Web Edition

Summer Cover.JPG (16506 bytes)
Volume 7, Number 5; Summer 1998
Table of Contents
(Underlined articles from the printed issue of ACBS Rudder are online.)

Calling All Kids!
News from International ACBS
President's Message:

Spotlight on a Chapter
Museum Watch
ACBS 1998 International Meeting
A Whale of a Tale
The Temple of the Reconstruction
The Dodge Watercar
The Lida Rose
Ship's Store
Trading Dock-Classified ads.

Contact Information for ACBS Rudder
Subscription and and Submission Information

President's Message:

Well, here I am with egg on my face, after promising to have the '98 Directory in your hands by April 15, it is finally here. The delays were many but my favorite is El Nino. The weather seems to get blamed for everything, why not for this as well? On a serious note I wish to thank Debi Florek and Tab Miller for bearing the brunt of this endeavor. Hope you notice the improvements. With over 5,000 memberships, this is our largest directory ever.

I am saddened to report to you that Debi Florek has resigned. When you call Headquarters the new voice you hear belongs to Kathleen Snyder. Kathy has been working at Headquarters for the past two months and has taken over the daily office operations. Please extend a warm welcome to her.

The Spring Meeting was held in Seattle, WA, where we welcomed our newest chapter, The Rocky Mountain Classics. What a great time we had taking part in the Opening Day of Boating Season! There was a magnificent parade of boats with antique boat participants adorned with Whales Tale head pieces. These won the Best of Show Award. Thanks to the Northwest Chapter for hosting the spring meeting. It was an outstanding event.

Our Summer Meeting will be held in Clayton, on Friday, July 31st. Lunch, followed by the Board meeting will be held at the Caddie Shack restaurant at noon. If you would like to join us, call Kathy at ACBS Headquarters:

Phone (315)686-2628 Fax (315)686-2680

This is also the Annual Boat Show weekend at the Antique Boat Museum. If you are at the show please stop by headquarters on the corner of James and Mary Streets and say hello.

It is time to make your reservations for the Annual Meeting, September 17th through the 20th, to be held at the Hotel Del Coronado, in San Diego , CA. This promises to be a very memorable event. If you have never attended an Annual meeting this would be a great one to start with. Hope to see many of you there.

Enjoy Summer! See you at the boat shows!

I can be reached at our summer residence (same place - now an address)

2611 S. Forest Lane (Island #8)

Cedarville, MI 49719

Phone (906)484-3852 Fax (906)484-6001


  Tom Flood

 

I tagged along with ACBS luminaries, friends and enthusiasts at the quarterly board meeting held in Seattle in early May. I actually went for a double short…non fat…laitte, some barbecued salmon and to help the Washingtonians with their annual opening of the Yachting season; a tradition that has evolved as a result of their compressed season for our activity. They have learned to burst into the boating season rather than ease into it as they do, for example, in my domain - the Chesapeake. Bang! Commence boating! That’s the way it’s done in May in Seattle. I plan someday to go there for the closing of the boating season just to see how they do that - They probably shout HALT through a bull horn.

All that aside, they sure do know how to entertain. Our first cocktail gathering was at the Cuttysark in Bellevue, WA; a veritable candy store for those of us with a sweet tooth for brass. Anything you have ever seen that was made of brass could be found in this well stocked chandlery. From there we were whisked off to Suite 200, a renowned private automobile collection, where we sipped wine and ate canapés amid fine motor cars of yesteryear. Dinner was a delicious paella prepared before our very eyes in a skillet the size of a 1929 Packard tire.

The meeting was on Friday.

Friday evening was a mixture of boat rides and salmon consumption at the Center For Wooden Boats. Contrary to news reports and gabble from townies, Seattle seems to me to have rather nice weather; at least when I’m there. Do you suppose they deliberately falsify their weather reports in an effort to keep crackpots like old wooden boat hounds away? I wouldn’t put it past them.

To prepare for the Opening of Yachting Season activities we assembled quite early Saturday morning at Franco’s Restaurant to clear cobwebs and lubricate our joints with a champagne eye opener. We received our costumes and were given explicit instructions on just how to behave. We Taleheads on Tuffy IIpaid little attention. The accompanying photos will clearly demonstrate the seriousness of the occasion that would follow. The boats were wonderful and the proceedings a bit silly but we enjoyed them and a picnic box lunch at the University of Washington’s boat house that followed. We wiled away the afternoon anticipating a wonderful evening of food and drink at the General Petroleum Museum where we learned, to the surprise of only those who had worked hard planning a great weekend, that the silly behavior of a few hours earlier had won first place recognition in a number of categories.

By golly, it was great. A few stalwarts who had not yet ingested sufficient quantities of the Pacific Northwest spent the following few days cruising the San Juan Islands north of Seattle.