Live-ish From Gull Lake, Minnesota – Friday Pre-Show

WE ARE NOW ON SITE AT GULL LAKE, MINNESOTA for the 7th Annual Gull Lake Classic Boat Show at the Bar Harbor Supper Club – also the location of the 40th Annual ACBS International Meetings & Boat Show September 23-26.

A huge one-day event, the always well attended Gull Lake Classic Boat Show runs today (Saturday as you are reading this) which is very popular for both the local spectators and participants. Dane Anderson & I will be working as a tag-team with cameras in hand to bring you some fresh photos from the show on Saturday afternoon, with a full report on Sunday morning.

Preparing to launch the all-original 1961 Carver 18′ lapstrake we entered in the show.

This year, to try something completely different, we decided to enter a very interesting, all original 1961 Carver 18′ Commuter in the Gull Lake show. This boat has quite a history in these parts and is now owned by Freedom Boat Service. We are also using the Carver as a shoot boat this weekend and having fun touring around the lakes in this great old outboard lapstrake. It will be a fun experience that we will share with our viewers next week, after the show.

“Apache II” at the launch ramp. This beautiful 1922 29′ Hackercraft Gentlemen’s Race Boat now resides at the Anderson Classic Boat Museum in Nisswa, MN. The museum is the site for the (now sold out) Scholarship Auction during the ACBS International in September.

While we were preparing to dunk the Carver at the launch ramp, Steve Lively and the crew from the Anderson Classic Boat Museum pulled up with “Apache II”. Normally Lee Anderson and his team actually run all the boats from the museum through the channels and interconnected lakes from their home on Nisswa Lake to Gull Lake for the show. However this year they decided to trailer “Apache II” to the launch ramp across from Bar Harbor, as the Liberty powered Hacker can tend to be a bit loud passing through the busy channels from Nisswa to Gull Lake.

Just as Steve and his crew were preparing to launch “Apache II” he said “Texx – it’s only a short ride from the launch ramp over to the show docks at Bar Harbor, but you’re welcome to ride along with me…” and minutes later Steve & I were on the water enjoying that sweet sound of the big 450HP Liberty.

As we pulled away from the launch ramp my tag-team partner Dane was shooting the action from the dock – you can see him between the exhaust stacks. When Steve puts the big Liberty in gear, it idles around 600 – 800 RPM, you immediately feel the rotation of the engine as it rocks the boat from side to side. Not for the faint of heart around docks, but Steve is a great captain with lots of experience in these old period powered boats.

En route to the show docks at Bar Harbor Steve took me for a quick run on the open water at Gull Lake to test the fuel system and make sure everything was working properly. And yes, it was an exciting ride.

Later in the afternoon, Lee Anderson and his team from the museum transported a few more boats from Nisswa to Gull Lake – Dane snapped this photo of Lee Anderson arriving at Bar Harbor in “LOCKPAT II” a spectacular 1931 Hacker 40′ Custom Runabout.

This historic boat was originally custom built by Hacker Boat Works for Dick Locke and is powered by a 2,025 CID – 650 HP Packard V-12, designed for a top speed of 60 MPH in 1931. Some say “LOCKPAT II” is possibly one of the most significant wooden runabouts ever built.

Also arriving at the show on Friday afternoon was “Miss Minneapolis IV” – Steve Shoop’s rare 1948 Hackercraft 22′ Utility, which was a Lake Minnetonka amusement park ride boat back in the day. Steve Shoop is President of the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes Chapter ACBS and co-chair ACBS International events in September.

Along with Lee Anderson, Steve Lively arrives in “Horace” a outstanding 1925 Belle Isle 30′ Super Bear Cat powered by a LM-6 Hall Scott engine.

For this year’s show at Bar Harbor, Lee Anderson is bringing 10 boats from his museum. Friday afternoon was a good opportunity for Dane & I to capture a few shots of the beautiful boats before the docks get crowded on Saturday. (Yes, those reflections on the decks of “Apache II” are clouds, the finish is amazing).

The shot I was shooting in the above photo by Dane.

Dane snapped this nice shot of “Mineta” a 1918 Minett 36′ Launch also from the Lee Anderson Collection.

That’s just a taste of what we will see on Saturday at Gull Lake, stay tuned as we will do our best to bring you more photos and information from the big show. It’s now 3:00 AM local time (4:00 AM EST) and we are right on schedule as usual…

Texx
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