By Ken Buck, ACBS member My parents were avid boaters on the Long Island Sound. Dad had a few runabouts and graduated to a Chris-Craft Express Cruiser followed by a small Connie. I was the person in charge of Springtime: Sanding, Scraping, Painting, Varnishing and Polishing. College, Career, and Marriage came next. Boating faded away.…
Report by Kathy Parker | Photography by Forrest Bryant | Drone Video by Andy Sievers After six months of not seeing each other or boating together, Heartland Classics Chapter members were craving the usual camaraderie experienced in the normal yearly events. Rendezvous was the answer to 2020. And it worked to give us a boating…
by Tom Lehn member of the Ohio Valley chapter To understand the story of the stern flagpole, you need to know a little about Cherry Float. She is a 17’ 1948 Chris-Craft Deluxe Runabout with the KBL 131hp engine. She adopted me as caretaker in June 2014. She was purchased in August 1947 by Thomas…
by Bob Voyles member of the Blue Ridge chapter Remember When is a very special part of the Voyles family. Originally purchased from the factory in 1941 by a Chicago family and kept on Lake Michigan, this beautiful 22’6” Garwood Streamliner was restored in upstate New York and brought to Lake Rabun in the mid-1990s…
by Peter Charron member of the Thousand Islands chapter The 1997 15′ Boston Whaler Dauntless belongs to our 14 year old daughter At the very early age she took up the challenge of learning everything she could about boating safety and passed the NYS boating license exam just a few days after her 10th birthday.…
by Ken Powell member of the Bob Spletz Land-O-Lakes chapter For the last 28 years, at noon on Sunday of the August long weekend, a collection of antique wooden boats assemble a half mile from the town harbour in the little town of Kenora,Ontario, Canada. It is known as the HarbourFest Annual Wooden Boat Parade.…
by Wes & Gail Van Dine members of the Southern New England chapter The 1946 Ensign is a 16 foot utility built as an entry level economy boat powered by a 93hp Chrysler “Ace”. Most of the production boat hull topsides were painted white with varnished transom and decks. Very few were totally bright because…
by Dion Johnson member of the Southwest chapter Miss Merc was home built in 1972 from Glen-L ‘Tiny Titan’ boat plans. She is a three-point hydroplane just a tad over 8 feet long weighing about 65 pounds. The two sponsons provide stability, while the air cushion rushing under the tunnel provides a lifting force so…
by Greg Walters members of the Sunnyland chapter I was nervous putting a fiberglass sailboat in the Sunnyland ACBS boat show in 2017. I didn’t know if the other boaters would understand or appreciate how cool a Sun Cat is. The apprehension was alleviated when we first pulled up to our assigned dock space, the…
by Steven Dahlgren member of the Blackhawk chapter I recently acquired my dream boat, a 1959 Chris-Craft ski boat. I began waterskiing at the age of 5 at my cousins lake house in Whitewater Wisconsin and continued to enjoy boating on the Fox Waterway in Illinois, my family owned a Yamaha Waverunner and later a…
by John Gambill member of the Michigan chapter It was 2010 and I had registered my 1957 Arena Craft Barracuda for the Branson Missouri International Show but what the heck, someone bought the darn boat just two weeks before show time! Reservations had been made and paid and here I was with no boat! I…
by Ryan Motter member of the Bay State Classic Boat Club chapter Bringing a new life to, Just the Beginning. I grew up in Michigan spending my summers at my parents place on Lake Charlevoix. On the lake were a few classic Chris Crafts and Hacker Crafts that would come out on calm days. These…