They Were There, And Had Some Sausage.

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Driving Stinky into her birth….place. It was a spiritual moment for me..and Stinky

Looking back over this past weekend, there where of course some amazing boats, and the weather, water. But the part that really sticks out in my memory is the people. The kindness and roll with the flow mind set. Just fun, and full of life, and yet passionate. This is a very rare quality. To be a calm fun passionate person, and yet here is an entire community made up of that spirit. And so in that spirit, I opened my spirit part of my brain, and when I did that, I could see all of the folks from the Chris Craft history there. This is why Algonac is such a special place. The spirit, the soul of Power Boating is here.

Christopher Columbus Smith was waiting for me at the dock

And tucked away in boathouses where more of the Smiths

And more Smith’s

Godfather to all our Chris Crafts was there as well. Thanks to John Allen for bringing Miss Algonac and Godfather

Chris went to the mens room, and I grabbed a color version of the shot.

OWEN was here reincarnated as his boat!

Stinky’s lines in the water are amazing.

She was on land on show day right under the water tower.

I also brought her unbelievable history with her.

Miss America 10 was here with her 4 packard engines

Steve Lapkin and Wayne..bomb!

Original finish Cobra 003 .. INSANE. You could feel her history

Note the lift rings, and original varnish with gold dust cover.

Number 001. and one of three Chris Craft trailers

Oh that water. You could feel the history enter your soul.

Stinky and Molly O headed out.. Little did we know.

Harsons Island is a magical paradise of timelessness

On our ride home. Hey! I cant make this stuff up. A huge thanks to all the Smiths and Michigan gang for making this past weekend one we will never forget.

13 replies
  1. John Bailey
    John Bailey says:

    Did Stinky enjoy not having to have her engines purged after running in fresh Great Lakes water?!?!

  2. Greg Lewandowski
    Greg Lewandowski says:

    Yes, we all had a great weekend. The weather and boat gods were good to all of us except maybe Art, and even that one turned out alright. The Michigan gang wants to thank Matt and all the WoodyBoater gang and the many others that helped make our 100 year birthday party something special.
    Now let’s go boating!

  3. floyd r turbo
    floyd r turbo says:

    Still hard to believe the Molly-O story if I hadn’t seen the pictures. Guess I’ll think twice about launching and running that area in my own Chris Craft which was what I was thinking about along the same lines as Matt, that is, bringing “her” back to where she was born in 1947.

  4. George Burgess
    George Burgess says:

    I know ART likes to make a big deal about the Cobra lift rings, but when I purchased 003 from Joe Cabot. Joe was considered a very knowledgeable Cobra go to guy, he had the rear lift rings facing forward like the front lift ring. Joe went so far about accuracy that he had the fin & Hatches finished in gold power and varnish like the original not car paint like all the restored Cobra’s now.

    • ART
      ART says:

      George its NOT just MY opinion it’s how THE CHRIS CRAFT COBRA DRAWINGS show them. They clearly show the DESIGN intent which has the hole facing fore and aft of all three lifting rings.

      I’m pretty sure that they are designed that way because if they were facing side to side, in the rear, the rings could be bent inward.

      • George
        George says:

        Art the rings cannot be bent inward when you use a spreader bar, which is how I picked my boat up. If you use cable on each lifting ring to a center hook the side pull would be the same on either position of the lifting ring. Today it seems everyone uses bottom slings, lifting rings are out of date.

  5. MikeM
    MikeM says:

    Looked like a great show…sorry I missed it. Congrats to Brent Gatecliff and “Baby Girl” for the BIG prize. That is a gorgeous boat and Brent actually uses it!!

    And how about that boat Owen?? Who names a boat after themself?? Asking for a friend…..

    • Bob Shapton
      Bob Shapton says:

      Owen Smith ordered the boat for fishing and hunting purposes. In fact Owen even had the rear seat removed during the build, specifically for his sporting use, added back later. The original name Owen put on the transom was Rusty Bill. The second owners found the boat abandoned in a boat house on Martz Rd on Harsens Island. They employed Tom Avers and Robert Henkel to bring her back, they renamed the boat the TLC, initials of Delanie’s father. The condition of the boat has held nicely since and when Mary and I purchased the boat I wanted a name that reflected back to its roots. Hence, Owen.

  6. Steve Anderson from Michigan
    Steve Anderson from Michigan says:

    It was a great weekend, I really wish I would have registered in time to participate in some of the festivities. Just attending the show was nice and getting to cruise around the other boats with mine was very special.

    Floyd, don’t fret too much about enjoying the St Clair River. We happen to have scheduled this event on the same day as another well known event in the area called Jobby Nooner. It’s a huge water party for all the go fast plastic boats, so we had to compete for river space. Early morning is the best time to enjoy flat water with our boats!

    • floyd r turbo
      floyd r turbo says:

      Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering about that phrase j/n. I’ll certainly reconsider now.

  7. Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P)
    Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P) says:

    Yes they were there. Enjoying the beautiful day and watching the beautiful boats.

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