Got An Aluminum Boat? Have We Got Some Show Bling For You!
Aluma – Craft!
Got a Feather craft? Or other Aluminum boat? Or a cool late 50’s woody and need a little show bling? That extra sumth’n sumth’n that will add that extra KAPOW to your boat for the judges? Well, right here on Ebay you can get this very cool set of Aluminum Water Skis. Yes the wood ones are cool, very cool, and being re-purposed for all sorts of things.
We got this one in Florida at the Lake Dora show a year ago.. OH , wait, thats only a month away! Yahooo! Have you booked your room or show tickets!
But these are rare and could be polished up like chrome and just be that thing that makes your boat rock.
That seems like a rather pricey way to make a pair of skis. They are definitely worth picking up as a prop for the right boat. A real deal piece of history should trump the Chinese imitation aquatic vegetation in the eyes of the judges although a booze and bacon bribe is still hard to beat.
Nice skis!
M-Fine note that Matt is only showing two Ski Chairs in his picture. “That’s his story and he’s sticking to it.”
Troy, we all know there were only two chairs. The one you were sitting in, the one your wife was sitting in, and the one I was sitting in. One plus one plus one equals two!
At first I thought this was a pair I’d passed on a few years ago. They were $45 on “the world’s longest yard sale” [look it up if you don’t know. ] I have a bunch of great old skis and figured I had no need for some aluminum ones.. BIG mistake [though I’m not sure why] but I’ve been kicking myself ever since. They were in very good shape and complete…
For the rest of you; there IS a much better pair of these out there.
Good luck.
There is always something better out there! HA!
Just the IDEA of skiing behind Thunderbird blows my mind.
I’m game if anyone wants to try it behind American Beauty.
Its a great story! Lets just say folks lost jobs over this. A truly once in a lifetime event. This is not a faked photoshop thing! Its real!
Steve Lapkin did an amazing job with the photos
There were a pair of these at an antique/junk store at my cabin the summer before last. They were $20 and I regretted not buying them as soon as I got home. I knew they were rare. What was I thinking?
Am I missing something ??? Where are the bindings for these skiis ?…And what happens if you drop one…will it float ??
They would have been made up of two sections — top and bottom. I imagine there was some type of foam flotation in the air gap to add stiffness, and to ensure they would float — otherwise they would not have sold many. The sections could have been pressed or welded together.
On the other hand if they didn’t float perhaps they thought they would sell more.
I bought an old, old pair of trick skies that were on the bottom of the vendors truck last year at the Lake Dora show, and repurposed them into an entryway wall art and key holder. I did not want the pretty $200.00 re finished pairs he had for sale, I wanted something I could refinish, paid $50.00 for the pair.
The top ski can be easily lifted off its support brackets, and used as a prop in my 14 ft Lake N Sea.
Dennis,
You have one of the infamous “Leak & Sink” boats? Understanding how a reputation can often be undeserving; can you tell us, from your experience, did the Marque earn its moniker justifiably? Or was it overstated?
Bill, the early 57 and 58 models built by Chris Craft were the ones that caused the issues with De lamination. It had to do with using to much wood and not knowing how to apply resin and gel coat at the time. This was their first try at this new material and building process. My boat was built by the Parsons Mfg Co in Traverse City, MI and they solved the problems. My serial number is in a batch that never had any issues.
If you are looking for a Lake N Sea, get a 1959 or 1960. They are great riding hulls.
I have a pair of AlumaCraft aluminum water skis. Much better condition that these on eBay and mine have the bindings.
I paid about $100.oo for the skis and about $900.00 for repairs to my truck. I backed off a cliff after I purchased the skis as I was backing out of the seller’s driveway. Kind of an expensive set of skis!
There is NO foam or wood inside the skis. Just aluminum and air. If ya got a pin hole in them they would sink.
Andreas – sitting 300 ft away from the old Thompson Boat factory in Peshtigo where they made boats and aqua planes and disks way back when (Thompson Skis were made by a different company at Crivitz, WI)
That was a fun day.
Damn iPhone won’t let me upload video!
Here is a still screen shot
What most people don’t know is that Hamster is driving the boat in the pictures!
Maybe you should not have just upgraded your iphone Hamster!!
Who are you trying to kid?
Rodents don’t drive boats!
The old Cypress Gardens skies are still being used sometimes in the Old Cypress Gardens skiers show here in Winter Haven. The ski factory was about 1 mile from me when I was growing up and I had every ski they made. I would buy the seconds which were fine