Alleghenia

by Douglas Ivester member of the Blue Ridge chapter Alleghenia is a 1924 Ditchburn. She is a 24.5′ Long Deck Launch. From all my research, it is rare to find a 24′ Ditchburn. Alleghenia was built in 1924 in Gravenhurst, Ontario for Dr. William Mann of Winnipeg, Manitoba & Minaki, Ontario. It is hull #…

The Great Loop

by Karl Dietz member of the Southwest chapter I bought this boat last August from a private collector in Traverse City, Michigan to be a little sister to my 1958 Century Coronado. I found her on an online dealer website and after several questions, emails and survey, I made an offer and a deal was…

True North

by Gene Porter member of the Lake Champlain chapter My 1959 23’ Lyman Sleeper started life as a fishing boat on the brackish Elk River at the North end of Chesapeake Bay. The fisherman had installed bait wells in place of the rear seat and had sprayed the decks with automotive undercoating to provide underfoot…

Class of 59′

by Steve Lattmann member of the Sunnyland chapter Many decades ago, I grew up on the South shore of Long Island. My parents were avid boaters and over the years of my childhood they owned a number of different boats. One of those boats was a 17’ 1958 Thompson. It was the same lemon yellow…

Crona Craft

by Cheryl Ahlcronoa member of the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes chapter My father, Edgar Ahlcrona, owned Tonka Bay Boat Works in Tonka Bay, Minnesota, from 1947 through 1972. They manufactured Crona Crafts and marketed these runabouts as the new style trend in the mid 50’s. Boating for my father and his brothers (Robert, Richard and Bertil)…

Navy Blue

by Richard Stout member of Thousand Islands chapter It’s not an antique or classic. It is FRP with a lot of exterior wood. We ordered Navy Blue from a Seattle broker and it was custom built to our specifications in China. I had previously owned a 1962 Chris-Craft Constellation and loved the layout and functionality…