This is neither the beginning, nor the end, but the middle chapter of Saving the Class of 47.
Saving the Class of 47 is a project Brent Howard has tackled. Class of 47 is a 1947 Chris Craft 36′ Double Stateroom that is hoping to once again ply the waters of Grand Lake of the Cherokees in northeastern Oklahoma.
Saving the Class of 47 is a long term project since she gets attention in the shop only when there is not a customer waiting for their boat to be finished by Brent and his staff. The Heartland Classics Chapter of ACBS holds a Restoration Workshop in the shop of Howard Classic Boats each February. It’s been interesting to watch the slow progress. (You can see photos of earlier work on the shop’s website.)
The early work included keel repair, new gripe, new bow stem, 5200 bottom, refasten and replace hull planks (8,000 screws). The current phase includes refinishing the cabin exterior with new teak decks. See picture captions as you roll over the photos.
The following picture was sent from a former owner of this boat. “We owned the “Class of 47″ from 1986 to the mid 90’s. During that time we refinished it inside and out. We have many fond memories of that boat.”
