OACBS President’s Message – Nov. 2019



Hello fellow members. It is after many years as President of the OACBS that, at our last board meeting, I passed the gavel to our Vice President Jim Cooper. I want to thank all of our board members who have served our club so well during my tenure: Treasurer Bruce Middleton, Secretary Glenda Middleton, Vice President and show chairman Jim Cooper, Web Site Liaison Tyson Konecny, and Steve Leslie our communications and News letter Guru. Kelly Williamson has just joined our board of directors and will be a very strong addition as well as Danny Hinds who returns with all of his past years of experience.

My last official event as President was to attend the Mahogany & Merlot show at Lake Chelan, WA, on the October 5th and 6th weekend. It was great fun and we had 5 members attend. It is an event that combines the normal Antique and Classic boats of the ACBS clubs and the hydroplanes from the Seattle Hydroplane Museum. If you have never attended this event, make sure it is on your calendar for next year. Lake Chelan is a beautiful lake surrounded by scenery that is very special. It is 50 miles long and I understand the views get better & better the further up the lake you go. We hope to go the full length next year.

The following are some photos we took at the show:

Reta and I had the pleasure of meeting Glen Raymond at dinner on the Saturday evening. He was very nice and loved to talk about these machines and how he got involved with the museum. Reta asked him about how to start one of these boats and was it different from normal engines. He said the start procedure was like a dance that requires much co-ordination of at least 4 items for a successful start. There is a mixture lever on the right hand with 4 positions, from very lean to full rich,  2 switches on the left hand, probably fuel pump and starter, and the accelerator, a pedal on the floor that should only be moved about the thickness of a dime or you have to start the dance all over. These machines are very noisy and a lot of fun to see up close.

This was a great finish to our season and the boat is now away until next year.

There will be much to plan and talk about over the next few months as the new board discusses the direction of the club and how to grow it. If you have some ideas and would  like to get involved, please call any of the board members and volunteer.

Have a safe winter and hope to see you on the water next year

Bruce Wilson

Outgoing President.

OACBS President’s Message – Nov. 2019



Well, I guess it`s my turn! After languishing for several years as The OACBS Vice-President I have been chosen to succeed our illustrious and magnanimous President, Bruce Wilson. I first want to thank Bruce for all of the time and effort he has donated to our club to keep it running flawlessly, and I appreciate the fact that Bruce continues to sit on our board as a director and past President.

My history with ACBS goes back to the early to mid 90`s; apparently I have been an ACBS member since 1997 but prior to that I believe there was not a requirement to be a member of the international society to be a member of our club so I think my history went back a couple more years. When I first joined the club, I did not own a wood boat, nor a classic boat. In fact, I joined because I was interested in them and thought it would be a good way to learn about the hobby. My interest started after I attended the Toronto Antique Boat Show in Toronto harbor sometime between 1981 and 1985 when I was a student there; I believe I said at the time, “I`m gonna get me one of those some day”. Of course we all know how foolish that statement is….who among us ever stops at just one!

I have been fairly active in the OACBS ever since I joined being a director pretty much the whole time. During the late 90`s to mid 2000 we had some very successful Okanagan shows and with my wife Opal and our two young kids, Forrest and Callan, we towed our 1933 Greavette to at least one Pacific Northwest show a year in addition to our own show. It was always a great summer mini-vacation and we found that other ACBS members loved seeing the kids there and always got them in on the action.

Then I started to get the accumulation bug. You know….”that`s a great project which I will eventually have the time to work on”. Of course the accumulation part is the easy part; I have yet to figure out the time part; and then there`s always the talent part, which I`ll worry about when I have the time!

My current list of boats includes my prize, 1924 Dodge Watercar powered by a 1956 Chrysler Marine 354 Hemi (which was waaaaaaay beyond me and was expertly restored by Andrew and the gang at Absolute Classics), the 1933 Greavette, which has solid bones but needs re-planking and perhaps re-powering (is 40hp adequate for an 18 ft boat? Me thinks not.), a 1952 14 ft Lady Clipper with 45 hp Merc (bought on ebay in completely original condition and re-finished it myself), and a 1959 Dorsett San Juan 19 ft (no motor yet as it also has no transom) which is sitting in a vacant lot and Opal will not let me bring home. I also have my daily driver, a 2000 model Mastercraft Prostar ski boat which I purchased brand new and might be a classic some day if I leave it to my kids.

Our club, the Okanagan ACBS has seen some glory days and it has struggled at times. I think many of the ACBS chapters have had similar ups and downs. A big part of the difficulty we face is the vast geographic area that our members come from. It`s not unusual for our members to have a 4-12 hour drive to attend events. In the early days of our club much of the membership was concentrated in the Kelowna vicinity which guaranteed a solid base for events. Much of that group has since disbursed and/or are no longer active in the hobby. We continue to have strong relationships with the other ACBS chapters around the Pacific Northwest, specifically the Seattle/PNW chapter and the Inland Empire Chapter. I think we need to foster those relationships more fully and participate in their events in order to promote our own events.

The annual Antique and Classic Boat Show that we have held for about 30 years now has been somewhat less than annual in recent years. We have had cancellations due to flooding and most recently this year due to poor weather and a lack of registrations. It has been difficult to secure a venue during the prime tourist season of July and August requiring us to move our show to the shoulder season which can result in the negative experiences we have seen recently. Your board of Directors has already deliberated over this issue and although we’ve had some ideas have yet to come to a concrete solution. Stay tuned.

I look forward to helping to build the membership of our Society (I know there are Fiberglassics out there that folks don`t even know they have!), and to increase the fun factor over the next year. If each of our members could recruit one more member we would double our membership!

May long weekend is only about 7 months away!!!

Jim Cooper

President. OACBS

If you’ve never been to a ACBS boat show I highly recommend you come and see what its all about!

The people are always friendly and the boating is great!

This year’s International is in Coure d’Alene, Idaho. We are hoping to see lots of OACBS members attend.

While many dates have yet to be confirmed we will continue to keep you updated as we hear…

May 17, 2020 Peachland World of Wheels

Peachland, BC Contact https://www.peachlandcarshow.com/

July, 2020 Renton River Days

Renton, Wa. Contact https://acbs.org/pacific-northwest-chapter/

TBA, 2020 CWC Boatshow at Lake Oswego

Portland, Or. Contact http://www.cwc-acbs.org/

Sept 5-7, 2020 Priest Lake Dry Rot Show

Priest Lake, Id. Contact https://priestlakedryrot.com/

Sept.15-21, 2020 ACBS Inland Empire Chapter Presents

ACBS International Boat Show 2020

Coeur d’Alene, Id. Contact https://acbs.org/2020-international-boat-show/

TBA, 2020 Okanagan Antique & Classic Boat Show

Penticton, BC. Contact https://oacbs.ca/

Oct., 2020 Mahogany & Merlot

Lake Chelan, Wa. Contact https://www.mahoganyandmerlot.com/

Pre-event Stehekin run

By Steve Leslie

After having such a great time at last year’s show, Louise and I decided to head down to Portland last August and attend the Columbia Willamette Chapter’s annual Boat Show. Its a great weekend that the CWC ACBS puts on in conjunction with the Oswego Heritage Council Collector Car Show. Bob and Wendy Nelson did an excellent job of organizing the show and the whole club pitched in to produce a great weekend. It takes a lot of work and effort to put on a successful show and this club didn’t disappoint!

Lake Oswego is a private lake that graciously hosts us for this one weekend. There is a wonderful Farmer’s market beside Sundeleaf Plaza on Saturday morning and the car show was on the Sunday. The club hosts a delicious catered dinner on Saturday night followed by an entertaining awards presentation.

The lake can be quite busy during the warm weather but if you pick the right time its great to get out and see some of the stunning homes on the lake shores.

Everyone we met was so friendly and welcoming. Louise and I would like thank everyone from CWC for a great show! 

Note: Story and Photos submitted by Kelly Williamson, a director of the OACBS

The last boat show opportunity of the season for us was Mahogany and Merlot (M&M) at Lake Chelan Washington (October 4-6). Wintery weather had started at home in Canada but Lake Chelan is normally warm and dry. M&M provides an excellent venue for one last outing before Joy Ride goes into storage. A pre-event for Mahogany and Merlot is a 50 mile group excursion up the lake to the remote community of Stehekin in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Jenni and I decided to make the trip again this year with our 1954 22 ft Chris Craft Custom Sedan.

Last year I prepared an article about the Stehekin pre-event for the ACBS website news. I gave a detailed discussion about our trip in 2018.  I included a link below to last year’s article for reference.

For us, one of the big draws to Stehekin, is the outstanding natural scenery.  This year I wanted to share more photos of north Lake Chelan landscapes and our experience with a self-guided tour of the lake.

Dick Dow of the PNW-ACBS coordinated the trip again this year.  On the Wednesday before the show, a group of 8 boats headed north at 9:00am for the run up the lake.  I think it is always a good idea to travel in a group. With no cell service for most of the way, it was a wise safety plan.  The trip up the lake normally takes 2 hours or more depending on the stops.  There are many convenient places with docks for rest stops.

After settling in at the North Cascades Lodge at Stekekin Landing, Jenni and I walked over to the Golden West Visitor Center.  The visitor center, operated by the National Park Service is the main ranger station for all the traffic in and out of the south end of the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.  This facility is a National Historic Site and was once the elegant Hotel Field in the Stehekin town site dating back to 1890. The town site location is now underwater due to the construction of a dam at Chelan in 1926 at which time it was moved to its current location.  It was operated as the Golden West Lodge hotel from 1926 until it closed in the 1970’s.  Since then it has operated as a visitor’s center and ranger station.

 There are some interesting artifacts and displays in the Golden West Visitor Center.There are rangers available to provide information about the area or a friendly chat.There I found a great information pamphlet called “A Self-Guided Boat Tour and Walking Tour of Stehekin

On the Thursday before M&M, we took Joy Ride out for a cruise and brought along the self-guided boat tour pamphlet.  We cruised about halfway back to Chelan and took in 15 of the 39 points of interest. Each of the points of interest has a description discussing the historical significance of each site.  Since mining in the area stopped, most of the sites have since returned to a natural state. Seeing the area and reading the descriptions was a very interesting way to learn some of the local history.  The natural beauty of the boat tour was spectacular so we are presenting some of the landscape photos we shot.

The town of Lucerne was one of the points of interest. It is about 40 miles up the lake from Chelan. There are still buildings and cabins there today.  It was once a thriving town supporting activity at the Holden Mine that operated for 20 years until 1957. The Holden Mine site is 12 miles up Railroad Creek Valley from Lucerne.  It appears as though the buildings and cabins at Lucerne are used as boat in only recreational properties today.

On Friday morning the ACBS group packed the boats and headed back to Chelan to get prepared for the show.  The morning boat ride was very cool and worthy of a hat and a blanket.  The water was calm and made for an enjoyable drive. Most of the group stopped at Graham Harbor for a rest stop and a leg stretch. 

We were back to Chelan by noon to get organized for the show.  This is the third time Jenni and I have taken the trip up to Stehekin as a pre-event to the Mahogany and Merlot show.  Stehekin has much to offer as a rustic getaway or a few days of relaxation.  We were fortunate to find information for the Self-Guided boat tour of Lake Chelan. Jenni and I spent a few hours touring in Joy Ride, learning about the history and checking out the incredible scenery. I think we still have more to explore and we could easily spend more time there. 

Once we were checked into Campbell’s Resort at Chelan and the boat was cleaned and shined, we met up with everyone at the registration meeting. After everything was organized, we went to a nice restaurant for a romantic supper.  This was very much in contrast to the natural scenery and rustic seclusion of Stehekin. 

References (click the link below)

https://acbs.org/joy-ride-to-lake-chelan-stehekin/

Note: Story and Photos submitted by Kelly Williamson, a director of the OACBS

We were fortunate to go to Chelan, Washington for the Mahogany and Merlot show (M&M) once more.  This is our “last gasp of summer” event and one of our favorites.  By the time we drove down from Canada there had already been twenty inches of snow back home. Winter had come early again this year.  The Mahogany and Merlot show was October 4 - 6, 2019.  This was another year where the weather didn’t disappoint. Before M&M, Jenni Medina and I had a great time with the Stehekin pre-event. 

The Mahogany and Merlot Show includes three groups.  The vintage hydroplane race boats, the antique and classic boats and some cars as well. I wrote a detailed article last fall that was published by the ACBS International.  A link was included below for reference. It gives a good description of the event.

This year the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce joined the Hydroplane and Race Boat Museum in presenting the event.  The Pacific Northwest Chapter (PNW) of the ACBS worked with the presenters to include an opportunity to show their boats. This year there were 42 ACBS boats on display, mostly from the PNW.  The show has grown in the last 3 years that we have attended. I think that having the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce involved shows support from the local community is strong.  The Mahogany and Merlot show is a really good example of how working together in cooperation with other groups makes it easier to have a successful show.

 In previous years the show was free to the public. This year the presenters charged a nominal entry fee. I observed attendance on the docks was somewhat reduced. Last year, at times, I felt there were too many people on the docks. I didn’t see reduced numbers as a problem.  I expect that yielding some revenue from the show will make future improvements much easier.

This year there were 5 boats from the Okanagan chapter brought down from British Columbia.  There was one boat from Vancouver Island, one from the Lower Mainland, two from Kelowna and I brought Joy Ride from my summer home in the Shuswap.  For an event outside of the Okanagan chapter, Mahogany and Merlot is pretty easy to get to and well worth the drive.  I think it is a really good idea for some of the other Okanagan members who haven’t been there yet to consider Mahogany and Merlot and the Stehekin pre-event. I included a link to an article I wrote last year about Stehekin for anyone interested in checking out our experiences. 

Some photos of the Okanagan chapter boats are below:

The Saturday night dinner was held in a large tent, outdoors on the grass at Don Morse Memorial Park.  The tent was above the marina and adjacent to the beer garden where a really good barbeque dinner was served. This year we had the pleasure of sitting with Dennis and Tammy Biggs from Chelan.  It was really nice to get to know them.  After dinner the award trophies were presented.   As usual there were awards for People’s Choice, Skipper’s Choice and Kid’s Choice.  The trophy winners are shown in the photographs below.  After the trophy presentation each participant was announced and presented with a bottle of red wine with a Mahogany and Merlot label from one of the local wineries.  I thought the red wine presentation was a nice touch.

I think it is important to again discuss the Old Mill Park boat launch.  It is a few miles from the main show venue but is a great central staging area for show events.  It was possible to park vehicles there overnight but their system wasn’t set up to leave trailers only overnight. This year Dick Dow arranged to supply trailer plate numbers to the park staff so that they could identify which had paid the parking fee. Nonpaid parking gets towed. Having a good central place to park trailers was an improvement.  It was a reasonably safe secure place as the park staff kept an eye on things.  This boat launch is an excellent quality facility and is probably the best public boat launch I have ever used.  The Sunday brunch is across the highway from the park. The poker run planned for after the brunch is staged out of this park.  Jenni and I were able to park our truck and trailer there for the entirety of Stehekin and M&M event totalling 5 nights. We didn’t need to move my truck once. 

On the Friday, after the 50 mile trip back from Stehekin we took Joy Ride directly to Don Morse Marina to park for the M&M show.  The hotel we selected was adjacent to the show venue and we could walk with our bags to Campbell’s Resort for check in. There are many good restaurants and shopping within easy walking distance from the show venue. We didn’t need to drive anywhere. There were a few other hotels within walking distance of the show venue as well.

At noon on show day, it was safe to leave the marina as the Hydroplane demonstration races were paused.  Most of the ACBS boats went out for a parade through the town of Chelan.  Click below to enlarge some of my favorite photos from the Saturday parade below:

After three years of participation in the show at Lake Chelan with the PNW chapter, I think I’ve seen some things that have been fundamental to their success such as cooperation with other organizations, a really good venue, inclusion of fun activities and a dedicated and continuous effort towards improvement. For the Okanagan chapter members, this is a great opportunity to get in on a well run, late season show which is relatively central to our membership spread throughout the western provinces.  It is an opportunity to have 5 days of great boating experience in a spectacularly beautiful setting.  Jenni and I feel this trip to Lake Chelan and the Mahogany and Merlot show was another awesome reprieve from the onset of early winter north of the border. Hats off to Ike Kielgass, Dick Dow and the rest of the individuals from the Pacific North West chapter whose hard work made this possible. I think we have been treated really well by the folks form the PNW chapter and consider many of them to be good friends.

References (click the link below)

https://acbs.org/joyride-to-lake-chelan-continued-mahogany-and-merlot/

By Sean Longhi

Born in Vancouver, I grew up with summer vacations on Hunters, San Juan’s, Chance 30s and likely another dozen sailboats boating in the Gulf Islands and San Juan Islands. It seemed every year we would prep a boat for summer, use it, and then decide to sell after summer, as the boat just wasn’t quite what Dad wanted. And then Dad would get an itch for another boat in December and voila, next one purchased- rinse, repeat, redo.

I didn’t have the Disneyland vacations or the Mexico trips growing up, but I did see some of the best nature that BC has to offer. It truly is spectacular. I also had a best friend with a lake house at Cultus Lake in Chilliwack BC. A quick weekend jaunt to the lake for tubing and water skiing was immense fun, and thus started a nice comprise for me as I grew into adulthood.

So, at age 24, I started to look for a vintage 1940s streamliner, Hackercraft or Chris Craft lake boat. I was also restoring a Porsche 356 at the time, so having two full restoration projects seemed like the worst idea possible, thus, I spent 16 years searching craigslist every few weeks week looking for a deal on a classic wooden lake boat.

And then in 2018 I found one.

I came across a 1967 18 foot wooden boat made by Greavette Boatworks in Muskoka Ontario.

The boat however was in Seattle, USA area.

What became a few emails back on forth off a craigslist inquiry, morphed into a great story of a 1 family owned Canadian boat.

The boat HIN is 18-67-3 was originally sold to C. C. Fullerton of Toronto for $4,900 then to a husband and wife in 1967 on Lake Joseph in Ontario.

18 depicts the length. 67 indicates the year.

And the #3 represents the 3rd Greavette Sunflash II made out of only apparently 20 Sunflash II models made from 1966-1968. The original engine was a Mercruiser 120/hp.

In late 1967 the Mark III was being built as a 1968 model. Although Greavette Boatworks would make whatever you wanted (and paid for) the Mark II was less expensive and the mark III was unproven so, they were produced side by side for a time.

This Greavette remained on Lake Joseph from 1967 until 1997 when the original purchaser passed away leaving the boat to his granddaughter who had married a Seattle resident. She moved the heirloom to the Seattle area and her and her new husband enjoyed the craft for years, raising 2 children and purchasing a lakefront house to enjoy the same Lake Joseph lifestyle that she had growing up.

In 2015 the Greavette was taken out of the water, and the hull had every panel replaced and had new stainless fasteners that replaced the brass ones. A new 3 litre 4cyl Mercruiser was added as well.

The top deck was not replaced, but sanded down and re-varnished. The boat was used in 2017 for that summer near complete restored, and the family then purchased a second faster boat for their growing teens.

The listed price was still higher than what I had been looking for, but after several phone discussions, the family decided that passing the heirloom to another family was the right thing to do. We struck a deal and the 1967 Greavette returned to Canada after over 20 years of being out of the country.

The windshield has now been removed, stored and replaced with a 3 piece windshield frame with bronze plexiglas. The seats were stripped and replaced with an era specific cream pleated vinyl. The bright work was polished and after some elbow grease, the little 18 footer enjoyed 5 baths over this summer.

Tom Greavette and his family made a significant contribution to the development of wooden boat building not only in Muskoka but indeed in all of Canada. The success his boats achieved in competition brought international attention to our country and recognition of a proud legacy of boat building in the Ontario region.

This 18 foot Greavette isn't as flashy as some boats out there, but fresh after a restoration, she has made her way back to Canada to be enjoyed for many years to come.

And At the price we paid, I don’t feel bad if she gets only a few baths each year.

S E A N - C H R I S T E R F E R L O N G H I

Richard and Marie Daley went back east this summer and sent us some photos of their adventure….

Click on photos to enlarge,

We were in Cape Cod in Chatham just poking around when I drove to the end of the road and stumbled upon First Light Boat Works and Marine Railway. They restore, maintain, and build from scratch, wooden boats.

Their new builds are lap strake hulls powered by Suzuki 140 HP 4 stroke outboard engines hidden in engine boxes.They told me they use this design for a couple of reasons: Looks, quiet, reliable operation, and lots of interior room.

Very cool boats. They reminded me of my 24 foot CC Seaskiff. The building they work out off was used during the Second World War for building Derigible Ballons. (Air ships)

All in all very cool for literally stumbling on to it. https://www.firstlightboatworks.

Next was the IYRS School of Technology and Trades in Newport, Rhode Island.

This is a boat building school that ACBS supports through its scholarship program. We fell onto this one during a tour of Newport. Our tour guide, who happened to be a wood boat guy, mentioned the school as we drove by. Later, I drove back for a visit. I spoke with the president Jay Coogan and took a full tour.

They have various programs of which boat building and repair is one. The school offers a two year program and my tour was given by a second year student. They have quite a large space in what was an old generator building on the water front in Newport. There were many small boats under rebuild in this space being worked on by students.

In another space there was a very large and famous Schooner Coronet under a full rebuild though not being done by the students. Its been under reconstruction for over 10 years, pretty cool to see as you could walk around the whole ship from walkways up high.

https://www.iyrs.edu/

The USS Constition…

Arguably one of the most historic wooden boats or in this case ship in the entire world. It is the oldest constantly in-service war ship in the world. It is still a working ship in the US Navy with a current Captain and Crew.

Floating in the harbour with restoration work being done while I was on board. They were literally cutting giant floor beams out with reciprocating saws as were touring around the boat.

These were just a few of the many wooden boats that we came across on our tour of the Boston area, a place I would highly recommend as a vacation destination.

By Richard Daley

OACBS welcomes Kelly Willaimson and Danny Hinds to our OACBS Board of Directors! Kelly Williamson will also be co-editing the Drydock Newsletter with Steve Leslie.

If you know of anyone interested in vintage/classic wood boats or classic fiberglass please tell them about the OACBS and welcome them aboard!

If you’ve never been to an ACBS show please consider it next spring/summer. You won’t be disappointed! The boats are cool, the boating is fun, and you’ll love the friendly people that you meet!

Please share some stories and photos of your adventures on the water or on land with YOUR club! You can send them to Steve Leslie at leslieland@telus.net or Kelly Williamson at kelvin.williamson@shaw.ca

Don’t forget to plan to attend this years 2020 International Boat Show In Coeur d’Lane, Idaho

Inland Empire Chapter Pre-events September 14-16

Chapter Roundtable and Annual Membership Meeting September 17

International Boat Show September 18-19

Annual Auction September 18

Annual Awards Banquet September 19

REGISTRATION WILL OPEN APRIL 2020

Please be safe and have fun wherever you’re boating!