by Tom and Joanie Moynihan, Adirondack chapter
Ol’ Smoothie is a 28-foot 1929 Chris-Craft Model 17 Runabout. There were 180 boats built from 1929-1931 and reportedly only 30 remain. She was delivered to Lamb’s Marina on Lake George, NY on April 25, 1930. Vernon Hovey of Schenectady, NY was the new owner and named her “Wilvern”.
In the early 1940’s she was sold to Henry Wright who named her “ Adaleda” after his two daughters. He owned her until his death in 1995. We purchased the boat from Mr. Wright’s Family in 2002.
.
When we bought the boat much of the original equipment including the Kroh top was gone and part of the enjoyment we had was searching for and finding all the fittings that were missing. Fish Brothers replicated the Kroh top. An interesting part of the project came when a decision needed to be made for the color of the upholstery. Before restoration it was red leather and Joanie wanted a pale green. She was told it wasn’t original but she insisted, when the layers of upholstery were removed, lo and behold the original was the exact pale green leather. A woman’s intuition once again carried the day.
The boat has never left Lake George in it’s 91 years and seems to remember every twist and turn as we have the pleasure of riding almost daily. A complete restoration was performed by Fish Brothers in the Spring of 2004 and she was renamed “Ol’ Smoothie.”
Tom is a certified Lake George legend. Great to see “Ol’ Smoothie” in such capable hands. We have the “mini” version; a 1931 Model 199 “17′ Split Cockpit Runabout”.
I have a model 111 being restored in Colorado.
1930, 26′
That doesn’t look very much like pale green ,. Looks more like dark green to me. Must have been that ol’spellcheck kickin’ in.
Henry Wright was my uncle. I can remember his pulling up to our dock in Bolton looking very grand and with a lot of fanfare (announced by the horns on deck). I am delighted Adeleda lives on in good hands. Pete Fish is a restorer of dreams.
I was born in Glens Falls and grew up on Lake George. I restored a 1929 28’ C/C and in my youth I used to drive by the Wright’s place to check on “Adelade.” Because there is rocky area west of the boathouse I was never to get as close as I wanted to check her out. In a moment of courage I stopped and asked to look at the boat! I believe at the time she had a Seamaster V-8 which probably replaced the original A70 C/C motor. What are you powering her with now? The Fish Bros. we’re extremely helpful to me during my restoration. The hull number of my boat was 3026. I sold my 28 footer in 2005. Beautiful boat-enjoy!
Hi Mo,
We repowered her with a Mercruiser 8.1 liter when Pete Fish did the restoration.
Wow nice boat ,hope that will stay in your family for many generations