It’s Oldies Week At Woody Boater.
From Julie Bullen. Thats our Peterborough with me at the helm though my brother has the captain’s hat on. Having a cottage on an island we spent a lot of time waiting (playing) in boats as the adults made sure everything was closed up. Not the safest playpen but great imaginary adventures were had.
It has been fun going through my fathers LARGE collection of old pics to send you a couple, thanks for the encouragement to go through these old photos – great memories.
On Saturday we reached out to our fellow Woody Boaters to send in some fun old snap shots of themselves in thier youth. WOW. We were inundated, and are happy to share. We will have to break it up for some days. One of the challenging things was cleaning up the shots. Here are some sample before and afters. And then the wonderful collection. We encourage you to add yours now in the comment section. Make sure you do your math and keep them under 1mg or they wont load. Thanks for sharing and happy Oldies Week!
the original from David Graham- Before cleaning up
From David Graham-Me driving dads streamliner fifty years ago
One of its last rides
She burnt the fallowing spring still out of the water when the boat house got struck with lighting
From Johnathon Homeister – Hi Matt,
Here is another shot from the same era as yesterday’s header. Mid 1960’s, T&T Boat Co lapstrake, cruising the Muskoka region. Me on the left w sister Andrea and brother Eric at the helm learning naviagation skills. Life jackets, nawww, but we did have a fire extinguisher….and a can of OFF bug spray and a couple Bar Buoy drink holders (in the boxes next to the OFF)! Cigar box contents are a mystery, my parents didn’t smoke. Jon
From Wes Yandt -Matt/Texx
Here is a picture of the first boat that I remember. It is a 1958 17’ Flying Crest Crestliner. It was riveted Aluminum and my Mom and Dad’s pride and joy for a few years. I remember Mom and Dad teaching me how to water ski behind this boat. I guess that they figured that I was a little brighter than what I really was and didn’t figure they needed to tell me to let go of the rope if I fell. I’ll let you paint the rest of that picture.
The photo is of my family(Mom Jane, Dad Ron, Little Brother Greg, me, and Big Sister Terri) taken in 1973 on the city beach in Coeur d’Alene. In the background you can see the Coeur d’Alene waterfront prior to the Couer d’Alene Resort being built.
BFF!! (Boats and Family Forever)
Wes
Chad Durren – pre monkey days – All we had as a kid were fishing boats.
This is a shot of me as a youngster next to the family SAF-T-MATE. Probably getting ready for our annual fishing trip to Canada. I have no idea on the make of the outboard. I know that MFr never started or ran properly. Make fun of my socks and I’ll kick your ass.
An newer one from Chad explaining his socks! Ha, soccer hadn’t reached our parts until 1986, the year I graduated from HS. That was my Bruce Jenner look.
Here’s a shot of my first Okeechobee largemouth in front of my brother’s Dynatrac. 70mph in a boat that size is frightening, especially when the depth is only 2 feet (or less) most areas. If you slowed down, the prop would clog with weeds. Hitting a log or gator would have been interesting. There’s a reason that airboats are preferred. I was 20 years old in this one.
From Bob Kays. What is it with the socks- This is not for old photos week, white socks were the fashion in 1975. That is me running the ferry, the photo was in the Lake Hopatcong Breeze.
Bob
From Bob Kays -That is me in our 1933 Old Town canoe, which we still own.
Also from Bob Kays – my Grandfather in his 1956? Fleetcraft. Mahogany decks and pink or coral fiberglass hull. Hi did not want to deal with a wood bottom so he thought he would try this new fiberglass. I don’t remember the boat, though we do have a photo of me in the boat. I wonder if anyone in Woody Boaterville knows of a model of this boat still out there.
From Chris bullen -Attached is one of the few photos we have, this is me driving and my mother. My Grandfather has just won the boat from the rotary club fund raiser so she was pretty special, so they got me and a new boat in 61, what a good year. The name of the boat became “lucky Us”.
From Rick Bohn – This is a picture I found going through my Mom’s slides after she passed. It me on what we called a surfboard in the late 50’s. Don’t know the particulars on the boat. I think this was the start of my obsession with water skiing.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow. In the meantime add your own!
Some great pix.
For some reason I thought that might be Chad. Don’t know why, since I have never met him.
Hey Chad, Nice Socks!
Wish I could find a photo of my cousin’s Chris-Craft Kit Boat on Crab Orchard Lake pulling me on water skis in the mid to late 50’s. I thought I knew where to find it but… It must be in the LATEST place that my wife decided to keep it from now on. Ha !
Al: As I like to say “Its always in the last place you look”
Chad’s dad’s outboard looks a lot like a 1964 West Bend. As for reliability, we had a 1960 40 hp West Bend in service for all of the 60s and part of the 70’s . Other than being the undisputedly loudest outboard ever built, that old tiger shark was (with the exception of the starter bracket) pretty reliable, in fact my cousin is currently working on putting it back in service!
Love the photo of Bob’s grandfather…
Captain’s hat, white T-shirt, stogie, boat full of women, and a dog. I’m sure the beer cooler was within reach.
There was and if he had been back to Pittsburgh to visit family it would be full of Iron City, if not, full of Rolling Rock. The ladies in the boat were his buddy’s wife and her sisters. My Mom is in the background. My Grandmother took the picture in 1956.
built in 1961. This was my fathers boat. the largest wooden boat built by Switzercraft. The only one built. spending the weekend on Lake Michigan was an adventure as a kid !!!!!
Here is a picture of the inside of my family’s boat works on Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, Minnesota around 1915. The caption on the photo reads “Workers inside the Wise Boat Works including William Swaggert, Ed Keeler, John Berg, Harry Wise, and Tom Wise, Sr.”
Tom is my great-great grandfather and Harry is my great grand father, who built my runabout, Cherup, in 1924.
Attached is the first time I was in a boat. My grandfather , uncle jerry and Captain Grumpy -Randy Rush in the back age 4. I think this was a 60-61 Thompson 40 hp .
We went up to our next-door neighbors’ lake cabin. A real off the beaten path place. I was about 10. The father said: “Kenny, this is your boat while you are here.” Wow! My first time “in command” of a vessel. I piloted that yacht all over the lake those few days. I still can feel the throttle in my hand and the feeling of the spray on my face. Gads, I love boats…
Ken, what a great story and a great memory. And to have a pic too! Very moving. Thanks for sharing.
My first Woody. A 1950 20′ Chris Craft Riviera Runabout powered by a 339 cubic inch 158HP 6 cylinder Chris Craft engine. I purchased her in 1980 in pretty bad shape and the previous owner had installed a 327 cubic inch V8 Chevrolet engine. It took me 2 years to restore her to original condition. We are having a dock party at my cousin’s cottage, Cedar Point, Big Rideau Lake near Portland, Ontario to celebrate her first voyage after reconstruction. I am on the extreme left in beige shorts holding a beer. Photo taken on the August 1st weekend 1982.
What could have gone wrong, I was wearing a ski belt.
Dane – Now I know why you prefer to ride in the aft cockpit of those big triples, so you can experience the feeling of the bow rising up towards the sky when they take off…
Dane, I don’t see another boat on your lake. Did everyone get out of your way. “Here he comes and he can’t see nuttin’!”
That was a “Don’t tell Mom” outing that my older brother put me up to. The Skimmer went 34 mph with the 18 Evinrude. The whole boat left the water on take off. I can still remember that ride.
I finally found what was my uncles boat. The picture was taken in the early 40s. This boat was used to serenade the wheat fields, cows and Pheasants in the middle of South Dakota on a dam. I was a todler but some of those songs are still with me along with the boat.