Steve Hill’s Grandfathers Hacker Reminds Us All of The Timeless Magic of Boating!

torch4It’s not often you get to see pictures of your grandparents and one of their cool boats! A Hacker to be specific. Here is the note from Fellow Woody Boater Steve Hill from Torch lake Michigan.

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“My dad said that his grandfather had a 33′ Hacker probably late 1920s or very early 1930s. Attached are the only pictures of what I think is the boat. My grandmother traded that boat along with the 22′ Garwood you’ve seen before for a 1950’s Century Resorter…. Ugh”

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Now to make this more fun, one of these photos does not belong! But its still cool to see all the old shots.

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Torch 3To make this Friday more fun, do you have any old family photos?

 

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60 Responses to “Steve Hill’s Grandfathers Hacker Reminds Us All of The Timeless Magic of Boating!”

  1. Troy in ANE

    GREAT photos!

    Sad story, a Hacker and Gar for a Century? Really though who would have known?

    I do have some old photo’s but have not scanned them as of yet. I have posted this one before, but since you asked here it is again.

  2. m-fine

    Notice how no one is wearing their WoodyBoater T shirts or hats? No orange boat shoes either!

  3. Chris B

    here is one for Tommy, Julies dad had a brand new 64 Century, you well have to guess the model.

    • tommyholm

      Hey Canuck, that’s a Resorter 17. One year, 1961, its first year did Century paint the sheer plank a light color tan.
      I always suspected that Julie had good heritage.
      BTW, I too will accept a Hacker + Garwood for a Century.

  4. Chris B

    My Grandparents had a lodge and the caretaker for the Seagram family would bring the boat over to take them and there guests for boat rides. Good friends and boats I hope he brought the cocktails as well.

    • John A. Gambill

      Wonder if all those folks in that boat had a life jacket? Let me think, was that a law then?

  6. Bob Kays

    My Grandfather bought our 1964 Woodson after a test drive with Woody Woodson. Our neighbors 1966? Boston Whaler sits along side.

    • Robert

      Hello,
      I recently bought a 1965 Woodson Dual Cathedral 15. I found a lot of info on them, but still need info to confirm the year it was built. I read he lost Thunderbird boats in the divorce in 1960, and that he passed away in Barbados in 1970?. I found online a copy of Woodson Boats 1965-1970 models. It has models and price as well as demensions, which may be helpful in determining year, since the deminsions seemed to have changed from year to year. Do you know what year he started Woodson boats? Do you know what year he moved Woodson boats to Barbados? Can you help me decode the Hull I.D. by comparing mine to yours? They are really cool boats, unfortunately there are not very many of them out there to compare to. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
      Thank You.

  7. Dennis Mykols

    Our family got into boating right after WWII, when my Dad bought a 14 ft Wolverine with a 10hp Johnson. Here I am at 10 years old 1956 standing up and paddling behind our lake lot, on Belleville Lake, MI

  9. tommyholm

    JB Welch, founder of Century Boat Co. ( and somebody’s Grandfather) in the late 1920’s in a Century Traveler (not for sale or trade).

  10. Mr. Andreas Jordahl Rhude

    “My 5 Sons” in 1965. I am the fifth son – the little one in the sporty red coat! The boat is a 1964 T & T Breakers 18 ft. lapstrake outboard purchased at the liquidation auction in May 1965. My dad bought two unfinished boats for $300.00 and used components from the two to finish off the boat that became “My 5 Sons”. In 1967 the boat name was changed to “My 6 Sons” when child number 6 arrived. The family still has the boat and it will be displayed at the Thompson Antique & Classic Boat Rally on 27 June 2015 at Nestegg Marine in Marinette, WI !

  12. Peter Stephens

    This is a picture of my wife’s great grandfather, R.E. Olds (white hat), and family at the their cottage on Lake Charlevoix, circa 1930. My wife’s father is the boy next to Mr. Olds.
    Note their strict adherence to Coast Guard standards for life jackets and occupancy limits for the boat!

  16. Walt

    Here’s me and my grandparents in my grandfather’s 1959 Elgin lapstrake. Photo was taken in 1975 on the Potomac near Colonial Beach, VA

    • John A. Gambill

      Ah yes, nothing beats a good Sear Catalog boat!! Love those Elgin’s!
      Pic is me sittin in my 60 Elgin 1st day in the water after resto 10 years ago.

      • mike moses

        i have to help someone sell one of these sears elgin red and white 14-15′ fiberglass boats, boat motor and trailer, never put in water, plastic still on seats, never run, put in clean dry garage new and been like that for 55 years. Still 100% mint. Any interest? Approx. Value?

  19. Frank Miklos

    A photo of my grandmother on the right, back in the 1920s (around 1926) I just found the negative in the past few weeks. Not sure exactly what the boat is … possibly a Chris Craft…

    • Frank Miklos

      I should have said my grandmother Helen Merz Miklos. (my dad’s sided) Also not sure where this was taken… We have other photos on Lake Erie in PA , Detroit, Chicago, and New York and Conneaut Lake, PA , All from the same time period… Is definitely not a local Pittsburgh Photo.. I have not found a print that may have info written on it as of this date…

  20. Frank Miklos

    Close-up of the boat. also my grandmother has her engagement ring on .. I can’t tell if she has a wedding ring. they were married in July of 1927. I’m still going with the 1926 date or a little later.. I don’t think any earlier..

  21. Walt

    Here are the 2 Sears kit boats together – 14′ 2 cockpit and the 12′ c/d “racer”. My dad built the 12′ boat in 1954 and he and my grandfather built the 14′ boat the following summer.

  22. Walt

    Here’s my dad’s 1961 Broadwater 17′ cuddy cabin. This photo is from 1961. I still have this boat with the same 1956 Johnson 30 hp outboard and transport it on it’s original Sears trailer.

  23. Pappy

    A photo of our “crew” circa 1958 taken at Sand City in Asharoken,NY. We were Sea Skiff folks then and still are. Note the bow “anchor” and cool boats in the background.

    • Dick Dow

      That’s a CC Red & White Express painted black in the background on the left, rafted to the catboat… Looks OK, doesn’t it?

  24. Dick Dow

    Mom and Dad on the foredeck of the original “Thisuldu”, a 1954 21′ Bryant Voyager purchased when I was three months old. This is from 1958 or ’59 as I can barely make out the profile of the Evinrude “Fat 50” at the stern, one of the first sold in Seattle. It replaced the original 30 and 25 horse pair of Evinrudes the boat was delivered with. Used more fuel than the two put together…

  25. Sean

    We were poor… No vacations or boats for us. But, in 1966 I had this boat… it’s a Corgi. It came on a trailer with a 1966 Oldsmobile Riviera. Still have the car +Trailer… no idea what happened to that boat. 🙂

  26. m-fine

    My grandparents spent summers on Conesus Lake in the 50’s/60’s but they didn’t own any digital cameras back then, so I don’t have any pictures on my phone to upload. They also didn’t own any Hackers or other collectible boats, but there was a mid 50’s Evenrude outboard someone (great uncle?) bought new that a cousin of mine still has and it still runs.

  28. Randy

    A Hacker and a Gar for a much newer Century — just a sign of the times.

    Ask a kid about a Hacker today and just see what he gives you for an answer. WB is helping us to change all this!

  29. Chris B

    I have had a few mystery boats sent to me over the years. cool shots Ill post a few.

  30. THall

    My Mom – Winnie, on Canandaigua Lake….maybe 1948. Not sure about the boat….anyone?

    • Brian Robinson

      This is a ’39 19′ Chris-Craft barrel.

      If the boat in the story is an actual Hacker, it is very early 1920s.

      The last photo is a different boat.

    • Cobourg Kid

      Hey! I think that photo came from me via an article I once wrote for ACBS Toronto’s dock lines in 06

      The Sarah Margaret was owned by the Rowe Family of Pittsburgh ( Wallace Rowe was the President and Founder of the Pittsburgh Steel Corporation) . The Sarah was ( and I am guessing based on the age of the children in her christening photo) and extensive review of ancient Motorboating magazines, launched around 1908 -1909, probably by Morris NJ based Gas Engine & Power Co (a division of Consolidated Shipbuilding) Unfortunately we can’t confirm that supposition as no records of the boat’s origin remain in the Rowe family’s possession .

      Faithfully each June from 1906 to 1945 Mrs.. Rowe, her five children, and a retinue of servants decamped from the Rowe’s Shadyside (Pittsburgh) mansion and spent the entire summer at Cottesmore Hall , a beautiful (and now long gone) summer home the Rowe’s had built in Cobourg Ontario.

      The Rowe family used the Sarah exclusively on Rice Lake (which is 18 miles north of Cobourg and part of the Trent Severn waterway).

      The much loved and lavishly appointed yacht was carefully stored in her own boat house at Gore’s landing yacht and was carefully tended and piloted by Captain Sherman Cooper and his first mate Amos Champ (who was also the Rowe’s trusted chauffeur). In latter years Wallace Rowe Junior ( also known as bud) also joined the crew that operated the Sarah.

      Throughout her time with the Rowe’s the Sarah was used extensively for fishing trips and cruising often with many notable Pittsburgian’s on board

      Unfortunately the Sarah slipped from the radar after the 1940s and although we know where some of her deck chairs are we don’t have the slightest inkling of what happened to the boat itself .

      Its likely that she ultimately ended up in some burn pile back in the 50s , nevertheless I would be love to hear from anyone who might have an alternate ending.

      Photo ( taken at the Scott’s Mills lock at Peterborough in 1919 is courtesy of the Rowe Family

      CK

  33. Cobourg Kid

    That ol photo is a way more than fuzzy but I think that this is what Steve’s Grand-pop bought from Mr. Hacker way back in 122 or 23, a Hacker -Commuter, and yah its not 33 feet but darn close

  34. John Baas

    Unknown worker retrieving logs from Archibald Lake, WI late ’20’s. The logs were used to build my wife’s parents log cabin still in the family. Looks to be an Evinrude knuckle buster on the skiff.

  35. Kelly Wittenauer

    Always enjoy family history told with interesting old photos. Thanks to all for sharing these.

  37. Danny B

    Here’s my boat new in 1961 with my grandfather, my “Pap” at the wheel.

  38. Max Mueller

    Miklos family owns Century J5026 my old boat. Had an individual who was supposed to restore it, ruin it. It made me ill. What a beautiful Miklos restoration!

  40. floyd r turbo

    My grandfather’s late 20’s early 30’s CC 24′ triple flat deck during spring fitting out. That trailer would be pulled 35 miles to the launch ramp with his 1948 Dodge Power Wagon , a former Navy crash truck with a 115 hp flathead 6. The trailer was 6 x 10 timbers with rear truck axle and front straight axle on leaf springs u bolted to the timbers. An a-frame tongue hitch was attached to the front, no brakes, not sure if it even had lights.

  42. Steve Hill

    Here’s a picture of my dad piloting the 22′ Garwood that was also traded in for the Century Resorter……