In Memory of our Daughter

By Mike Noland and Cyndi Geist, members of the Rocky Mountain chapter.

Our 1939 Chris-Craft 33-foot dual cabin enclosed bridge cruiser was delivered new to Wayzeta, Minnesota and she had spent her life up to that point in that region. I purchased her from a family member in 2002, had a trailer built and off to Colorado we went. Originally I thought we’d do a little varnishing, some painting and put her in the water, but how things changed.

I met Doug Brown late in 2002 and we decided to move her to Carter Lake. Doug did extensive restoration over the next several years both inside and out. We opened the front end of the boat to replace the stem and gripe with white oak. The interior was left mostly original except for some safety upgrades. We replaced the paper ceiling tiles and wallpaper walls with mahogany. All other ceilings were stripped and repainted as they were originally. The helm is original as well. All gauges at the helm were rechromed and recalibrated before being reset in the original walnut dash.

The transom was replaced and handpainted by Doug with the boat’s new name, HANNAH, in memory of our daughter. My wife, Cyndi, decorated the boat with new curtains, a rug and period furniture. A friend gifted us a pair of 1919 menus from White Star Ship Line which hang in the galley. A framed 1930s Chris-Craft Cruiser advertisement hangs in the aft cabin.

On June 1, 2015, we set her in Horsetooth Reservoir. We had an excellent summer without too many surprises. Our slip is on the north dock where we were welcomed and treated like old friends. We plan on being back at Horsetooth in the spring.

If you live in the Englewood, Colorado area, you may have seen this project at Doug Brown’s over the years and we invite all of you to please join us anytime for a cruise on the HANNAH.