Let’s Push Alex Watson Over The Edge!
Seaquel Ile, owned by Cliff & Lyn Orphal …Shhh, I stole this from the Chris – Craft Commander web site. If you click on the photo, I can not guarantee you will ever return. Click at your own risk. And yes there are some for sale. Jesus Christ!
Last night Alex Watson was struck between the eyes with the cruiser bug. He sent out a cry for help to our fellow Woody Boater Bored of Directors for us to talk him out of getting a fat cruiser. First of all Alex, you can reach out to crack hores for help stopping your crack habbit. All we are going to do, is find you some great deals on crack.Now Alex is a sly one, He sent us this great film on Fred Hudson and of course now we all want Commanders. Link to Commander club site. What the hell, it’s like a virus. You just click on play and next thing you know you are slobbering all over the screen once you know the history. Makes Commanders that much cooler.
Then Alex sent a link to Steelcruisers.com.OK, those are cool as hell.
Avantar. A 1948 Steelcraft deluxe sedan cruiser custom rebuilt in 1978-80 by your web host and author of steelcruisers.com. This was the boat that started the whole love affair with these boats!
In 1988 she was newly acquired, re-restored and renamed Humphey Bogart. Humphey was then relocated to Florida and in 1998 the adventurous owners took Humphey on a round trip from Key West to Cuba! The trip landed full coverage in the local newspaper. Click on the image to go to the article
I gots to git me one of those thangs Suzy. I will call it StealSuzy! No? Yes these Steel cruisers have fantastic lines for sure. Dam it Alex.. Stay away from the interneter machine.
The cruiser bug is like the flu bug. Your eyes water up, you drool, you sniffle and the only way to get better is to go buy one! Save our Cruisers!
Go for the cruiser!! Tell the wife it’s a floating guest house for fellow Woody Boaters!! She’ll either agree or it will be your new house.
Buying and restoring one of those can’t be much more expensive than having and raising another kid, and when your done the boat will be there for you to take care of you in your old, XXL age!!
Nice article in Soundings magazine about a 36 Commander Sportfish. There is also one of these that has been on a mooring in Mount Sinai Harbor for the last couple of years. I go by it all the time and have thought of eventually finding the owner and making him an offer. It looks like it is sporadically worked on, maybe I should contact the owners wife instead? No engines and last year an osprey built a nest on its tuna tower. But I’m soooo tempted. Go for it Alex, it may give me the a push towards the brink also.
The video of Fred Hudson is priceless. I can remember working with sone guys like him in the early part of my career at Chrysler. They new how to do everything on their own, without the assistance of computers or any automation, and you better have your act together if you were going to challenge them on their position. It is sad that we have lost those guys, and the talent and much of the personal integrity that they posessed.
BUY THE CRUISER ALEX!
If you are looking for something to continuously suck large sums of money out of your wallet…and you already have a wife and don’t want/not allowed to have another…I would suggest vintage aircraft.
If a runabout is dipping your toes in, a cruiser is like wading in up to your waist. What’s the point? Might as well jump right in to the deep end and get it over with. Getting a vintage aircraft is like jumping in to the deep end with cement boots on. It shows a commitment to go down and stay down in a way a cruiser can never match.
Or, for the “full catastrophe” as Zorba lamented, may I suggest buying and restoring a flying boat! I can put you into a very needy Grumman Albatross (appropriate name?)…..for less than the cost of a restored cruiser….think of the joy of discovering you only have 3 leftover parts from the overhauled twin radial engines……or that 2 years later the hull has almost stopped taking on water….no need to worry about airworthiness….still have years to go…..
Sign me up!
the way the water level in lake huron is dropping alex would be better off with a canoe im glad i no longer own a sailboat just read yesterday where the water in the entrance to lexington harbor is 3 to 4 foot deep and they are having trouble at the boat launches around here cause they have to back off the end of the cement at the launch to get enough water to float the boat
Don’t need a launch ramp with a cruiser. Buy the Cruiser!
Wonderful video. Lots of life lessons in there. Thanks Fred
Alex, I have one cruiser, a 1950 28′ CC, previously I had a 1940 44′ Elco Cruisette. They have drained every last dollar out of my wallet, well almost, I just picked up a 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster. Anyway, if its calling you, go for it! Remember when your wife sends you packing you have a place to stay!! Scooter
How about a real “cruiser”, a 126ft fantail yacht on Craigslist PostingID: 3286982922
no mention of a trailer though. And you could put one of those CC on deck for a yacht tender.
So I log on just now. And what do I see in response to last night’s plea for an intervention? Our beloved host, playing the role of cruiser pusherman!
Et tu Matt?
The comments are what saved me though. Read them again and you’ll see a few themes:
1) Misery enjoys company.
2) There are worse things than owning one. Bubonic plague doesn’t make the cut.
3) “You first.”
4) If you’re ooking for a quick way out of your marriage…
And my favorite…
5) At last, a solution to that pesky excess cash.
Think I need a cruiser litmus test for any new friends. Ordinarily that would be shallow. But we’re talking cruisers here. Surely that qualifies as an exception.
Hmm… I think I am having a case of Déjà vu .Correct me if I am wrong here but I thought we spent significant time last week talking Matt down of the cruiser ledge. Now he’s gone and hooked another innocent! In all honesty if you guys have a jones for a cruiser and you’ve got the extra bucks handy to restore and run the dang thing then just go for it… after all some-one’s got to preserve Fred’s legacy!
Plenty of company on this ledge. Getting crowded up here.
i bought a little chris craft 24 footer one fall and thought i would have it in the water by the next summer, that was four years ago. and matt the connie is back on ebay at 5 g’s.
thomas d — there’s a different ledge for people who went ahead with a cruiser. Don’t look down. It ain’t pretty.
The good news is, Satan gives you folks “Get Out Of Hell Free” passes. The way he sees it, you’ve already served.
Here’s one for you guys! I listed it the other week – it NEEDS to be gone before winter. You know what that means… http://www.antiqueboatamerica.com/ab_list_boatNew.asp?Left=ForSale&Type=ViewBoat&BoatId=31131
WOAH! THE HEADER!! Great argument in favor of the WOODY BOATER LIFESTYLE. Complete with cocktails for all (‘specially the owner). is that Alex’s avatar at the bow, about to backflip over the rail (or be pushed)?
What this thread doesn’t note is that from about noon on the 18th to the start of the ALCS game 4 Alex was sending pictures of cruisers. Even a 55′ Trumphy. It’s over and just a matter of when there will be a cruiser parked in front of his personal marina. Remember, you can always cure your fix with a 35 Commander Sport Cruiser (FDA350001H) that you know where to find. Heck, with the right offer I might even do a rent to own program. Do you have pump facilities? Sue and I would love to most of the summer in Hessel.