The Continental Era 1955-1961 By Craig Magnusson, Pacific Northwest Chapter 1955 was the biggest year ever for Chris-Craft in terms of new models. The Capri and the Cobra runabouts were new, a number of new cruisers were introduced, and an entirely new line of utilities were introduced ranging in size from 18- through 25-feet. This…
By Craig Magnusson, Pacific Northwest Chapter In March 1922, Baby Gar won the Wood-Fisher contest at the Miami Regatta with Gar Wood at the helm. Today, Baby Gars are thought of as exemplifying the beauty and speed of Gar Wood boats. But in the beginning, they weren’t intended to be production boats. This fascinating article,…
by Lee Wangstad, BSLOL Chapter It wasn’t just the 50s cultural revolution in America that brought style into the American consciousness. Towards the end of the second Industrial Revolution as the last gasps of the 19th century tapered to a halt, the early stages of the 20th century brought a new renaissance in just how…
A HISTORY OF BOAT & MARINE ENGINE MANUFACTURING IN RED WING, MINNESOTA By Harry Munson and Virgil Mischke Harry Munson and Virgil Mischke, both of Red Wing, Minnesota, are the most recent in a long line of local business entrepreneurs who maintain a continuing interest in the story of one of Minnesota’s earliest, significant manufacturing…
by Kathryn Klos, Michigan Chapter The Island Calls. Hog Island it was once called; a place where pigs ran freely and fattened without falling prey to anyone or anything. Today, Belle Isle as it is now known, sits in the middle of the Detroit River with the city of Detroit on one side and…
By David Kanally, Southwest Chapter It was the spring of 1969. Without knowing he was about to start a forty-four-year saga, my dad got the itch to buy a boat. The weather would soon be warm enough and school would be out. Chautauqua Lake, just ninety miles away, would again beckon our family and closest…
Wuzz a Fuzz, Tom Flood’s 31-foot Custom Runabout By Dave and Connie Willis, Water Wonderland Chapter Sunk in a canal off Lake St. Clair. Ice had chewed through the hull. Not the best start for a classic boating story! Tom Flood rescued this 31-foot Hacker police boat and trucked it to his workshop in Florida…
By Reuben Smith, Adirondack Chapter and owner of Reuben Smith’s Tumblehome Boatshop In traditional boatbuilding and restoration, perhaps no other tools are as critical and as often used as edge tools. We find these to be the most accurate tools in the shop. In some boats, the seams are made tight with wood-to-wood fits, and…
By Tony Mollica Garfield Arthur Wood was a man of many talents and great determination. He was born in Iowa in 1880 to staunch Republican parents who named their son for America’s newly elected Republicans, President James Garfield and Vice President Chester Arthur. Young Gar was the second oldest of the twelve Wood children. When…
In the spring of 2010 we built a garage attached to the house. It was a clever affair with side barn-type doors for lawn stuff and a 26-ft. front section accessed by a garage door, which will be the new home of my 1948, 17-ft. Chris-Craft Deluxe. The trailer is already there and previously held…
Manistee, Michigan, is one of those logging era boomtowns of the late 1800’s that sprang up along the shores of Lake Michigan. Wood from the local forests built Chicago twice: once before the Great Fire of 1871 and again after it. Starting in 1929, the Century Boat Company began manufacturing boats in Manistee and continued…
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…