by John Carapiet member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chapter Several years ago, I was visiting ACBS member Neal Gapoff’s car collection/workshop and saw in the back on a trailer, a Gar Wood Speedster. The name really got me, Hi, Yo, Silver and the hook was set. I said to Neal if you ever want…
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by John Thomas member of ACBS I think that this journey is not even about the boat. It is about the subconscious forces within that kept eating away at me – a kind of unrest to design and build this boat. I even awoke from a dream one night telling me that I must design…
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by Allen & David Schrandt members of the Heartland Classics chapter We were approached by ACBS to provide a little story concerning our antique boat. The request came with a question, “What is your favorite place to cruise?” Good question, and we’ll work on answering that in time. To do that, we have a lot…
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by Tim VanderVeen member of the Southern California chapter A friend of my son’s inherited a 1958 Trojan Marlin, 15-foot long with a 1958 Johnson Sea Horse engine. The Marlin was last registered in 1971 and was in an airplane hanger in San Diego all this time. The family initially thought they would keep the…
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by Ed Arrington member of the Sunnyland chapter I lived in New Bern from the 1st to 5th grade. My father knew the owners of Barbour Boats thru his affiliation with the local Chamber of Commerce and was one of the charter members of the Eastern Carolina Yacht Club along with RR Rivenbark, Mr. Barbour’s…
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Our Story by Doc Tom Bottenfield There is something special about the feeling you get when riding in a classic or antique boat. The exquisite lines, beautiful woodwork, the purr of the motor and the unique story and history behind each craft. I get that same sensation when I come across a piece of discarded…
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by Larry Schnetzky member of the Pacific Northwest chapter We found the 1961 17-foot Tollycraft in Eastern Oregon and moved it to Victoria, British Columbia Canada, for the restoration project. We had the two year project done at Canoe Cove Marina and shipyard. The project started out with removal of the original Y-block 292 CID…
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by David Irvine member of the Michigan chapter This 23-foot utility boat was built by former Chris-Craft employee Tom Cuthbertson and his brother Andrew. Their business involved doing boat repair in the summer. When things were slow in the off season, they would build a boat over the winter. We believe there were two boats,…
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by Monte Bauman President of the Buckeye chapter There is a certain mystique around “Barn Finds”. The romance of finding a diamond in the rough. The heroic-ness of taking something ignored and lost to history and bringing it back to glory. But “Barn Finds” are just as likely to be trash, as treasure, and the…
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by Ron Green member of the Inland Empire chapter Our 1970 Olympic Dinghy was restored in 2010 and she has seen only 2 seasons with me so I don’t really have a lot of info to share. She was purchased from a retired international sailor and, tender to his vintage schooner! She saw the Mediterranean!…
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by Barton Van Beenen member of the Southern California chapter The boat is a rare triple seat 1958 23-foot Continental, started out as VIP transport boat for Hotel Ampersand which I believe is in New York. It was purchased in the early 60s by a doctor and handed down for three generations in Lower Saranac…
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by Mark Cauthorn member of the Columbia Willamette chapter My family and I are lifelong boaters I have owned many boats and restored a couple of Chris-Craft Runabouts, every year since I was a child we would attend the Portland boat show and I would talk to Ray DeFir about his boats and waterskiing. About…
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