By Matt Anstett & Brad Stanwick members of the Michigan chapter I found our second Sea Skiff for sale in September of 2014 at the Riverside Marina on Harsen’s Island across the channel from Algonac, Michigan where the original Chris-Craft company was founded. My first Sea Skiff, “Screws Loose”, never stopped leaking gas from a…
By Darrin Podskalny member of the Water Wonderland chapter The ownership of our 1959 Skipper-Craft started when a good friend of mine, Geoff Reynolds from Holland, Michigan had shown me his Skipper-Craft on a spring weekend in 2001. Geoff and I were heading to a swap meet for outboards and boats in lower Michigan. When…
by Howard P. Johnson Jr. As a kid I helped my Dad refinish and maintain his boats, by the time I was a teenager he was letting me handle the bottom and the varnish but never use the boat. I finished my first more recent Chris Craft restoration in `94 and couldn’t come up with…
Hudson River Maritime Museum Launches Naming Competition for New Tour Boat Name our new solar powered tour boat! The Hudson River Maritime Museum is excited to announce the start of a naming campaign for a newly purchased 100% solar-powered 44-foot tour boat, the latest version of the Solar Sal series. Built by the Hudson…
By John Ables member of ACBS I bought the boat back in 1974 when I was 25 years old and living on a lake in the Grand Rapids Michigan area. When I was a child my dad’s company had several of this same model that were available for use and they were kept on Lake…
By J. Andrew Lark member of ACBS Originally built 80+ years ago in 1935 for Arthur Iselin (a Cotton Industry magnate and a descendant of John Jay), “Gipsy” was built for commuting to and from the Wall Street to Lower Manhattan area via the East River. Her second owner (1952-1984) was the yachtsman…
By Cal Martell, member of the Glacier Lakes Chapter. It is a 1960 14′ Tomahawk Ski-Mate. I’ve been rebuilding classic fiberglass and wood boats for 32 years. Some to keep, some with the intention of resale. Thirty-two times I’ve told myself, I’ll never rebuild another classic boat and thirty-two times I have lied to myself.…
By Jim Schmidt, member of ACBS. The cutter rig sloop Aramis (original name Dorjack) was designed by Henry J. Gielow and built in 1935 by the Burbach Yacht Company in Fruitport, Michigan (near Muskegon). She is 38’long, 9 1/2’ wide and is constructed of one inch carvel planked mahogany over oak frames.Her 55’ mast is…
Photo Credit: Leigh Conrad The SML Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society recently held their annual fall workshop at the home/shops of Bill Garrecht and John Coffman. Twenty-three members were in attendance to enjoyed presentations on final driveshaft alignment, rudder balancing and construction of wooden boat bungs. The chapter holds these workshops twice…
Note: Story and photos submitted by Kelly Williamson, a member of the Okanagan and Pacific Northwest ACBS Chapters. As I’ve said before, one of our favorite late season boat shows is Mahogany and Merlot on Lake Chelan, Washington. This year the event was held October 5th to 7th 2018. Mahogany and Merlot is an ACBS-PNW…
by Kevin Bamerick October 22, 2018 “Do you need to hire a marine surveyor (or similar)? The universal answer would be if you are buying a boat and want to know what shape it is in, then a survey would suffice. This ACBS question was asked of D. Erik Will, AMS of Sodus Point. (I…
More than 70 people attended the annual meeting of the Antique and Classic Boat Society on September 13th in Port Huron, Michigan. The first part of the day, the Chapter Roundtable, included two topics, Youth Boat Building Programs, and the future of the International Boat Show. Lou Ronca (Sunnyland Chapter), Mark Svoboda (Blackhawk Chapter), Winfred…