With ACBS’s 50th anniversary on the horizon, it’s a great opportunity to dig into the archives… way back, to the early days of ACBS and the Rusty Rudder newsletter – copied by mimeograph, stapled and sent to members. These newsletters present quite a history!
For instance, in Volume1, Number 1 of the Rusty Rudder, dated Spring 1975, the organization just getting under way, reporting a successful inaugural launch on January 25, 1975 where officers were elected, and a Constitution and By-Laws were published.
Just four months into this new organization, 20 states and Canada were represented in its membership and total voting members numbered 200. Plans were being considered to convoy from the Lake Champlain show in Burlington, Vermont to Essex, New York and then travel via waterways to Clayton for a show the following weekend. After a return to Essex, those who wished could then trailer their boats to Lake George for a rendezvous. People must have had a lot more vacation time in the 1970s!
By March of 1976, ACBS and the New York Boat show were seeing television coverage on NBC’s Today show and local NYC television stations.
Also in this newsletter was the announcement of the formation of the Lake Hopatcong Chapter and New England Chapter and new members from Switzerland were added.
Did you travel to the ACBS social at Weirs Beach on Lake Winnipesaukee in 1976? If you did, you enjoyed a cruise abard the Doris E and dinner with nearly 2-lbs of lobster and quart of clams for just $13.50!
By 1977, ACBS was receiving extensive media coverage including the New York Times, Motor Boating and Sailing and Motorboat.
Hull and liability insurance became available for members. And, if you were in the market for a 1927 show quality Hacker triple, you could find it the Trading Dock for just $8,000. Ah, the good ol’ days!
Check out the ACBS member-only portal on the ACBS.org website to see some of these old Rusty Rudders and help us identify the “Younger generation” at the 1975 New York Boat Show!