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 John Amaral, ACBS member Block Island Double-enders are a boat type you don’t often see. No original still exists and replicas, like Saudades, are rare. Its a modest, but heavy-built lapstrake boat that sprang from the essential needs of simple fishermen: cheap to build, simple to hand, predictable, stable, safe. Evolved over longtime daily…
Since its humble beginnings, The Landing School has been a transformative place for boatbuilders, designers, and marine industry technicians alike. Although the curriculum, enrollment, campus buildings, and extracurricular activities have all grown since the school was launched in a cow barn in 1978, the goal of preparing men and women for fulfilling careers in the…
As we mentioned the other week, its is now Boat Show Season – Indoor, that is! We have have a couple of reports from the Western Canadian Chapter and Pacific Northwest Chapter…so go visit them in Vancouver and Seattle this weekend to check out the vintage (and new) boats on display! Vancouver Boat Show by…
By Ann Reinhart on behalf of Tim Mehrer, member of Pacific Northwest Chapter The Bellingham, Washington based Schooner Zodiac, designed by William Hand, was built in 1924 in East Boothbay, Maine for the Johnson & Johnson family. 127’ on deck,160’ overall, she spent most of her life as a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot boat…
The Center of Family Fun for Over 81 Years By Susan Conroy, ACBS Member “Cruise all day for less than a dollar spent on gas.” That introductory sentence was about a 17-foot cruiser, with blue prints available, in the April 1939 issue of Popular Science. It sounded good to my dad, Hubert Lee Hayes. At…
By Rachel Conley, Chris-Craft Archivist, The Mariners’ Museum and Park, Newport News, Virginia In 1986, The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia, was extremely fortunate to receive the Chris-Craft company archives for boats made from 1922 through 1982. While the donation did not include all of the records produced during those six decades,…
Photographer and Adirondack Chapter member, Kent O. Smith, Jr. of KAOS Imagery, is a friendly face behind the lens. “I sometimes think of myself as a Phloatographer,” he laughs as he balances precariously on the gunwale of a boat to get his shot. In this ACBS Member Profile Q&A we learn more about Kent, his…
From the Chapter Development Committee On Tuesday January 23rd at 7:00PM EST we will be hosting our next virtual Chapter Round Table entitled, the “Un-boring Boat Show.” This workshop will be led by Mike McBride and Jim Barrick. All chapters that run boats shows, regardless of size, are encouraged to join the discussion and share…
By Bjorn Bakken, Bay State Chapter Indoor boat show season is upon us and Baystate Classic Boat Club was invited back to the New England Boat show for the first time since the pandemic. The promoter offered us a 60’ x 40’ booth at no cost and donated the carpeting as well. So we had…
by Brian Fogarty member of the Indian Lake Chapter (A note from ACBS Headquarters…this article originally ran in the WWW in April 2020, and is republished today for ACBS Member, Jerry Laufer, who shared some wonderful stories today about the boats he grew up on, including his family’s 1950’s 14-foot Wagemaker with a little 18hp…
Story and modern day photos by Chris Bullen, Toronto Chapter I have boated all over North America, and one thing that is very noticeable to someone who grew up in Muskoka is that other lakes allow very few boathouses to be built. Boathouses have been on Muskoka since 1868, about as long as we have…
By Roberta Hegy, Glacier Lakes Chapter All my life I have been a hands-on person. I was drafted into the crafts by my father who needed an extra hand and really enjoyed working with him. He taught me many skills and those interests later developed to become a way of life and a good living.…