Algonac – The Soul Of Motor Boating.

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Detail from Algonac banner

If you consider yourself a boater, more specifically a power boater. Then you may be missing the inner understanding of why you love motor boating so much. Unless you have been to Algonac Michigan. Yes, a little town on the St Clair Bay north of Detroit.

History on a wall

To some its home, and to many may seem like a small place up North, or West or East, and maybe even South. But this place is far more than just a place, it’s a sense of place. it is the Soul of Motor Boating. It started here, which they claim, and own. Buts far deeper than that. It all started here, because it could not have happened anywhere else.

Woods and Smiths call this home!

Where else in the world could all the influences come together and create magic. Inspiration comes from a collective universe that people live in at the same time. This is the place, and was the time, and the best part of it ALL, is the people that embody the place still have the spirit. So you get to feel it. Okay, wait… You can not feel the people, that’s against the law I think. Feel is a spiritual metaphor. Wow, this went off the rails fast. Anyway, you need to go feel the Soul of Motor Boating.. Not the people. Although they do have feelings. And like to be felt, but. OH GOD, help me here, I am caught up in a #MeToo spiral I cant get out of. Ugh. Just go there in the spring or next summer. I give up. Ya know you just cant say anything nice anymore without sounding like a creep.

All hail Algonac.. And by the way..

YOU CAN BUY THIS INSANE COOL BANNER ON EBAY ! GOOD LUCK, IT AINT GONNA COME CHEAP!!!!!!!

 

12 replies
  1. Greg Lewandowski
    Greg Lewandowski says:

    Hey Matt, thanks for the kudos regarding Algonac, the little town on the North Channel that is loved by our Michigan gang. We have been proud to have you and other WoodyBoaters visit and show you around (by water). We will be having our annual pilgrimage again next June on the grounds of the Chris Craft plant. If you come at another time, let us know, and we will get you out on some of the best boating waters anywhere. We love showing off “Where it All Began”!

  2. John Gannon
    John Gannon says:

    I’m a Lyman owner, so it’s Sandusky for me, but I was fortunate to be able to make a pilgrimage to the old Lyman plant, now a party center and restaurant, and stand in what was once the main floor of factory where the boats, including mine were assembled. It was a very memorable experience. I could definitely hear the echoes of the men and machines who once labored there, and I could imagine my boat coming off the line, decades before I was born, freshly assembled, the factory finish still wet.

    • Justin Heidtman
      Justin Heidtman says:

      As a multi-Chris Craft owner in Michigan, I’ve been to Algonac many times. Both for the boat show and just to visit. It is a magical place and standing in that building thinking about the decades of boats that came out of there is very awe-inspiring. Stop into the Catch 22 for dinner and look around town. I’ve always been blown away by that spot being the epicenter of recreational boating and the family who made it all happen.

  3. tparsons56
    tparsons56 says:

    As I had mentioned in a post last week the old Chris Craft Factory in Algonac is not only still standing but is also being used as a boat storage facility today. I wish I had known when I stored our cruiser in that building that this was where my 1941 Custom was built as it would have had much more meaning. I’m not sure when it was built but as I remember many of the beams and trusses were wood. Another plus was that the current owner would open the building every Sat. and Sun. all winter long so people could check out and work on their own boats which is something that is disappearing these days.

    A great legacy as not too many of the original boat factories still exist.

  4. m-fine
    m-fine says:

    I think it is still legal to feel the people as long as you get positive consent in writing before doing so.

  5. floyd r turbo
    floyd r turbo says:

    That reminds me of my college days at Yearning Loins University when I was a fraternity member in Thought IFelta Thi.

  6. KENT IN VALPO
    KENT IN VALPO says:

    Our summer cottage was across the North Channel of the St. Clair River from the Chris Craft plant. I spent every summer there, from 1938 until 1960, and I have never heard of St. Clair Bay. St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair Muscamoot Bay, but no St. Clair Bay.

    • m-fine
      m-fine says:

      We also don’t have an Alex Bay in the Thousand Islands. There is an A Bay or Alexandria Bay, but no Alex Bay…except here in WoodyBoaterville wear spehling grahamer and geografy are granted a higher level of creative license.

  7. Rabbit
    Rabbit says:

    Oxford Pennants could recreate it… or do a custom Woody Boater pennant. They’d sell like hot cakes.

  8. Pam Allen - President ACHS
    Pam Allen - President ACHS says:

    When visiting Algonac in 2020 you need to visit the Algonac Clay Historical Society Maritime Museum located right downtown Algonac. We have memories of the marine history from Chris Craft to Garwood and everything in between.

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