Our Chapter History Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia is a beautiful, 20,000-acre, man-made lake with over 500 miles of shoreline. It is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains of western Virginia between the cities of Roanoke and Lynchburg. The lake first reached full pond in 1966, making it 25 years old when our…
by Alan E. Dinn, Historian, Purdy Boat Company The Purdy Boat Company was created in 1916 by Carl Graham Fisher of Indiana. Fisher was an automobile- and boat racing enthusiast, and a co-founder of the Indianapolis Speedway. Fisher had known and admired brothers Ned and Gil Purdy when he had bought boats they had designed…
Formerly known as the Okanagan Chapter, the Western Canadian chapter of ACBS is located in Kelowna, British Columbia, in the middle of the Okanagan Valley, a four-hours-drive east from the city of Vancouver. When a small group of classic boat enthusiasts met over 20 years to discuss the concept of an antique and classic boat…
By Matthew Schulte, ACBS Member and Executive Director SSHSA For those of us ACBS members who can’t get enough information about our boating heritage then think in a big way, think steamship history…. well “Ship History” to be precise. The Steamship Historical Society of America (SSHSA) is a non-profit organization and is an official marque…
In October of 1983 Constitution and By-Laws were adopted and The Antique & Classic Boat Society Southern California Chapter was born. At the helm, with more than a decade of experience in the vintage boating community through his company California Classic Boats, was founding Chapter President and future Hagerty Marine Hall of Fame inductee Al…
by Michael Glenn, Adirondack Chapter When she was created, Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States and the Democrats were considering Woodrow Wilson for their candidate in the next election. It was a much simpler time than today, and her contemporaries were from local stock like herself, not from lands far away. Her service…
Next weekend, Thursday, May 29 through Sunday, June 1, 2025, the Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter presents the 27th annual Wood and Glory Antique and Classic Boat Gathering in Lakeport. With tons of fun events, including a “conga-line” cruise from Konocti Harbor Inn past Buckingham, Anderson Island and across the Narrows looping through Paradise Cove and…
Christopher Columbus Smith celebrated a birthday today. This founder and namesake of the iconic brand Chris-Craft still today captivates devotees. With well over 3,000 Chris-Crafts spanning the decades in the ACBS membership, and a close connection to the Chris-Craft Antique Boat Club,, what better time to revisit a favorite story from the winter 2013 issue…
Charter Date: October 30, 1980 Who We Are: The Canadian Antique and Classic Boat Society, which operates as ACBS-Toronto, was formed in 1979 and incorporated in 1981. We exist to celebrate the beauty and the rich heritage of vintage boating in Ontario, Canada, and around the world. Currently we have over 600 family and corporate…
Fiberglass boats, like wood boats, are judged in one of two ACBS categories: antique or classic. These two main categories are further divided into preserved and restored boats. To be considered an antique, the boat must have been built prior to 1943. The development of glass fibers goes back several millennia; a number of civilizations…
The Blue Ridge Chapter was formed on April 8, 1986, at Lake Lure, North Carolina. The Club has flourished for 39 years with many shows, events, and group rendezvous. Today we have 200 members, mostly from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, but also from other states across the Southeast. The majority of the Blue Ridge…
To the general public the term “antique boating” conjures up images of boat shows with row upon row of piano-finished mahogany launches sporting magnificent chrome-plated deck fittings gleaming in the summer sunlight. Hordes of spectators eagerly crowd around with cameras to capture the fleeting moment in time and to marvel. But there exists a smaller…