In This Issue…

President’s Message…

Upcoming Events…

Pick your road trip and come along….

Help Doug Out…

Leagh makes more boats…

Grenfell transformation…

Vintage Racing History…

Thanks Danny…

Former chapter member Nick Jar passes…

OACBS President’s Message – February 2022



We are slowly pulling out of, not only the winter doldrums, but I cautiously think, the worldwide Covid pandemic (fingers crossed). With this in mind, we are all salivating over the possibility of actually getting together in person and carrying on with our classic boating adventures in 2022.

There are rumours and rumblings of several events in the initial planning stages in the Pacific Northwest and the Board of our Society are also at work trying to put a few events on. I suspect there will still be some uncertainty and some of you folks out there may be initially reluctant to travel and mingle again; it will take some time to gain confidence but we will get there.

Enjoy this Newsletter that we have put together for now and look forward to the next edition of Drydock for some announcements regarding activities this summer.

Peachland World of Wheels May 22/2022

We have been in contact with the organizers of this show and they are welcoming us to the docks! Always a fun day!

https://www.peachlandcarshow.com/

Burrard Yacht Club Classic Boat and Car Show June 11/2022

This is a great show with great people! Many of the Captains will invite you to come aboard for a tour of their Antique or Classic Cruisers!

https://www.burrardyachtclub.com/public-events

PNW ACBS Chapter Workshop, Seattle April 9/2022

This is always an informative day with experts from all over the west coast. You will meet some wonderful people and learn a lot!

https://www.acbs-pnw.org/events

Mahogany & Merlot , Lake Chelan October 1 /2022

If you’ve never been then you’ll never understand how cool this weekend is!

https://www.acbs-pnw.org/events

More ACBS events……..https://acbs.org/calendar/

Want to come along?

While everyone including us, are trying to plan events and starting to navigate our summer plans we will be updating you of upcoming events as we hear about them.

I am planning driving up from the lower mainland May 22 to the Peachland show for the day. I’ve done this before, leaving at around 6:00am and driving home in the late afternoon/evening. Its a long day but always worth it. Contact me if you would like to come along or bring your own vehicle and boat.

I will also be attending the PNW Workshop Apr.9, if the federal testing requirement is lifted. Probably just for the day. It would be great to have a group of our club members attend. There’s a rumour our own Bruce Middleton will be giving a presentation!

You can reach me, Steve Leslie at leslieland@telus.net

Fellow chapter member Doug Morgan asked…

If you have room in your next news letter to the group, could I run a few photos with a few questions for the group.

Here are a few photos of a boat that was built in Kelowna BC back in the early 70’s or 80’s. It looks to be a boat built from plans from a home build kit we are thinking. The boat was in the shop of a house we bought and came with the home. The boat was built with a matching custom trailer.

Would anyone know of the plans, year, name of the kit or manufacture ? The boat has been in dry storage for the past 35 years. The entire boat & new motor can not have more then 20 hours on it.

Thanks

Looking forward to spring

Doug Morgan

In Leagh’s Shop…

Leagh Gerllays always keeps busy in the winter building boats! Leagh is smarter than most of us. He has increased production and shop space by reducing the size of the boats!

Starting in April I have a few more varnish maintenance jobs on the “ Woody”, before boating season.
Another long cold winter means a couple more 4 foot plank on frame sailboats in the boat shop.
Leagh Gerllays

 Bruce & Andrew Middleton’s shop continue to produce outstanding restorations and repairs. Wow! What a transformation!

Thought you guys might enjoy these shots of Don Morison’s old boat S’Marvelous now “Excelsior’!!  Quite the change that you have to see in person to really appreciate – this is a big beamy boat and considering it was designed in the mid to late 50’s in Vancouver by Thornton Grenfell. It puts Chris Craft and others to shame!!  Our goal was to add the deck seams (each was routered into the existing deck) to take some of the optical breadth of the boat away and jazz it up a bit.  We also added the darker stain on the covering boards to accomplish the same kind of impression and accentuate the barrel effect at the stern.  I think the results are amazing.  We are still going to add some 1.5” SS transom bands, a SS Cutwater on the bow plus SS trim on the windshield to again give it a bit more bling. To honour Thornton Grenfell we are having custom Grenfell scripts designed – one with the name etched into a SS plate cover on the rear deck (see the trapezoidal area just above the middle of the transom) and some plain scripts for hull sides.  We also removed the two deck rails on the original which we thought not appropriate.   He hasn’t decide yet on whether to change out the upholstery so might stay with the dark green for now.

Bruce Middleton

There are not many surviving pictures of this somewhat interesting local boat. It is said to have sunk near our old home on Okanagan Lake. Not with it's original Hispano Suiza V8 aircraft engine still. Apparently it was re-powered with a Lincoln V12 engine in the mid to late 50's or so when then, I think, still owned by a George Sutherland. Andrew found a newspaper write up - possibly an article promoting one of our early Classic Boat Shows in the early 90's that discussed the Tarpin and some of the colourful characters that were early local boaters in to racing them.

The other boat mentioned is the Anwolek (Kelowna backwards) a Hacker design built in Kelowna by Art Jones for Cliff Renfrew of Holt Renfrew Dept Store family. It originally had a huge Kermath Sea Wolf in it but towards the end was repowered with something different. It sat on the side of the highway near Peachland for years with no buyers until a visitor from Seattle area saw it and bought it in the late 80's or early 90's. It was then restored to a more traditional Hacker look (Anwolek had canvas decks I think and possibly different windshield) in the 90's by Dave Lobb of Northwest Classic Boats. He kept the engine that was with it and installed a big block Ford Marine engine in it which it still has. As one of the more famous local boats of that era - there were not many - we have tried for years to find a local person to buy it back and put it here possibly in a museum but to no avail as yet.

Ladybird when it was put outside of the storage unit it was kept in Nelson. I think it has now been moved to my sister in laws (Glenda's Sister) large shop in Nelson for better protection so might have very good access to it. They are trying to find funds to build a better venue to display it. The new Museum really doesn't have room for it so not sure what they plan. The old Museum had it stuck in the basement on display with other nautical boats, engines etc that had connections to the area. It is not in operational condition and was restored in the 80's by a fellow they brought out from Nova Scotia so not sure how close to original it is. Was originally a Hacker design from the 20's but subsequently was altered to include a step and more aerodynamic deck in order to keep up with the other race boats as things changed over the years. By the 1950's it was no longer competitive and the owner was not young any more of course so it languished in his boat house until after his death in 1966 and his wife donated it to the Museum in 1968 I'm told on the proviso it would not be sold or made operational again which seems sad of course. It remains in the ever dwindling hearts of many Nelsonites who remembered the roar of it's engine as it raced up the lake against competitors including those from Washington and of course the Kelowna area like the Tarpin and the Anwolek.

Bruce Middleton

A message from Danny hinds…

I’d like to start by saying how very much I have enjoyed my time with OACBS
I was first introduced to the club by Bruce and Pete Middleton in the summer of 2005 at an event for the new owners of Verarda Beach on the USA side of lake Osoyoos
We hit it off and as I always wanted a wooden boat since I was I kid in Ontario cottage country in the 1950’s I loved the look and especially the sound of the V8’s
I was setting up a Marina at Veranda beach and wanted a cool wooden ski boat in keeping with the 1950’s theme of the resort
Bruce was able to find me what was to become OPOS ,funny how wooden boats have history one of the previous caretakers was Jim Dickson a OACBS member for years,we enjoy chatting over the years about the good times he had and I was having with the boat
Because I lived in Calgary and was not yet a skilled captain the boat stayed in Kelowna at Absolute Classics for a couple of reasons
Everything we did with the boat was centered out of Kelowna
Secondly as Pete so aptly remarked as I left the shop to go to an event
“open a new work order Danny’s taking the boat out “
Learning to dock a wooden boat is an art and for a long time a mystery to me
Around Absolute I was known as the “King of dock rash”
So it stayed with the boys and was always in top form and ready to go to the next event
And event it did for several years going to every event in the North west to represent OACBS at these events
We made a lot of good friends and thoroughly enjoyed the boating experience
Then hanging out at a Peach land event (and 3 beers in) I mentioned that a cruiser would be a fun idea ,well as luck would have it Bruce knew of one coming to market

So now BOB was found under a cedar tree in Lumby BC and a second saga began
BOB proved to be a larger undertaking than OPOS about also twice as interesting with the added benefit of being able to sleep on it when things didn’t quite go as planned
We also enjoyed our caretaker years with BOB even if my wallet didn’t always agree that it was all just fun and living the boat experience both in fresh and salt water

I have enjoyed myself over the past 16 years in OACBS and 12 years on the executive
But with both boats gone to new caretakers and my life now on Vancouver Island I’m retiring from Classic boating
I have absolutely enjoyed this wonderful time in my life but I feel it’s time to pass the torch to a new member so that they can enjoy the Claasic boating hobby as much as I did by getting more involved in how the club operates
Having a say in the direction in which the club needs to go in the future
To become involved in planning events and help to mould your club through the 2020’s
It’s been a great ride and I will miss the people and the fun but I feel all good things must come to an end and this for me is the end
Thanks again for all the fun and memories I wish you all the best in the years ahead
To all the members who haven’t been on the executive try it ,it’s fun to plan the fun you and your fellow boater will have in the future

I wish you all calm waters and sunny skies
Thanks for the fun
Danny Hinds

Nick Jar Sr.

Some sad news to report about former OACBS member Nick Jar. Nick Sr Passed away peacefully on February 4, 2022 at the age of 69 at Kelowna hospice house in Kelowna BC surrounded by his family after his short battle with cancer.
He was involved with the club probably 10-15 years ago.  He had two Turbo Crafts – one was a US built Bueler and the other a Canadian version called the Dowty. 

Nick owned Okanagan Heating and air-conditioning and served the community for 30+ years.

Photo courtesy Castanet.

As spring draws near and the weather warms, I hope you can all get out and GO BOATING!

We hope to see you as boating events start up again!

Stay safe and have fun!