Volume 55 Winter 2024
Presidents Message
Jim Cooper From the Wheelhouse
OACBS President’s Message – March, 2024
Happy Daylight Savings time everyone; that means Spring has almost sprung and boating season is on the horizon! We were blessed with a pretty short and mild winter this year; except for the short Arctic snap, which unfortunately, is causing some stress to our wine industry here in the Okanagan. I would encourage everyone to support them any way you can….I know how I can help!!
Another group that needs support in the coming year is US! The Western Canadian Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society needs your support and attendance at our annual boat show on the Father`s Day weekend, Friday June 14 to Sunday, June 16 in beautiful Penticton, BC on Okanagan Lake. We will again be arriving Friday evening at the Penticton Yacht Club and enjoying refreshments and/or dinner on the patio of Rusty`s Pub immediately adjacent to the boat docks; Saturday will be the show, with some additional features this year, and dinner again on board the SS Sicamous, the 200 ft long retired 1914 (yes, it`s 110th birthday this May), stern wheeler a short distance from our show. Please put this event on your boating calendars and join the fun!
On a final boating note, I`ve included a photo of a wooden boat that I encountered on a trip to Praia dos Carneiros, Brazil this January. I have to commend the Captain/Bartender as he was able to control a somewhat rickety Charcoal BBQ on board without incident (at least while we were there) and his mixology skills at 9 am were impeccable.
Jim Cooper
President, WCACBS
Upcoming Events
PNW ACBS chapter symposium April 6 2024
https://www.acbs-pnw.org/event-5568057 Seattle hydroplane Museum
Peachland Classic Car Show Sunday, May 19, 2024
Formally Peachland World of Wheels Downtown Peachland
https://peachlandclassiccarshow.ca/
Burrard Yacht club Classic Boat & Car Show. Saturday june 8 2024
https://www.burrardyachtclub.com/classic-boat-car North Vancouver
WCACBS Boat show weekend JUNE 14-16 2024
Contact Steve Leslie at leslieland@telus.net At the Penticton Yacht Club
PNW Mahogany & Merlot October 4-6 2024
https://www.acbs-pnw.org/event-5568199 Lake Chelan Wa.
Be sure to check out the acbs Calendar of events
OUR NEW LOGO
Special thanks goes out to Rick Wojdak of Axe Graphics. Rick helped us out with a little computer wizardry to fit our new name into the old logo! Thanks Rick!
Rick is a good friend and a graphics artist specializing in hand painted letters, Vinyl, gold leaf, and air brush painting techniques.
New Members
We would like to welcome our newest members Allan Millham of Victoria and Jeff & Corrine Lucas of Seattle.
By Allan Millham
MV Chickadee is a 28.2 foot Grenfell Gulfmaster (Thorton Grenfell, Vancouver designer), built by McQueen Boat Works, Vancouver and launched on March 3, 1954.
This is a professionally designed and constructed vessel of a style popular in the 1950’s. The hull is red cedar and Douglas fir planking on oak, fir, mahogany and yellow cedar structural members. Carvel planked with oak seam battens. The cabin is 1 inch solid Honduras mahogany, the interior cabinetry is ½ inch Honduras mahogany plywood.
She is equipped with full galley including stove, sink and refrigerator, and has a stand-up head with sink and toilet (porta potti). She can sleep 5 in two double beds and a single, and has extensive storage space.
She is powered by a 1966 Crusader 360 engine (427 cubic inch V-8, GMC big block) installed in 1972, fresh water cooled. Engine rebuilt in 1972 and 2004. Power supplied through an Allison Transmission and Walter V-drive. 1¼ inch stainless steel shaft and 16 inch propeller. 22 knots maximum speed, 8 knots cruising speed.
I purchased the boat in 1975 and for the last 49 years have cruised extensively in the Inland waters as far north as the Thurlow Islands and Desolation Sound, Jervis Inlet, Princess Louisa Inlet, the Sunshine Coast, Sechelt Inlet, the Southern Gulf Islands, the San Juan Islands in Washington State and one memorable cruise to explore Barkley Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
She has been a frequent entrant in the Maritime Museum of BC Classic Boat Festival in Victoria.
She has served as a family cruiser, a platform for scuba diving and has been called on numerous times as a tow boat.
The attached photo shows her navigating Boat Passage between Saturna and Samuel Islands against a full flood tide
By Jeff & Corrine Lucas
Hello Western Canada brothers and sisters! Corrine and I live on Tanwax Lake in Eatonville Washington, in the foothills of Mt. Rainier. We have been members of the Pacific NW Chapter for about 10 years but involved with the group for close to 20. Corrine is currently our chapter president and I am her faithful secretary. We decided last year to join our neighbouring chapters to be more informed about goings-on in our greater region.
Our primary boat is an S22, 1948 Chris Craft Custom Sedan, Jitterbug. With a hardtop and a heater it is the perfect Washington/ BC year-round boat. We have pulled her all over Washington, BC and Idaho and are always looking for new waters.
We also have a cottage in the Gulf Islands and spend lots of time cruising the salt chuck as well. We love visitors, let us know if you’re ever in the neighbourhood and we’ll see about getting together.
Ian & Barb on the road
Last spring Barb & I went on a road trip to Yosemite National Park in California. On the way home we drove along the Oregon Coast and then cut across to the I5 and went through the town of McMinnville.
We passed by the Evergreen Aviation museum in McMinnville - the big planes outside got our attention so we went in and had a few surprises. Including a couple of classic boats.
The first classic boat was the Spruce Goose. Howard Hughes’ massive 8 engine wooden seaplane or flying boat. The second classic boat was the Hughes Sportster a 7 foot long wooden row-boat that according to the advertisement was rated for 4 adults or 750 pounds. The extremes of Howard Hughes displayed next to each other. Such a contrast!
Highly recommend if you are in the area. A little south of Portland, a little west of the I-5.
Photos of both below! Looking forward to putting the Flat Bottomed Girl back in the water on Victoria Day in May. Happy boating! IAN & Barb Fraser
Mahogany & Merlot 2023
By far this is one of my favourite events! This always seems to be that one last gasp of summer boating we long for! While its usually getting cold and rainy in Vancouver, the weather in Lake Chelan always seems to be nice and warm the first weekend in October. While warm fall winds can come up we were treated to some unusually flat smooth water that weekend. I love boating in the fall!
This year we met Dave and Jen Cook at the Sumas border crossing and travelled together on hwy 20 (North Cascade Loop) over the mountains. One of the most picturesque drives you can take in the fall. The colours were stunning!
When we arrived in Chelan Dave’s good friends, Bill and Darren Little arrived to spend the weekend with us. Bill and his son Darren were just completing an epic road trip stretching from BC to Newfoundland, down to Maine ,across to Route 66, and up the coast! Over 11,000 miles! Oh and all in a 1952 custom Pontiac! They had lots of stories to share and are a great couple of gearheads!
It was also nice to see Chris and Jen Casparice and Chris and Bart from Absolute Classics come down from Kelowna!
Click on image to enlarge
Friday afternoon consisted of getting the boats launched, checking in, and settling in. Saturday is a full show day with lots of Hydroplane racing to watch! So many people at the docks checking out the diverse array of gorgeous boats! This is a huge fundraiser for the Hydroplane Museum (H.A.R.M.). It was fun watching the hydros run full out and you can even pay for a ride in one! This year it was a lot easier to get in and out and around the race course so we were able to get some boat rides in on Saturday. It is very well organized!
Sunday morning we boated up to Manson on flat, smooth water for Breakfast at the casino and then a poker run. I have to admit, this was my first poker run in a boat. It must have been a lot to organize and was very well done. However all the instructions were written in American and the contingent of three Canadian boats all got the last meeting spot wrong and ended up at the wrong dock to play our cards! It was still an epic day of boating and hard to believe it was October!
I totally recommend you fit this event into your schedule!
Huge thanks to the Pacific Northwest chapter and H.A.R.M. for putting this on!
Some Okanagan History….
Bruce Middleton found this old newspaper article about the great boating days in the Okanagan!
Getting ready to flip
Wade Turner has been busy. As always its the prep stuff that makes for success!
I’ve been building two gantry cranes in prep to flip my 1959 Sangster design runabout. Its been a fun project with reclaimed 50+ year old fir posts. My planer had to work pretty hard on the old fir timbers.
My wife was worried she’d never get to park in the garage again…. Yee of little faith! I have a bit more to do on the set up before trying to lift and flip the boat so more to come!
WCACBS at Vancouver Boat Show
Our club was fortunate enough to be offered some space at this year’s International Boat show. Jan.31-Feb.4/2024.
We thought this would be great exposure for our club and possibly attract some new members! Wow! What a busy week!
Our display received a LOT of attention from the crowd! It was busy with people admiring the boats and tow vehicles!
We talked with so many people. Many with vintage boats! I hope we have attracted some new members!
Bruce & Andrew Middleton brought Rob Reid’s freshly restored 1955 Chris Craft Cobra down for it’s debut showing.The quality of restoration is absolutely stunning! Well done Absolute Classics!
This is my first time helping out with this type of show. We were working with some tight timelines and were able to get two boats there and thought the vintage woody wagon of Rob Reids’ and my old truck would draw people into our display. We had so many people say so many wonderful things about display! It was a very busy but fun weekend!
It took a lot of work to set up, have people there to answer questions, and take down. This was truly a team effort of behalf of our chapter! A very special thanks goes out to Bruce & Glenda Middleton, Andrew Middleton, Bruce Wilson, Ian Devlin, Jeff Crowter, Marty Brown, Kylie B., Dave & Joy Simmons, and especially my wife, Louise.
Even the ACBS was helping us promote the show. https://acbs.org/this-weekend-vancouver-seattle-boat-shows/
Did you know that as a boater….
All watercraft launching into B.C. waters are encouraged to follow the clean, drain, dry approach to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species in B.C., including zebra and quagga mussels. Inspect, clean, drain and dry all gear and boats following use. When leaving a waterbody, remove any visible plants and animals from your gear and boat.
Invasive species of Mussels are posing a serious threat to our waterways. Please learn more by visiting https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/invasive-mussels
Get Involved
As we head into another great season of boating and ACBS events to promote our passion for vintage boats we encourage you to participate and get involved! Its true, our chapter needs new members to grow but what we really need is participation and people willing to help out. We would love to see you!
Once again I will be travelling up to the Peachland Car show on Sunday, May26th for the day. If you want to come along please let me know. I usually leave Mission around 6:00am. leslieland@telus.net
Please join us June 14th-16th for our WCACBS boat show at the Penticton Yacht club. Its a fun weekend! Hope to see you there!
