The 2011 Lake Hartwell Antique Boat Festival Is Under Way – After Some Minor Housekeeping

As the classic boating season gets closer for some folks in the northern part of the country, the season is well under way in the southern part of the country. So, for everyone who is still watching and waiting for the ice to clear off their favorite lake, here’s a reminder of what a classic boating lake looks like with no ice. HA – I know, that’s just not fair.

This weekend Matt will be reporting Live-ish from the ACBS Symposium at the Antique Boat Center in Cincinnati, OH combined with the fresh scent of varnish in the air… So that should be fun. And thanks to Robert Miracle, we will be reporting Live-ish throughout the weekend from the 2011 Lake Hartwell Antique Boat Festival in South Carolina – Presented by the nice folks from the ACBS Blue Ridge Chapter.

On Thursday the boats were rolling on to the boat ramp at Lake Hartwell and getting out on the lake, for some, their first time out of the boat house this year. Fellow Woody Boater’s Alan and Faye Smith were out on the lake in their awesome Chris-Craft Sea Skiff “Smithskiff” taking in the sights and enjoying a leisurely boat ride.

Then… Alan noticed that they hit something in the water… What was that? In Faye Smith’s words, via her Blackberry…

“SMITHSKIFF” ran over a 25 ft solid piece of plastic pipe floating just under the surface. We tied onto it and towed it to a boat ramp to keep it from being a hazzard to navigation. Alan & Larry Kolk saved the day. Alan & Al Olsen and Chris’ daughter Chris Ann just took off again to rescue yet another broken boat. You can surely tell that it is the first time out for a lot of our boats. – Faye

It was a “Honkin Big” piece of pipe that thankfully they removed from the water, making the lake safer for everyone. Thanks guys for taking care of some housekeeping (lakekeeping) on the lake! (Hey Matt – Should the work Lakekeeping be added to the Woody Boater dictionary?)

Larry on the dock is thinking to himself… “How long is this thing!”

Stay tuned to Woody Boater for more Live-ish updates today and throughout the weekend. We already have a couple of great stories to share with you and some beautiful photos thanks to Robert Miracle from Miracle Photography.

Texx