Browse news articles, stories and media for the the Antique & Classic Boat Society; including photographs and stories related to ACBS International and it’s chapters.
by Spencer Lee member of ACBS In the mid 70’s, a boat dealer here, brought six Streblow Runabouts to Pickwick Lake from the factory near Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva. Pickwick is a 55 mile long lake formed on the Tennessee River that runs along Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. I bought my ‘76 Streblow in 1990 from…
by Preston Smith member of Northern California/Lake Tahoe chapter In 1998, I rescued this 1956 Chris-Craft, rotting away in a run-down slip in Norfolk, Virginia. She was shipped to California where the next three years she provided a home for hundreds of wasps. Originally, I dreamed I would restore the big Utility himself but quickly…
by Art Armstrong member of the Michigan chapter Molly-O has a direct connection to the descendants of Chris Smith as my grandfather, Milton Meier, was a friend of Owen Smith. In 1938 Owen asked him if he was interested in purchasing one if the seven 24′ boats that were being built for family members. Apparently…
by Rick Watson member of the Allegheny chapter In the Spring of 1975, I was 12 and my life changed dramatically. My mom remarried and we moved to Conneaut Lake. I had a new home, in a new town . Bob Moss, (Mom & Bob are pictured above), began the process of stabilizing and molding…
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…
by Cheryl Ahlcrona 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)…
by Warren Olson member of Pacific Northwest chapter The history as I know it started in the fall of 2016. A restorer friend of mine, Rob DaPron from DaPron Marine, called me and said;”I’ve got a boat for you!” Well, I wasn’t in the market for a new boat. But Rob said it would be…
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…
Karen Birch member of Blackhawk chapter This boat was purchased new in February 1957 by Karen’s late parents, Robert and Maxine Birch, of Griggsville, IL. Her dad became a Chris-Craft dealer in 1956 and Karen has his original franchise certificate. The boat is all original and Karen has the original prop, fenders, hand spot light,…
Miss Hayden, A Lifetime Love Story by James Rand member of the Inland Empire chapter My childhood in the 50s and early 60s was spent on Long Island sound where we belonged to a yacht club. My father had Chris-Craft cruisers beginning with wooden ones and later fiberglass. I bought my first boat at age…
By Doug Adams member of the Finger Lakes chapter The two teens in my house wanted, openly wished for, a means to be on the water besides the Mastercraft ski boat. You know, the kind of small run-around boat you used as a kid. It was almost time to go to the ACBS International Show…
By Steve Karstaedt member of Blackhawk chapter I’m just an old Beloiter that’s family had a second home on Delavan Lake back in the 40’s and 50’s. Our U-22 Chris Craft my Dad sold to our friend and neighbor in the late 50’s, but I swore at 16 I’d have another “Woody”. I bought my…