By Bill Conley, North Carolina Coastal & Piedmont Chapter Since 1975 I have been building furniture for our house. A large wall unit, a curio cabinet, a grandfather clock, and a couple of bookcases. In 2003, we bought a condo in Beaufort, NC. I still lived and worked in Raleigh, NC, but we started spending…
By Chuck and Diane Thornton, Land O’ Lakes Classic Boat Club During the winter of 1956-57, Gene Bartachek saw a Taft Marine Woodcraft kit boat ad in one of his favorite mechanics magazine. He requested their brochure and shortly afterwards ordered the Model 950, 18 ft. Offshore Cruiser. The price was $399 including shipping, minus…
By Trevor Kemp, France Chapter As a 14-year-old English schoolboy I was fascinated by all things Royal Navy and when I discovered that the Thornycroft company had built a series of 40ft & 50ft torpedo boats known as CMB’s, I thought one would make an interesting model. John Thornycroft were pioneers in stepped hull record-breakers…
By Dev Fraser, Okanagan Chapter I have been messing around with boats for as long as I can remember, as there were always boats in my life with family and friends owning and actively using them. This story explains how I came to own the “Shepherd”, a 1954 27-foot cruiser. It was built by Shepherd…
by Joseph McCarthy member of the Southern New England chapter I have to admit that over the years , I have owned many boats. Perhaps one or two may survive today. “CAPER” is the most unique boat I have ever owned and has been a big part of our lives since we purchased her three…
“READING THE TEA LEAVES” On Wednesday Dec 9, 2020, The Sunnyland Board of Directors had to make one of the hardest decisions and that was to cancel the Sunnyland Antique Boat Festival for 2021. The decision was predicated on numerous factors and it was very painful to have to cancel the event. Looking ahead to…
by Rob Bruce member of the Columbia Willamette chapter Dream Weaver a ‘62 37’ Constellation Tri Cabin w/ Doghouse has lived a rather colorful life. She has lived her entire life just miles from where she was originally sold, in Portland Oregon. She has a history that needs to be told. For the past 45+…
by Jim Alexander member of the NC Coastal & Piedmont chapter As a kid growing up in NE Pennsylvania we had plenty of outdoor time and lots of swimming in local creeks. Not so much lake time, as the lakes were too far away for biking. However, my parents had two friends with lake houses…
by David McDonald member of the Manotick chapter For a number of years, I had been casually looking at ads for wooden boats. I worked in the forest industry, I live in a log house and I appreciate wood furniture. It only seemed natural that I have a wooden boat. In the summer of 2017,…
by Trudy Marcoux member of the Southern California chapter When this beautiful little 1939 Chris-Craft came into our life we already had a 1956 Mercury that we had restored. The Chris craft was well taken care of but did need a little TLC. It was love at first sight so we had to do some…
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…