A Photo Retrospective From The 2011 Woodies On Lake Sinclair In Georgia

The Second Annual “Woodies on Lake Sinclair” was held at the Crooked Creek Marina in Eatonton, Georgia last weekend and Robert & Linda Miracle were on hand with their cameras to capture the action. Lake Sinclair is a beautiful 15,000 acre lake on the Oconee River Chain in Central Georgia with 417 miles of shoreline, and was a perfect venue for fun local boat show hosted by the nice folks at the Blue Ridge Chapter ACBS.

“Retrospective” is a very cool Chevrolet V-8 powered 22′ Home Built Gentleman’s Racer owned by Kristyna Smith from Buford, GA.

One of the best things about attending one of the many, smaller local boat shows around the country is the wide range of boats that always show up. Gil Grant from De Land, Florida came to Lake Sinclair with his classic 1960 25′ Chris-Craft Cavalier Custom Cruiser “Wooden Lady”.

We don’t get an opportunity to see many old classic plywood cruiser’s these days, so this was a nice surprise. This particular plywood hull 25′ Cavalier is #0984 of a total 1,014 produced by Chris-Craft in 1960 and she looks right at home on the waters of Lake Sinclair. Nice work Gil!

Mr. Charles Mistele was also on hand with “Miss America IX” his famous 1930 30′ Gar Wood Single Step Hydro-Plane.

This is the first boat in the world to exceed 100 MPH on March 20, 1931 with designer & builder Gar Wood at the controls, and if your lucky enough to get a ride with Charles, it will be a memorable experience. You can also visit the Miss America IX web site by clicking here.

Here’s “Patty Ann II” an antique 1939 17′ Chris-Craft Deluxe Utility owned by Jon & Patricia Walters from Reynolds Plantation, GA.

According to The Essential Guide this is one of only a 131 – 17′ Standard & Deluxe Utility’s produced by Chris-Craft for the 1939 production year.

Another great example of the diverse range of wooden boats you get a chance to see at the local boat shows. This pair of Gentleman Racers look fast just standing still in the water.

Tom Neff’s very nice 1946 22′ Chris-Craft from Milledgeville, Georgia named “We’re Lovin’ It” – That pretty much describes how they feel about the Woody Boater Lifestyle these days. Tom’s boat was finished just in time for the Lake Sinclair event, and he also offered to let Robert Miracle use the boat as a photo boat during the show. Thanks Tom!

No hangin’ around the docks for these folks, they like to spend as much time as possible out on the water enjoying their antique & classic boats. And if it gets hot, they just crank up the Bimini tops. Bob Miracle called us from the lake and commented that it was 90 degrees and close to 100% humidity that day. Best way to describe those weather conditions – “It’s like it’s raining from the ground up”…

Fellow Woody Boater’s and contibutor’s Alan & Faye Smith were also in attendance at the Lake Sinclair event this year with “Smith Skiff” their beautiful 1957 22′ Chris-Craft Sea Skiff.

A great end to a great weekend of antique & classic boating in Central Georgia.

Thanks go out to the Blue Ridge Chapter ACBS for organizing another successful event, and to the Crooked Creek Marina for their assitance. Images courtesy of Miracle Photography, you can click here to go directly to their impressive SmugMug photo gallery.

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