The Mount Dora Boat Show combined with a southbound and a northbound St. John’s River cruise was an incredible success. Perfect Florida weather contributed to record attendance at the 15th Annual Antique Boat Festival and two weeks of classic boating. The entire event commenced on Sunday March 17th with the start of the southbound leg of the St. John’s River cruise. Boaters basked in the Florida sun, eventually arriving in historic Mount Dora where they were met by other boaters and greeted by over 100 volunteers from the Sunnyland Chapter.
The lakefront came to life early Thursday morning and as the day progressed, the waterfront was transformed into an amazing display of classic boats, woody cars, antique outboard motors and Amphi-cars. The Mount Dora Marina along with the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a reception for all participants on Thursday evening. The southbound river cruise concluded with a dinner party.
On Friday the picnic cruise got underway at 10am as 50 classic boats departed the harbor for a trip to Lake Eustis through the Mystic Dora Canal. The picnic boats returned throughout the day and after several hours of intense work, the Captain’s Welcome Party was a refreshing break and a great opportunity to meet and see old friends.
On Saturday Chapter volunteers hosted a kid’s workshop to supervise children as
they built wooden boats. At 1pm we had the Amphi-car parade and famous
“Splash-Inn” with 14 cars. Saturday evening we had over 300 attend the dinner
banquet at the Lakeside Inn and several recognition awards were presented.
The show eventually ended late Sunday afternoon and all the boats scheduled for
the northbound river cruise were pre-positioned at Sanford. Once again, the
cruise was a major success and the Mount Dora Boat Show and river cruises were
completed for 2002.
According to the Mount Dora Police Department, we had record attendance and the
crowd was estimated to be approximately 60,000 for the four-day event. A total
of 15 states were represented including people from California and Canada. 281
people were pre-registered, 25 late registrations, 147 boats in the water, over
a 100 land display boats, 68 flea market vendors, 13 “woody cars”, 14 Amphi-cars
and a spectacular display of antique outboard motors. The footprint of the show
is almost a half-mile from one end to the other.
The 2002 Mount Dora Antique Boat Festival will be remembered as a bench mark
event for the Chapter and we can all be proud of our accomplishment. This was
the Sunnyland Chapter’s opportunity to show the ACBS how to put on a show and
what a spectacular job we did!
North Coast Ohio Chapter just completed an interesting 18 month project for the
Inland Seas Maritime Museum at Vermilion, Ohio. In the fall of 2000, the new
director of the Great Lakes Historical Society, Chris Gillcrist, asked the NCO
director and professional model builder, Bill Halen to design an interactive
nautical display to emphasize the wooden boat era of the Great Lakes region.
Bill’s concept was to construct an authentic transom of carvel planked mahogany,
fitted with appropriate chrome hardware, proper wood stains, copper exhaust
pipe, water line, and bottom paint. Centered in the curve transom would be an
18” computer screen that Museum visitors could control through a mouse pad or
track ball. The boat selected for its impressive design and expert craftsmanship
of the era was a 1929, 26’ Chris-Craft triple cockpit.
Bill made his own drawings of the
last 2 feet of the boat’s rounded transom, gradual tumble-home sides, and
beautiful deck that crowns gently upward to the king plank and then sweeps
upward toward the bow. The two deck covering boards and the king plank were to
be dark walnut stained with the rest of the wood being Chris-Craft mahogany
stain.
Work began in late 2000 at Les Demaline’s boat shop. Les also provided some beautiful Philippine mahogany from a bundle of match grained wood dated 1939. Not long after framing was completed under Bill Halen’s watchful eye, Bill was diagnosed with a severe form of cancer.
Throughout his intense treatments he
stayed close to the project, working when he could, even is his last few days in
April, 2001. Determined to conclude Bill’s project successfully, Gil Maringer,
Jack Lynett and Cliff Wolfe completed the woodworking and Les did the staining,
numerous varnish coats and glass-like clear coat protective finish. With help
from Sy Lovett, Gary Kosiba, Bill Hunter, and Gary DeShetler the finishing
touches of table skirting, hardware, photography, and computer installation were
proudly installed at the museum in early May, 2002. It was done in time for the
sixth annual boat show held next to the museum grounds on Lake Erie and a
special summer exhibition of Bill Halen’s beautiful models. Thanks particularly
to Bill Halen for his vision, to Les Demaline for his craftmanship and to NCO
members for this lasting and beautiful museum treasure.
The Hudson River Valley is the home of the Hudson River Chapter, ACBS. Many of
our members come from all along the Hudson River from Albany to New York City
and beyond. Our officers are Rick Erixon, president, Steve Young, treasurer and
Holly Jenkinson, secretary. This year our club is involved with many function.
In May, we have a display of club members’ boats at the annual Antique and
Classic Car Show in Rhinesbeck, NY. This show draws over 30,000 spectators, a
lot of interest and stories like “my father and grandfathers used to have a boat
like that!!” On July 20th we are co-sponsors for the 3rd Annual Greenwood Lake
Boat Show which is a new show and growing each year. August 16-18 we will be
holding our 18th Annual Greenwood Boat Show in Kingston, NY. We have between 25
- 35 antique and classic runabouts and cruisers on display. The City of Kingston
has festivities during the three day show. A wonderful time is had by all. On
Columbus Day weekend we will be having a Fall Getaway at Lake George, NY. This
has always been a wonderful time with the fall foliage and a fantastic way to
end the boating season.
Lake Hopatcong Chapter notes in its newsletter: “We can be very proud of member
Bob Kays. In the wake of the September 11th attack, Bob learned of a Hopatcong
woman who had lost her husband and was left with a seven year-old son and a four
year-old daughter. Bob responded to the airing of the need for a male role model
for her son by giving of himself to spend time with the young boy. By all
accounts, the youngster’s time spent with Bob helped him substantially in the
difficult time after the tragedy. We are proud of you, Bob.”
The Pacific Northwest Chapter helped kick off boating season in style with their participation in the Seattle Yacht Club’s Opening Day Parade. Thousands of people line the racecourse/parade route on land and in boats to celebrate boating season on the first Saturday in May every year, rain or shine. This is a major rite of spring in the Seattle area and includes the Windermere Cup crew races and features parade entries from most of the yacht clubs and other maritime groups in the region.
The boating fun continued June 16th with the annual Family Fun Day bratwurst
barbeque on Lake Tapps. This event was moved from September to make room for the
International Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The PNW Chapter would like
to join the Inland Empire Chapter in welcoming the international membership to
our region for what is going to be a fantastic event.
Dixieland Chapter sends the following item: “The Dixieland Chapter is fortunate to have a new web site. Ned Smith has done a great job putting this together. Thanks, Ned!” The web site address is http://ourworld.cs.com/dixielandacbs/