Live-ish From A Grand Winter Show In Grand Rapids
1941 Ventnor Hydro - "Notice the one and only Chris Smith standing by. We’re so proud to have him as a member of our chapter." Jim Mersman
Fellow Woody Boater and ACBS President, Jim Mersman reports in from…Americas Glove!.. Take it away Jim… Jim.. Jim are you there? “Sure am Matt sorry about the delay… It’s boating season in Grand Rapids Michigan! The Water Wonderland Chapter of the ACBS has created a way to get your fix mid winter with a display of some of their member’s boats as part of the Grand Rapids Boat Show at DeVos Place.
1946 Garwood 17.5 ft
They’ve been doing this for the past seven years now. So, if you’re in the mood to see a boat show before late March with the Sunnyland Chapter in Florida, then this is it. Sorry to say, but you’ll have to endure a bunch of new plastic and aluminum boats too, but it’s a small price to pay. The chapter also has a junior craftsman build going on with the local boy scout troop to build six small row boats from a plan designed by Bill Turner of Aristocraft fame. This should help satisfy the fresh cut wood and adhesives smell you may need. Also, there is the latest finished product from the Great Lakes Boat Building School from Cedarville Michigan designed by none other than VanDam, another Michigan native.
Runabout – “The Cedarville 26.5” See below for the stats and drawing on this killer boat
The school is supported in part by the chapter and also through the ACBS Scholarship Program.They’ve done a great job of giving back. Anyway………..enjoy the show here or come on over to West Michigan and see for yourself.
Pictures courtesy of John Bergstrom And the GLBS web site for the Vandam boat.” Jim Mersman
Nice use of the …….. Jim.. Thanks Here are some more shots.
Grady White. No idea the year. Thats the spirit Jim, True Woody Boater reporting. HA, Anyone out there know the year? Anyone? Bueler, Bueler?
1961 Slickcraft built in Holland Michigan
Jim went the extra mile and rented a helicopter to get an aerial shot.. Wow!
Here is the info on the cool great lakes Boat in the image above, The Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville Michigan built this boat. This is one of the schools supported by the Waterwonderland chapter directly and through the ACBS Scholarship Fund Program.
Runabout – “The Cedarville 26.5”
An extraordinary prize for a collector…
Choose and contract your own color of finish and upholstery for This one-of a-kind, incredibly beautiful, classy boat that was designed specifically for Great Lakes Boat Building School by Michael Berryer of Van Dam Custom Boats in Boyne City, MI, as the project boat for the school’s Career Building Course.
It is a modern interpretation of the classic lapstrake runabouts, once common on the lakes of upstate New York and northern Michigan, as well as Wisconsin and beyond…but particularly in the Les Cheneaux Islands
Power:
300 HP
Designer:
Michael Berryer of Van Dam Custom Boats
Construction Details:
Cold-molded hull w/ 1-inch bottom and ½-inch marine plywood lapstrake hull.
Sapele brightwork, Port Orford and Sapele sole, Port Orford ceiling.
300hp Mercury V8 engine with Borg Warner V-drive transmission.
Hydraulic steering. Additional Pictures:
Van Dam Cedarville 26.5 Construction Slideshow
Additional Information:
This boat design was based on the Van Dam “Chocolate Chip”
I have seen the Cedarville 26.5 at the Great Lakes Boat Building School and at Classic and Antique Boats (Hessel), where quite a bit of the painting and varnishing was completed this fall. Photos do not do it justice. In person, it is a striking, big water boat.
Great to see fellow WWC past President & Current ACBS Int, President reporting!!! I will be heading down to work the show with fellow Chapter Members for the weekend. Hey, when the weather won’t even allow winter sports like ice boating, nothing better then being in a giant boathouse, even if the smell of plastic is stronger than the varnish. Can’t wait to see the Boat School boat, I have seen it in various states of its construction, what a great boat!!! Road trip!!!
Thanks Chris! Honestly, I’m only doing this because the pay for reporting is huge! Matt sure pays well for stories! Don’t the rest of you that contribute feel the same? Cash Cow!
Cash Cow? Pay? Wait, you mean the rest of you don’t have to send in a monthly subscription fee to Matt and Texx to cover gas and airfare? I wondered why I always had to wire cash instead of a check and it always seems to be sent to his restorer’s address.
Whoops! Sorry Matt. I guess i shouldn’t have said that. Do I still get to keep the 50 free t-shirts for Sons of Varnish?
Once again patience is a virtue. That new lapstrake from Cedarville is beautiful. The lapstrakes in northern New York are like Pileated Woodpeckers,’Rarer but Locally Abundant’. Is great to see new lapstrake construction. That is very rare. Is that an eighteen or twenty three foot Lyman over the bow of the Ventor in the first shot or a nice Sea Skiff? Thankyou for the shots. I have to go out to the barn and hug one of my boats now.
I’m headed down there tonight and I’ll check. It looks like an 18 Lyman to me.
Michigan is shaped like a mitten… not a glove.
Thanks for the fancy reporting Jim, where’s that cool CC Land Cruiser?
Next, you’re gonna tell me that the Feather Craft in the header is a lawn ornament.
I saw that little FC right away – neat little boat. There are always a few of them at the Dora show. You’d better tell the FC guys that they made the header of WB!
I’m not sure they’ll approve of it’s use as a flower bed.
Hi Jim. I contacted Matt a while back about payment for my stories. Here’s what he sent me back.
I CAN’T IMAGINE HOW YOU WILL FEEL RECEIVING A SUDDEN BUSINESS LETTER FROM VIRGINIA, AND PROBABLY FROM SOMEONE YOU HAVE NOT CLOSELY RELATED WITH. BUT ALL THE SAME, I BELIEVE WE DO NOT NEED TO BE OF BLOOD RELATIVES BEFORE WE CAN ESTABLISH CORDIAL/BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP.
HAVING SAID THIS, I THINK IT IS VERY IMPORTANT AT THIS JUNCTURE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO YOU.
I AM. MR.MATT SMITH THE DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF WOODYBOATER BLOG (WBB). IT IS MY PLEASURE TO SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THIS BUSINESS PROPOSAL. I AM CONTACTING YOU BECAUSE,
I DO NOT WANT TO TRANSACT THE BUSINESS WITH ANYBODY WHO IS KNOWN TO ANY STAFF OF THIS BLOG OR ANYBODY AROUND HERE TO AVOID ANY POSSIBLE BLACKMAIL OR LEAKAGE AT THE END OF THE TRANSACTION.
THE PROPOSAL:
I CAME ACROSS A VERY HUGE SUM OF MONEY BELONGING TO A DECEASED PERSON WHO DIED IN A BOATING ACCIDENT AND THE FUND HAS BEEN DORMANT IN HIS ACCOUNT WITH HIS BANK WITHOUT ANY CLAIM OF THE FUND EITHER FROM HIS FAMILY OR RELATION BEFORE OUR DISCOVERY TO THIS DEVELOPMENT. THE SAID AMOUNT WAS U.S $5.5M (FIVE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) AS IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW,
MEANWHILE ALL THE WHOLE ARRANGEMENT TO PUT CLAIM OVER THIS FUND AS THE BONAFIDE
NEXT OF KIN TO THE DECEASED, GET THE REQUIRED APPROVAL AND TRANSFER THIS MONEY TO A
FOREIGN ACCOUNT HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE BY ME AND DIRECTIVES AND NEEDED INFORMATION WILL
BE RELAYED TO YOU AS SOON AS YOU INDICATE YOUR INTEREST AND WILLINGNESS TO ASSIST ME AND ALSO BENEFIT YOUR SELF TO THIS GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. IN FACT I COULD HAVE DONE THIS DEAL
ALONE BUT BECAUSE OF MY POSITION IN THIS COUNTRY AS BLOGGER, WE WOULD EVENTUALLY RAISE AN EYE BROW ON MY SIDE DURING THE TIME OF TRANSFER BECAUSE I WORK AT WOODYBOATER.
THIS IS THE ACTUAL REASON WHY IT WILL REQUIRE A SECOND PARTY OR FELLOW WHO WILL FORWARD CLAIMS AS THE NEXT OF KIN WITH AFFIDAVIT OF TRUST OF OATH TO THE BANK AND ALSO PRESENT AN ACCOUNT WHERE HE WILL NEED THE MONEY TO BE RE-TRANSFERRED INTO ON HIS REQUEST AS IT MAY BE AFTER DUE VERIFICATION AND CLARIFICATION BY THE CORRESPONDENT BRANCH OF THE BANK WHERE THE WHOLE MONEY WILL BE REMITTED FROM TO YOUR OWN DESIGNATION BANK ACCOUNT.
I WILL NOT FAIL TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% RISK FREE. ON SMOOTH CONCLUSION OF THIS TRANSACTION, YOU WILL BE ENTITLED TO 40% OF THE TOTAL SUM AS GRATIFICATION, WHILE 5% WILL BE SET ASIDE TO TAKE CARE OF EXPENSES THAT MAY ARISE DURING THE TIME OF TRANSFER AND ALSO TELEPHONE BILLS, WHILE 55% WILL BE FOR ME AND MY PARTNER (TEXX). PLEASE, YOU HAVE BEEN ADVICED TO KEEP “TOP SECRET” AS I AM STILL IN SERVICE WITH WOODYBOATER AND INTEND TO RETIRE FROM SERVICE AFTER WE CONCLUDE THIS DEAL WITH YOU.
I WILL BE MONITORING THE WHOLE SITUATION HERE AT WOODYBOATER HEADQUARTERS UNTIL YOU CONFIRM
THE MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT AND ASK ME TO COME TO HESSEL FOR SUBSEQUENT SHARING OF THE FUND ACCORDING TO PERCENTAGES PREVIOUSLY INDICATED
AND FURTHER INVESTMENT, EITHER IN THE HESSEL AREA OR ANY AREA YOU ADVICE US TO INVEST IN. ALL OTHER NECESSARY VITAL INFORMATION WILL BE SENT TO YOU WHEN I HEAR FROM YOU.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MR.KOUTABA JEAN (A.K.A. MATT SMITH)
__________
…I take it this means my check is in the mail…
Dang it! I should have known to ask for my payment C.O.D. Oh well. Lesson learned.
Alex….we know this must be a scam, everything was spelled correctly!!!!!!
Yea, that’s a scam but I know of a X-19 still in its original shipping crate and never commissioned. It is in the back of a warehouse here in Somalia and nobody knows about it but me. All you have to do is wire the cash to pay for the storage fees and I will arrange for the boat to be sent to you. Once you are in possession of said X-19 you can then determine a fair finders fee for me. Please forward the information about your financial institution and we can get started.
I think I can use ACBS funds for this. I get a huge slush fund that nobody asks about. President privalage I think. I’ll get back to you. I’m an Arabian fan though. Got one of those?
Yes we have one of those too since nobody could figure out how to keep it floating. We thought maybe it was a submarine design. Tell you what since I like you I’ll throw it in for free just to free up some floor space.
We need to fund woody boater in very creative ways.
Wow Taj (big fan by the way)! That one’s mint in the box. Ooooooooooooo. Just send the boat to me, and the bill to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The occupant will get the U.S. taxpayers to pay for part of it and borrow the rest from the Chinese. Just like his predecessors. A free lunch AND a boat in every boathouse. I shall call the boat, Ponzi.
You know Alex we are not that different from you in my country. We also use many wooden boats here in Somalia and our flags looks much like your Sons Of Varnish emblem, just without the words or paint brush. I contacted those nice people at Pennsylvania Ave and they said that they have a gray ship off our coast right now and if me and my buddies come out to them they would take us to the money. They said they keep it in some place called Guantanamo? Talk to you again soon.
Taj, I’d avoid Casa del Gitmo if I were you. Room rates are entirely reasonable, and I hear the meals and rugs are pretty nice, but checking out can be a tad tricky.
Alex it is very nice here in Cuba. 3 meals a day (much better than I had in Somalia) and I don’t have to worry about my things getting stolen as my room has bars on it. Thinking of sending for my family. Later we’re going to be doing sports. Now I know what surfboarding and wakeboarding is but I am unfamiliar with waterboarding. Well I guess I’ll find out and very much looking forward to it. They also must have much money here as there are lots of men with guns to guard it here.
Oh one more thing they have here is an artificial reef for diving made of Centuries. They said they couldn’t keep them off the botton anyway.