Start Your Woody Boating Adventure With A Little Taste
A primitive hand made boat for the shop. Cost $50
If you are here lurking, and dreaming of owning a fun classic boat, but are not sure if its just a fleeting thing or the real deal. Start small. Like real small.
Tether Boats are the coolest of all the smaller model boats. I could get hooked big time into these
You can of course ramp it up and have fun – Lil Cappy,
Next step, smaller molded plywood boats. Whirlwinds are the most famous. No need to soak the bottom and you can enjoy the passion of varnished wood. Thats a NISSAN 35 4 stroke, 1990’s repainted to look the part.
Sea King with vintage engine, total investment around $300. Yup. THis is an amazing boat that gives 100% fun vibes!
Aristo Crafts are still the bargain of the century. Simple and timeless design. You can buy one brand new or a vintage one. You can visit their website HERE.
Now, this is where the leap of passion happens. From Molded bottoms to plank. You all know how I made it work. Total cost $3,795
Century Palomino. Style out the wazoo. This is a planked bottom. But wow
Smaller Lymans deliver an big bang for the buck.
Cavaliers. Plywood is a great way to get into the slightly larger boats.
And at this point, you are ttally sucked into the Woody World.
Have fun!
You can also come to the Algonac boat show on June 27th. See a lot of classic boats of all kinds and party with the Michigan gang!
I love those Century Palominos, especially with the original cowhide type upholstery! I was bidding on one of those of eBay late one evening, Micheal at Snake Mountain had it listed, and fell asleep before the auction ended. It was perfect! Some one got a great boat at a great price!
I love em too Dan. Thats my Palomino ‘Sparkle Horse’ in the photo and she is for sale. If you’re interested give me a holla.
philip@thegatehouse.co.nz
And these smaller, less known wood boats need to be saved, restored, preserved. Clyde’s were made in a small boat shop of about 3 employees in southeast michigan. Not many were made and they are rare. This is a 1956 with it’s original outboard I picked up for $2k. A 1 owner boat. I feel I am the caretaker of this boat, not the owner. The original family will always be the owners.
Whirlwinds and Wagemakers together…affordability is a big concern today…here are two reasonably priced and readily attainable classics…getting checked out by the guys on an expensive government barge…go small, go now, Go Boating! (going tomorrow) John in Va
Let’s not forget about the Penn Yans. They are fun and inexpensive little wooden boats to own. Here are mine and my son’s Trail Boats. Proudly being displayed at the. Hessel boat show in 2025
Enjoyed seeing those at Hessel.
Mark we are anticipating attending Hessel this year.
Shoot me a text so that we can be in touch and finally meet up.
207-837-3584
That sounds great Troy. Looking forward to it.
You mentioned the Sea King, Wards brand of boats. Also look for Elgins, Sears brand of boat. This’59 Elgin lapstrake was built in Penn Yan NY by Archer Boats.