Do Your Part To Make America Beautiful. OK, Maybe Just The Comment Section.
Lake Hopatcong, photo Bob Kays
It dawned on me the other day that one the more fun parts of owning and restoring a classic boat is that you are restoring more than just a boat, you are restoring a soul, a work of art. While you are out on the water you are using a wonderful piece of art. That’s right, when you are out on the water, your woody boat is framed in the setting that you are floating on. Heck, even in a boat house or at the dock, she is doing her best to beautify the area. Now I am not some sort of ego driven self absorbed pin head here. I have but ugly stuff that makes life ugly. Satellite dish, orange truck, weeds, old crap around the house. But when it comes to bringing out one of the vintage woodys on the water. The world just looks better. maybe its just me. maybe not. I know from what folks say and wave that it makes them smile. I have yet to have anyone ever complain about the noise the un mufflered 431 Lincoln engine makes, or the when I block there view at a restaurant at the dock. No problem. BUT, park a brand new Clorox bottle or Jet Ski and people arnt as welcoming. When a Woody boat is out on the water it represents history, a time when people designed things from emotion…art.. It represents craftsmanship, passion. So, see, taking your woody boat out is not a selfish thing, its a public service, you are giving back, you are helping make your water way more beautiful, you my friend are a giver! And if you can’t go out on the water yet, park it in your driveway and help beautify your block, Still in the garage? Help beautify your Garage! Still under the tarp? Put a picture in the comment section and beautify the comment section! Do the math, and keep the shots under 1 mg
Even the shavings on the ground are beautiful
Don’t have a picture of the boat BUT I now have windshild brackets. Jim Staib sent me an email that they were on ebay, (Thanks Jim) so the 26′ sea skiff will get an opening windshild. Woo-Hoo
Last ride of the day…a perfect day with family, friends, and of course boating.
And just as a landscape is beautiful, so is a single flower petal… Sometimes it’s the small things where we see beauty in depth…. micro landscapes!
I think I have posted this pic before, but I never get tired of it.
Almost ready for the water. 1957 Shepherd Ski-Bee.
Sometimes the photo can represent great memories of WoodyBoating.
Of course, making a “splash” of beauty in nature is, well….. natural!
Lady Helen says I get as much pleasure out of seeing the boat at the dock as I do on the water. This “clorox bottle” is long gone but photo delivers every time I look. I am sustained by the vision of the current projects beside the new expanded dock. Same background though.
Sunset view from the water. 1940 Chris Craft 17′ Barrelback.
Passengers on Amtrak’s Empire Builder get a great view of the Glacier Lake’s ACBS chapter’s Pewaukee Boat Show. My Chetek lapstrake in the foreground really makes the picture, tho!
John – While working this show these past several years it never ceases to stop me in my tracks to take in that Amtrak passenger train as it thunders by. Just looking at your picture does not quite illustrate how closely that Empire Builder passes to our show grounds and the lake shore. It is almost as if some mysterious force stops time and allows a “ghost” train from the past to enter our time zone and emphasize the vintage boats, vintage cars, and the big wheel bikes rolling up and down main street. Yeah, gotta wonder what the souls riding in those passenger cars feel when they look out the window………………
Exactly, Jack!
Well said, Matt. To me it’s the view from the inside: The wake reflected in the late afternoon light, a vintage boathouse through seen through the chromed windshield and over the striped decks. As I’ve said before (and you’ve immortalized on more than a few headers): Every picture looks better framed in mahogany.
(How could you misspell “butt?” That’s just wrong.)
So its a public service, my civic duty to own and use my wood boats?
Getting down to the short rows… 😉
End of season. Ready for haul-out.
I absolutely LOVE this picture.
Talk about loving the moment in a wood boat check out my
Utube video ” Hackercraft fun”
Not wooden but classic and my favorite
Made in Manistee, 35 miles from birthplace
My favorite view. Both of my Thunderhawks. The black & white is still at the museum in Alex and the red & white is due for some tidying up this spring.
Pleasant Lake, July 4, 2013
Is that a chunk of submerged ice I see just off the bow?
-vintage still life-
We even had the folks on those big old yachts cheering us as we motored by…
No longer our boat, but one of my favorite shots and it renews great memories – Sort of defines boating in the NW.
I’m just itchin’ to go boating.
Sometimes just making bubbles in the water is beautiful !!!!
Last Run of the Season.
St Joe River, Coeur d’Alene
My oldest and I took the old girl out for a spin and my youngest was waiting at the dock to help tie her up…
Last August, Odell Lake in the Cascades, and that is the moon after sunset.
Can’t wait to put her back in the water for another summer of fun!
Cant wait to get her back in the water for another fun summer !
Even off the water they add interest.
This is the best picture of my 61 Shepherd taken at Gravenhurst a couple of years ago. time flies !!!! Just get out there and use the darn things, it seems to make everybody happier.
Beautify indeed, it doesn’t get any better than this.
Getting close to launch day, Just got my new seats recovered from dark blue to tuck n rolled off white. Sure brings out the color in the varnish.
Next step is to re do the bottom, touch up some splintered edges on some lapstrakes, and repaint in Old Salemcopper bronze.
Now, only if the ice will go away. I refuse to put on a steel bow cutter…
here is pic of new seats
Your seats look great Dennis!
Hey Dennis. Is this you doing some sort of elaborate flag washing ceremony on Spring Lake last year?
68 Resorter FG. New exhaust manifold and a tune up in Jan. Ready to go 2014! M&M
Cant wait to get back to 7 am coffee runs with my U-22 and Springer spaniel companion……..Northern Michigan Summers……
oops…wrong picture……getting old
Osprey, at speed, Priest Lake, ID
Courtesy of my daughter’s photographic skills Craig Miller’s 16′ Racing Runabout previously owned by a well known country singer.
I love this boat, one of my all time favorites., The name is beyond perfect. Cant find any pics anyplace.. What a beautiful day today is becoming, Lady Byrd would be proud.
Squirt turning gas into smiles…
Mahogany, a boathouse and summer flowers. Summer beauty.
Yikes! That’s an awesome shot!
1958 Arabian
Can’t wait for that first sunset cruise of the season
Just a little Clorox Bottle, a bright red, sexy Clorox Bottle.
See….
How about now?
Cruising in my Classic Century Arabian last summer.
56′ Continental. A rare pic without the bilge pump running. A new 5200 bottom will debut next month.
Try again, Osprey at speed, priest Lake ID.
… cruiser love (whatever the cost!).
Omg, don’t tease me with partial Martinique pictures? Its like only looking at Rachel Welch’s face.
48′ Century Resorter coming back from the old grey rotten days gone by. A couple more years till she hits water.
The Hurricane on her shakedown cruise last fall.
FINALLY at Speed after several splashings with Over heating. Yeehaw!!
Looking forward to the season after a long rainy winter on the Washington Coast.
Adding wood to the water in the Whirlwind.
Brian, what is that gorgeous Seahorse attached to?
An unrestored 1957 14′ Whirlwind.
Found a factory picture. What a great day. Good idea Matt.
You did say beautify, and there are boats in it.
This was our 1st boat, 1953 C-C Rivera, R-18-999. These were my boat babes in 1979. thanks 4 looking.
“Talitha”, my 1956 22 foot Sea Skiff, is almost finished with the winter project. Looking to launch in May.
Mainly I’m in it for the women
Miss America IX before
The beautiful Miss America IX
Once again
Matt,
Looks like the makings of a fabulous 2015 calendar. I’ll take 4!
Waiting for spring.
1940 17′ Barrelback
Boat ride in paradise.
Sprucing up the neighborhood!
A summer cruise from Chicago to Michigan.
This is how I justify my Family Cruiser.
Thanks to everyone for these amazing pictures!
Earlier I posted “Hacker Craft Fun” gotta see it, absolute kick, this time I figured out how to make a direct link
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D5BBFAQcX-
Here’s another fun little boat, my Riva Junior, first mate leading the way
30′ Lyman!
great pics everyone