by Dawn Merrill Edwards member of the Blue Ridge chapter Sixty-six years ago, our boat began our family story. In 1954, A.H. Merrill Company, our family run general store in Norwich, Vermont, purchased the 13’6’ Clinker-Built built in Old Town, Maine. My grandfather, Leon Merrill purchased the boat for my parents, Arthur and Dorothy Merrill.…
by Paul Mason member of the Glacier Lakes chapter I found this boat on Mother’s Day 2005 while taking my wife out to breakfast. The boat was sitting on a dilapidated trailer next to the restaurant. My wife went to the restaurant to hold a table and I knocked on the door of the house…
by Michael J Munson member of the Lake Champlain chapter The tale of a free boat project boat for which I paid too much. In the summer of 2014 some friends forwarded to me a local on-line ad for free canoes. I had just finished a yearlong restoration of a 1938 Old Town HW, a…
by Ed Becker member of the Adirondack chapter Shooting Star, a 1930 Hacker 26 foot Runabout that I am honored to own has a long history of owners and repairs. She was purchased new by the Vanzandt family. They kept her at their summer home on Lake George. My interest in these historical wooden boats…
by Don Peting member of the Columbia Willamette chapter In 2005, my late wife and I bought the 1958, 22′, Century Raven, which we appropriately named Reminisce, remembering the same model boat my parents owned back in the 50’s when I was in my late teens. From Chicago, my folks traveled the Great Lakes, and…
by Brian and Lisa Kramer members of the Glacier Lakes chapter My 1948 Century Sea Maid is Nineteen-foot six inch Century Sea Maid with a Nordberg 6 cylinder 339 ci / 155hp flathead engine. 1 of 65 made with 6 known to exist. I noticed the Sea Maid stored in an outdoor boatyard in 1990.…
by David & Claire De Horn members of the Water Wonderland & Blackhawk Chapters I spent several years looking for a pre-war barrelback, and finally found our boat in Lake Tahoe. I was able to squeeze in a ride, inspection, and even an invitation to dinner during a business trip out to California from the…
by Rich & Linda Hughes members of the Toronto/Manotick Chapters The Clarion project was one of the most challenging yet interesting builds to date. Clarion boats already have the reputation for building high-end quality craft that perform as well as they look. So to take a new stock GR21 racer hull and transform it into…
by Bob & Janet Kircher members of the Southern California chapter Escapade is a 1959 Dorsett Catalina, she was found in a parking lot of an office we were renting in Las Vegas, NV. Janet thought it would make a great bay boat and did not mind if I put it in our garage to…
by Denny Newell member of the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes chapter For more than six decades, the N.J. Blanchard Boat Company produced some of the finest yachts, sailboats, and motor boats in the Pacific Northwest. Blanchard had built his business on manufacturing large custom motor yachts and stylish sailing vessels. It wasn’t until the early 1920’s…
by Forrest Bryant member of the Heartland Classics chapter This 19′ Cobalt was hours away from being donated to charity. It had been sitting for over three years next to a garage in Baldwin, KS. The boat was originally purchased and used at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. The boat was passed from…
Note: Charles Mistele passed away in early March. A few weeks before his passing, Charles mailed a handwritten story to the ACBS office. We are pleased to publish this story in memory of Charles and his life long commitment as the caretaker of Miss America IX. by Charles H. Mistele member of Blue Ridge, Michigan…