You got a great boat… or maybe just a great deal, and you’ve trailered it to your garage. Now what? If you live in Florida, and are a member of the ACBS Sunnyland Chapter, you attend the Adult SCAMPY Program and enjoy hands-on learning while restoring a Chris-Craft Rocket. SCAMPY stands for Sunnyland Chapter Apprentice…
By Jim Barrick, Blue Ridge Chapter Well, as a member of the ACBS, this organization has given me great exposure to boating history. I’ve been a history guy most of my life and started boating when I was a lad. I was amazed at how great and dependable the Evinrude outboard motor was—never letting us…
By Judy Hills, NCC&P Chapter In the July 2024 North Carolina & Coastal Piedmont Newsletter, Messing About in Boats, the chapter featured an article on the ACBS Port Captain program. Port Captains offer ACBS member who wants to visit a new place where other ACBS members live to connect. The hosts might provide a tour…
Photos by Forrest Bryant & Recap by Kathy Parker The Grand Finale of the Heartland Classics Seven Event Season is at Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees in northeast Oklahoma. As a Chapter, Heartland Classics is 27 years old, however this was the 32nd Annual Mahogany & Chrome Boat Show because it was started earlier by…
Nearly thirty years ago a friend offered to sell me his boat. His four children had learned to water ski and were growing too large to all fit in the Silver Bullet. It is a great looking boat and I immediately took him up on his offer. They moved up to a larger boat and…
By John Coffman On Saturday, October 11, 2025, four boats and a brave band of nine humans (plus one canine with an impressive résumé as boat club security) launched the SML-ACBS boat club for the annual fall cruise. Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia is often called the “Lake Tahoe of the East,” and in 1991,…
By Gene Porter, Lake Champlain Chapter Miss Nancy – a classic “Barn Find” was acquired for $1 as a gray hull circa 2015 from a cabinet builder in NH who needed the storage space in his old barn. For some time I had thought I would be interested in an early Lyman 15’ Yacht Tender…
An inspirational journey of resilience, response, care and recovery while looking to the future……. By Steve Dewire, Blue Ridge Chapter It has been a sincere privilege to follow the recovery process for Lake Lure and Chimney Rock after the overwhelming destruction from Helene on September 27th of 2024. This is the fifth update article for…
September 15–21, 2025 was the Antique and Classic Boat Society’s (ACBS) Vintage Boat Week in Clayton, NY. The theme for the event was “Celebrating 50 years in 2025!” For those who could not make it to Clayton, ACBS requested their chapter plan a local boating activity for September 20th. As we knew most of our…
As told by a skeptical dockhand with a soft spot for strange truths, Rocky Mountain Classics member, John Stiller When a Rocky Mountain Classics ACBS member bought a mannequin at a thrift store, they didn’t have a very good story about where she came from. So The chapter has been having fun taking turns to…
North Carolina Coastal & Piedmont Chapter Submitted by Judy Hills, Newsletter Editor The weather forecast leading up to the chapter’s show scheduled for Chocowinity, NC, on Saturday, September 27th, was ugly. Participants were calling, asking if we were going to call the show off. We decided to proceed—after all, boats are made to get wet. …
By David Kanally, Southwest Chapter It was the spring of 1969. Without knowing he was about to start a forty-four-year saga, my dad got the itch to buy a boat. The weather would soon be warm enough and school would be out. Chautauqua Lake, just ninety miles away, would again beckon our family and closest…