It’s Here – Kent O. Smith Jr. Reports In Live -ish From Clayton NY. Part 1
The 2015 Antique Boat Show in Clayton featured Lyman boats as the marque class. Friday saw the arrival of exhibitors and vendors who also checked out the plethora of boats lined up for Saturday’s auction. The humid weather moved on replaced by a more comfortable climate, but the winds remained relentless.
If you live in the Thousand Islands, hopefully you are close to the Post Office Island.
As always, the Antique Boat Museum treats the marque class boat owners and the featured chapter members to a private cruise and picnic. The Lyman Boat Owners Associate and the North Coast Ohio chapter members boarded ABM boats and Lymans and headed out to Rock Island park for a picnic supper. Due to the high winds, a little confusion ensued leaving the museum Boston Whaler photo boat far behind the Lyman fleet. The Lymans were supposed to follow the ABM boats but instead beelined for Rock Island. So the Whaler occupants enjoyed a breezy cruise on their own and met the group at the park.
Grandpa’s Taxi is complete with a checkerboard sheerline. Note the Hacker under cover…
Not part of the cruise, we were passed by a nicely customized Express Cruiser named Eulipion. Owners YNOT Yachts
Zipper approaching Rock Island
You can get your own little island, big enough for a cabin and dock.
ABM and Lyman boats at Rock Island
Gathering of wood at Rock Island
Rock Island lighthouse
The never ending wind blew some thunderheads towards us so we decided to head back to the museum. Despite the threat of really bad weather, everyone made safely back to the docks.
Lymans love rough water
An unknown local launch looks for shelter.
Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon? Two ABM boats running side by side…
Goodnight, Clayton!
SATURDAY
Saturday morning brought dew and clear skies, perfect weather for a boat show. The docks were pretty full, spectators abounded, and the auction drew a large crowd.
Morning dew on “Teal”, a museum ride boat.
“Vagabond King”, a 1927 HackerCraft
Morning sun kisses “Sea ‘n Isle”, a Lyman sedan.
Evinrude Big Four
A Land n Sea outboard boat, they were known in the days as Leak and Sinks.
Deliciously simple Eaton outdrive.
Great mix of boats at the docks.
ABM burgee.
Not part of the show, a curious Van Dam custom sedan passed by.
Again, the wind blew into the evening and the skies looked a little gloomy. That didn’t stop some from enjoying rides on the river. The Turcotte clan gave rides on Jack Rifenburg’s newly refinished Hutchinson commuter, a 42 footer powered by twin Yanmar diesels.
Wake of the Hutchinson.
From the aft cockpit.
Back at the docks, we were treated to skies of color.
A Lyman and a river tour boat
Sunset from the boathouse.
The skies of color gave way to some crazy clouds!
Goodnight again, Clayton!
Thanks Kent for this amazing AMAZING report. Wow, what fantastic images. I am going to retire the iphone for sure now. Stay tuned for part 2! Yes, there is more. Kent shot over 1800 photos. Can we say more parts than a Rambo Movie?
Clayton is a great place for a Lyman or other chop friendly boat.
WOW!
Kent you are a genius with a camera. Thanks for the Great report.
He definitely did a great job capturing the environment along with the boats. There are some spectacular shots of the skies in this story, looking forward to part deux.
Thanks, Troy!!!
PS: Had a friend send me a picture of another American Beauty! He was hoping someone else was covering the show for WB.
The sun must have been in that guys eyes!
What fabulous photos ! Too bad they do not enlarge. What gives ?
If you right click on a photo and click on “open image in new tab” it will enlarge. (This of course is on a window lap-top, don’t know what you are using.)
Wonderful ! Thanks, Troy. Great day – got my cruiser going too !
Gorgeous shots and of course gorgeous boats. Nice work!!
Thanks Troy, same on a Apple.
Beautiful shots! Thanks Kent, for exploring new ways of getting the most out of “boat show” photographs. You are an artist.
Chad, thank you for the kind comments! As you well know, it’s always a challenge to shoot something other than the typical dock shot 🙂
Love the red and white express with many aboard to enjoy it.
super pix….many thanks…..
John in Va.
Outstanding images Kent O. (or should I call you Mr. Smth?).
You have managed to turn a boat show into an art exhibit – and give us all something to “shoot” for when we attend shows. – Texx
It’s always a treat to wander the Clayton show, and while we didn’t exhibit our ’69 Sleeper, we enjoy every minute of every outing in our old Lyman…the former “Canada Bird.”
Hats off to Kent, the Antique Boat Museum and to Woody Boater.
Canada Bird! Sweet! Great river boat!
Spectacular photos Kent, now if I had a network connected flat screen 55′ led TV I’d be running those pix on a loop. Btw, what happened to the “cruiser love”? any participants?
Thank you everyone, glad you enjoy the photos.
Texx, that’s a really nice compliment coming from someone with your skill level! I really appreciate it.
Floyd, I was so busy and the weekend flew by – I never made it out to the Mary St dock to look at the cruisers 🙁
You mean there were CRUISERS there too?
I LOVE CRUISERS!
Damn you Kent, I lost a half a days work drooling over these pictures. If you don’t know you can right click on his photos and select “view image” and click on the plus you’ll get full screen or at least maximum image size. Jaw dropping sunsets.
Picture ID: “Unknown launch seeking shelter” is “The Workboat” a 1927 Thibault built in Clayton for my Grandfather for ferrying people, fuel, building materials etc. to Grindstone Island. This day I was just out cruising with friends. Locals know the Workboat enjoys all kind of weather and seeks no shelter.
Nice article and photos.
re: Eulipion photo – My cottage in the background – I had to go out in the Whaler to figure out where my rope swing should have been in that pic – it must have looked like a rhinoceros horn coming out of the deck of that Express Cruiser before you photoshopped it.
Love the site!