susie Becker members of the Lake Champlain chapter We live a few minutes away from the New York side of Lake Champlain, big water. Summer is the work season for us, so late afternoon – evening getaways on the lake with food and drink, often with friends, are our main form…
by Lindy Robinson member of the Southwest chapter Like many of us, my love for boats started early with water skiing and fishing on my local lake. I have always had a boat of some kind but did not really fall in love with wooden boats until about 25 years ago. Seeing all the beautiful…
by Bob Besel member of the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes chapter When we arrived at Tulsa the boat had been dragged from the shed, where the rig hibernated for 30 years, into a very dusty warehouse, on flat tires. I brought new wheels and tires, ‘hoping’ that the trailer bearings were fit for the 730 mile…
by Jim Hering member of the Michigan chapter My current boat was shipped from Holland, MI. factory to Colony Chris-Craft in Algonac, MI. on June 26,1964 which happens to be my birthdate! She has always been docked on Lake St Clair. Interestingly I know the son of the 2nd owner, the 3rd owner, and the…
by Steve Richards member of the Jerry Dyhrkopp/Iowa Great Lakes chapter The ALWAYS “R”s was purchased new on Labor Day 1964 from the Gipner Boat Works on West Lake Okoboji, part of the Iowa Great Lakes, for $4600. I was 16 years old. We traded in a 16-foot Hafer Inboard, which was a boat manufactured…
by Mark Woolsey member of the Water Wonderland chapter As a kid, our “summer” next-door neighbors on Lake Leelanau had a beautiful wooden boat, a Garwood, that I later found out belonged to Mr. Gar Wood which he used as a tender. The Meeker’s used to take us out on the “BO-BO” for evening cruises.…
The SML Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society participated in a fall cruise this past Saturday on Smith Mountain Lake. Eight boats and twenty members and their guests gathered at Christmas Tree Island for the cruise. The group proceeded to Magnum Marina for lunch after a leisurely cruise in the Blackwater section on…
by John Carapiet member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chapter Several years ago, I was visiting ACBS member Neal Gapoff’s car collection/workshop and saw in the back on a trailer, a Gar Wood Speedster. The name really got me, Hi, Yo, Silver and the hook was set. I said to Neal if you ever want…
by Allen & David Schrandt members of the Heartland Classics chapter We were approached by ACBS to provide a little story concerning our antique boat. The request came with a question, “What is your favorite place to cruise?” Good question, and we’ll work on answering that in time. To do that, we have a lot…