It is with great sadness to report that since this story was written Lee passed away on April 14, 2020. by Lee Heinzman member of the Southern New England chapter I was talking to a fellow at the supermarket checkout line one day and we got talking about antique boats. He said he had a…
by Trevor Hall member of the Michigan chapter The original owner was a family in Livonia who used the boat for skiing and cruising on Michigan’s inland lakes. In 1985, the father of the family passed away and the boat was stored awaiting restoration. In 2014, I bought the boat after the son realized it…
by Brent Howard, Heartland Classics Chapter One of my Grandfathers was a railroad carpenter that trimmed the fancy Pullman Car interiors. He took me under his wing while Dad was a Commander on a troop ship during World War 2. I have worked with wood ever since but did not discover working on wood boats…
by Al Tosi member of the Blue Ridge chapter Since growing up off the shores of the Great South Bay of Long Island, New York, I have had the love of boating on the Bay. For those not aware, the Great South Bay is a pristine body of water surrounded by Marsh Land with many…
by Rob Hennessy member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chpater I grew up on Long Island, New York and enjoyed many days on the Great South Bay and summers at the family lakefront cottage in the Adirondacks. It was during this time that I developed an appreciation for wood speedboats like Chris-Craft and Century to…
by Jeff Peterson member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe and Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes chpaters Riva Aquarama Hull #313 was originally delivered in 1969 to Colin Will in the city of Lausanne Switzerland on Lake Geneva and was given the name Erue. In early 1969, Riva was transitioning the Aquarama model from a Series II to…
By Paul Cunha member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chapters It all started the summer of 1996 in a conversation with Bill Shephard at the Tahoe Yacht Club Concours D Elegance. I was telling him that my 1956 Tollycraft was too small for the Lake, especially when the afternoon wind comes up and with two…
By Gil Maringer member of the North Coast Ohio and Chautauqua Lake Twin Tier chapters When Chris-Craft was completing their WWII contracts and the war was winding down, the company looked forward to national prosperity and the resurgence of demand for pleasure boats. To capture the enthusiasm and optimism for the future they designed a…
By John Young member of the Water Wonderland chapter As far back as I can remember I have known the 1958 Lyman I own. Our neighbor on Douglas Lake, Michigan, who originally owned the boat, would use it as the committee boat for our local sailboat fleet races. Sometimes Mom and I would go along…
By Don Veihmeyer member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chapter This Racing Runabout was the first boat of the model built after WWII. The factory originally installed a Hercules model KB engine for power, with a 3 downdraft carburetor model which required a metal deck cowling on the engine hatch cover. The Lake Tahoe Boat…
by Tom Thayer member of the Blackhawk chapter One day, in the spring of 1999, my wife was looking at the local Shopper Stopper paper and casually mentioned that there was an Amphicar for sale at an upcoming farm auction a little South of Evansville, WI, which is only about 20 miles from where we…
by Richard Lowery member of the Chesapeake Bay chapter Like me, most ACBS members in the country suffer from the addiction of loving old boats. My addiction started years ago when my father used a 17′ wood catboat, without its mast and rigging, as a power boat to fish for pickerel on Lake Erie.The cat…