By Joe Roberts, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter Millie or as she was known as for the first 55 plus years of her life, as just the unnamed family Chris Craft was the family boat. My father-in-law Ray bought her new in 1958, so the family could have a boat when they were at their lake cabin in Clearlake, California. She…
When an autonomous Navy boat rescued two downed Army helicopter pilots in the Straits of Hormuz in June 2026, it was interesting to note the technologies enabling the rescue directly trace back to classic boats. The boat, nicknamed the Corsair, is fully autonomous, 24-feet, with a maximum speed of 35 knots, that can travel 1,000…
By Ted Lyman, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter Green Hornet is our second Philbrick; the first, Born Again, was restored by my father and me in 1980 — the year we joined ACBS. It was during the follow-up restoration of Born Again in Don Philbrick’s Oakland shop in 1990 that Green Hornet fell into our ownership.…
Award Winning Fatal Attraction Featured in Hollywood Productions By Bob Newcomer, SoCal Chapter In November 2009, I attended a workshop at Robinson Restorations in Fallbrook, California, when Tim Robinson called me aside and showed me a loose-leaf notebook that had details of a boat for sale. Tim knew I was looking for this exact model…
What a weekend it was in Yorktown, VA, when Sail 250 tacked and jibed into port on the York River as part of the America 250 celebration. Yorktown, the site of Cornwallis’s surrender and the beginning of the end of the Revolutionary War, was just one of many backdrops across Virginia that celebrated both naval…
Frizzy Atwell was in charge of all new yacht construction at Trumpy’s. Jim Emmeric headed the plumbing shop, Frank Thomas, the joiner shop, Rob Childs, the electrical shop, Ed Norton, the mill shop, Frank Wagner, the carpenter shop and Bunky Durham, the boat building shop. The division of labor was well defined at the Trumpy…
by Forrest Bryant, edited by David Vickers, Heartland Classics Chapter Photos by Forrest Bryant As a young-ish advertising executive, I spent most summer weekends in the 1970s and ‘80s at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Back then, Tan-Tar-A Resort was the place to see and be seen, and I attended Lake of the Ozarks…
Capt. Mark Manes, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter I wrote the bulk of this article before I made a fool out of myself at the Concours in 2025. That’s right, your education and safe boating rep almost had a collision in front of the entire world, right at the bridge at Obexers. I was using another…
By Brian Thalhammer Sponsored Content Few endeavors feel more tied to the eternal dialog between man and the sea than restoring a wooden boat. Maybe it’s the aroma of varnished mahogany in a warm workshop, the glimmer of chrome beneath marina lights, or the moment an old inboard awakens from decades of silence with…
By Gene Dangel, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Brothers Bob and Billy Campbell became commercial fisherman after WWII and settled on Catalina Island in 1948 living aboard their boat. Applying knowledge and experience gained in all types of boats navigating the blue waters off of the California coast, taught them valuable lessons about performance, seaworthiness, and functional…
By Brian Thalhammer Sponsored Content Ask any seasoned restorer what truly brings a wooden boat back to life, and the answer goes beyond varnish lines and polished chrome. It lies beneath the floorboards, where cast iron, brass and impressive engineering await a second chance. As beautiful as a wooden hull may be, it’s the engine…
By Mark Manes, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter As a child, I knew that I wanted a job that I would truly enjoy, and I think I found it. Many of you may have no idea what a San Francisco Bar Pilot even is…basically we drive ships for a living! A Marine Pilot is essentially a…