There’s Another Perfect Lake Just 900 Miles North Of Lake Tahoe – In Idaho

As our Hagerty Fantasy Tour comes to an end, we thought that it would be fun to squeeze in one more boat show… There’s another perfect lake just 900 miles north of Lake Tahoe in beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The Coeur d’Alene Antique and Classic Boat Show is hosted by the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with all 6 Pacific Northwest ACBS Chapters and the magnificent Coeur d’Alene Resort. This inaugural Regional Show offers pre-events which include a lake cruise on Thursday, a Symposium on restoration and repair on Friday at The Resort Boatshop, and then the boat show on Saturday & Sunday with over 80 Antique & Classic boats registered.

There’s also a number of vintage hydroplanes on display and running on Lake Coeur d’Alene in conjunction with the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum’s 2011 Diamond Cup Event.

But first we had to get there from Lake Tahoe, California – Through Northern California, Oregon State, Washington State and into magestic Northern Idaho. So we packed up the old Harley and hit the road…

The weather was perfect the entire way which made this an enjoyable trip, riding well in to the evening as the sun sets.

It’s always a good idea to keep a close eye on your rear view mirror, because if the highway patrol notice you taking iPhone photos of your shadow in the ditch while riding with no hands at 75 MPH, they may want to stop and have a visit with you… Fortunately for me we only had one visit with the highway patrol during the 4,800 mile round trip, in Susanville, California.

At 9:30 Thursday morning we were cruising across Lake Coeur d’Alene with 12 classic wooden boats, on the South Lake Run and Picnic to historic Harrison, Idaho. Once again the weather was perfect, in the high 80’s and the wind stayed down all day. Like many of the mountain lakes, Lake Coeur d’Alene’s magnificent lakefront properties can only be viewed from the lake, preferably in a classic boat.

The awesome hardware on “Cinco” – Bill & Mary Eisenlohr’s perfect 2004 Fish Brothers 23′ Barrelback.

ACBS National Past President and all-around great guy Dick Werner and his wife Louise are here with “Jazzy Lady” their ultra rare 1940 Century Sedan. Dick is very involved in this inaugural event, as well as the symposium at the Resort Boatshop on Friday. Dick shared some great stories with us today of when he attended the early Coeur d’Alene boat shows back in the 1980’s when accommodations were not quite so plentiful…

Danny Hines and his wife came down from Canada for the show with “OPOS”, a very cool, very fast V-8 powered Chris-Craft.

“Jersey Girl” is a very unique boat with a cool convertible top, however I need to do my research on this boat first so I know exactly what it is.

This very nice V-8 powered 1959 Correct-Craft was purchased by the current owner in 1961, and the story is amazing… Stay tuned.

“Loon” is a huge 1917 30′ Faye & Bowen launch originally from Lake Tahoe, which was just recently re-located to Idaho. More to come on this historic launch, as it has a long, glorious history.

After lunch I joined fellow Woody Boaters  Tim & Deb Salt aboard “Shady Lady” a well known 1955 Hemi Powered Chris-Craft Continental here on Woody Boater. We joined the other boats for a run up the Coeur d”Alene River which was fun.

As we were cruising down the river, we were waving at folks on the shore and as we passed under the bridges along the river, as Deb Salt practiced her unique “Woody Boater Wave”… Deb prefers the Queen style of wave, a fun day with lots of laughs.

When we returned to the docks at the Coeur d”Alene Resort almost nine hours later, the boats were starting to arrive for the big show on Saturday & Sunday.

Another great day on the water with some great friends, traveling over 40 miles on Thursday.

Stay tuned to Woody Boater for more Live-ish reports from the inaugural Coeur d’Alene Antique and Classic Boat Show throughout the weekend.

Texx