by Bruce Collemer member of the Southern New England chapter This is a about a magical career in boating and a magical boat. I started in boats at the age of 8 yrs old living on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. My first few years were mostly spent keeping my boats afloat. After high school,…
by Paul Graham member of the Pacific Northwest chapter In 2016 I was restoring a 1958 Dorsett Monterey and was not looking for another boat. But when I was on the water watching the Blue Angels fly during the Seafair festivities on Lake Washington, I saw a boat I would love to have. I wasn’t…
by Casey DeHollander member of the Water Wonderland chapter My first memory of wooden boats goes back to my uncle’s Chris-Craft U-22 on Lake Charlevoix. She was a real head turner. Another uncle owned a cottage on Big Star Lake. I spent a lot of time there in the summers watching the fastest boat on…
by Matt Foley & Susie Becker members of the Lake Champlain chapter We live a few minutes away from the New York side of Lake Champlain, big water. Summer is the work season for us, so late afternoon – evening getaways on the lake with food and drink, often with friends, are our main form…
by Kent Volmerding member of ACBS Our 1955 Century Arabian is haul number 5502. A friend of mine found it, stored under a lean-to on the side of a building, with the back of the boat unprotected. Needless to say, the boat was in bad shape. Most of the hardware was there, but the windshield…
by Lindy Robinson member of the Southwest chapter Like many of us, my love for boats started early with water skiing and fishing on my local lake. I have always had a boat of some kind but did not really fall in love with wooden boats until about 25 years ago. Seeing all the beautiful…
by Dave Samson member of the Bayou Chapter I’ve always had a passion for vintage wooden boats, especially the “lake boats” I remembered from the 50’s. I restored my first runabout, a 1955 Chris-Craft Capri, that took first place awards at Lake Arrowhead, Lake Tahoe and most recently the Lake Pontchartrain wooden boat festival in…
by Bob Besel member of the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes chapter When we arrived at Tulsa the boat had been dragged from the shed, where the rig hibernated for 30 years, into a very dusty warehouse, on flat tires. I brought new wheels and tires, ‘hoping’ that the trailer bearings were fit for the 730 mile…
by Tom and Joanie Moynihan member of the Adirondack chapter Ol’ Smoothie is a 28-foot 1929 Chris-Craft Model 17 Runabout. There were 180 boats built from 1929-1931 and reportedly only 30 remain. She was delivered to Lamb’s Marina on Lake Georoge, NY on April 25, 1930. Vernon Hovey of Schenectady, NY was the new owner…
by Carol Melius member of ACBS I was raised on the shores of Lake Orion in South East Michigan. In 1981 we purchased a home only 9 houses from the home that I was raised in. As riparian’s know, if you live on a lake, you must have a boat. My first boat at our…
by Jim Hering member of the Michigan chapter My current boat was shipped from Holland, MI. factory to Colony Chris-Craft in Algonac, MI. on June 26,1964 which happens to be my birthdate! She has always been docked on Lake St Clair. Interestingly I know the son of the 2nd owner, the 3rd owner, and the…
by Steve Richards member of the Jerry Dyhrkopp/Iowa Great Lakes chapter The ALWAYS “R”s was purchased new on Labor Day 1964 from the Gipner Boat Works on West Lake Okoboji, part of the Iowa Great Lakes, for $4600. I was 16 years old. We traded in a 16-foot Hafer Inboard, which was a boat manufactured…