Got an itch to get me a classic wood boat!

[spectras only]

So, we had our South Okanagan vintage and classic mini floating boat show in Penticton last weekend. There was a 1954 ChrisCraft Capri that's now for sale. Guy is local, bought a new Cobalt and wants to sell the Chris. I'm very tempted, even though i know the issues dealing with old wooden boats. Only thing I don't like about the Capri, it's a bullnose model
Here are the pictures, starting with the Capri I'm interested.
The last pictures with the pistachio coloured hull is a early 60's 27' Shepherd, stunning restoration.

 

[nameisbond]

I say go for it..... I've always wanted a wooden boat. A good site with classifieds is: http://www.portcarlingboats.com/# should give a good idea on if the price is right or not!

 

[spectras only]

I know portcarlingboats. My friend got his Dodge Watercar from around there.

There were two Dodge boats at our show, one was the 1931 dual cockpit model in my pictures with the green engine in the engine bay. My friend's 1924 developed a slow leak at the stem, so we displayed it in front of the hotel.
Didn't leak last year,lol

 

[RiverDave]

If you don’t like the bull nose I’d wait and get what you want. Personally I like the looks of it!

 

[DrunkenSailor]

I am not a fan of the bull nose either but the wood work on that one is freaking gorgeous. My question is how do you go from that to a Cobalt?

 

[spectras only]

I know these guys who are local in Kelowna. They won 1st place award in Lake Tahoe with a 1942 ChrisCraft they restored. http://www.absoluteclassicsmarine.com/

The Capri ' Copperhead' I posted for sale is $ 27K cdn Just need some TLC.

 

[spectras only]

My favourite is the Baby Shadow that's a true prewar racer. Problem with it though, it has a low profile, and Okanagan lake is choppy quite bit, so it is a wet ride most of the time.

The boat 'Nameless', 2nd 3rd and 4th pic, is cold molded, guy is a gear head from Washington and do most of his work. That boat is a 10 out of 10.

 

[spectra3279]

I love the looks of wooden boats. They are all just classic gorgeous. But they are like marrying a beautiful stripper with daddy issues.



Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[Dkahnjob]

Hi Attila,
Those wood boats are beautiful. But a lot of work! It looks like the one you are looking at has a Chevy 283 or 327. That is good, sounds lot better than the Chrysler flat head 6 that most of them had.
Dave

 

[Uncle Dave]

I love all that stuff.

Nothing screams " I have disposable income" like a real wooden boat.
Like an Italian Mistress- it always wants something, regardless of what you are getting from it.

Myself, I'd be happy with a fiberglass version but it would have to be so well done it looked like a wood boat - indistinguishable from the real thing..and of itself the real thing.

If only there were a place that could do that.....

UD

 

[wsuwrhr]

Reminds me of the boats Danny was doing for a short time. Just sexy.

 

[Spudsbud]

Years ago abuddy had a Woodie. You gotta love 'em. upkeep is nuts. & very expensive nuts at that......

 

[mash on it]

I love all that stuff.

Nothing screams " I have disposable income" like a real wooden boat.
Like an Italian Mistress- it always wants something, regardless of what you are getting from it.

Myself, I'd be happy with a fiberglass version but it would have to be so well done it looked like a wood boat - indistinguishable from the real thing..and of itself the real thing.

If only there were a place that could do that.....

UD

View attachment 689210 View attachment 689211

Check out ventura-boats.com

Merc 496/425 hp

Dan'l

 

[Uncle Dave]

Very cool.

UD

 

[spectras only]

I love all that stuff.

Myself, I'd be happy with a fiberglass version but it would have to be so well done it looked like a wood boat - indistinguishable from the real thing..and of itself the real thing.

If only there were a place that could do that.....

UD

My friend in Ontario Canada still builds those, get your checkbook readyhttps://www.facebook.com/Kavalk-Boats-649829155153454/

 

[boatpi]

Check out a Garwood or Arriva!

 

[spectras only]

UD, latest models from Tony come with swim grid. $$$ but, if you want fiberglass hull with less maintenance, it is the boat for you.

 

[Classic Daycruiser]

Probably spend less on a wooden boat, over your life time, then you would on those girls, on the HTM thread.

 

[spectras only]

Still nothing beats my fave wood boat 'Don Don' by Van Dam boats, as classy, stylish and sleek boats concerned.

 

[Ouderkirk]

So, we had our South Okanagan vintage and classic mini floating boat show in Penticton last weekend. There was a 1954 ChrisCraft Capri that's now for sale. Guy is local, bought a new Cobalt and wants to sell the Chris. I'm very tempted, even though i know the issues dealing with old wooden boats. Only thing I don't like about the Capri, it's a bullnose model
Here are the pictures, starting with the Capri I'm interested.
The last pictures with the pistachio coloured hull is a early 60's 27' Shepherd, stunning restoration.

If you want to go mahogany, you may find them hard to come by. I did a 1941 Chris Craft 16'er back in the mid '80s. It took me almost 3 years to get the thing done. The wood was so FUBAR's in so many places I spent months recreating them and massaging them to fit properly. It was really hard at the time to find 6V electrical system parts then, and there weren't the restoration services out there then like there are now.

I would recommend a 56-62 Century Resorter as something that is fairly easy to obtain and not priced stupid like the Chris Craft will be.

The Lyman is a wonderful boat if you dig lapstrake. The Sheperd was a Canadian brand and it's hard to estimate how many were destined for the US market. They were popular in the Montreal area and on Lake Champlain. They Lyman were more of a western great lakes boat if I remember correctly Lake Erie, Huron, and Michigan.

The key is to go with epoxy as you rework it so that when you're done, you essentially have a fiberglass boat. That's what I did with the 1941. Everything below the white stripe on the anti-fouling paint was epoxy and fiberglass. That way I didn't have to deal with all the "soaking up" issues. What it means is that the boards have to soak up water and swell before it will stop leaking.

 

[Classic Daycruiser]

Also, folks from these chapters usually are the ones putting on those shows.
https://acbs.org/
They have huge amount of data on Wooden boats.

 

[sirbob]

The Rivas are the gold standard in my mind...

But for those that have not won the lottery or are not members of the lucky sperm club, those Capris are really nice I like the lines much better than most of the runabout CCs

I also could see myself in a nice Century Coronado with a hard top - that would be really cool. I like the utility layout in those.

 

[Taboma]

I know these guys who are local in Kelowna. They won 1st place award in Lake Tahoe with a 1942 ChrisCraft they restored. http://www.absoluteclassicsmarine.com/

The Capri ' Copperhead' I posted for sale is $ 27K cdn Just need some TLC.

If you get that one or one similar with the throttle in the middle of the steering wheel be careful --- they can get easily caught up in the sleeve of a long sleeved jacket or shirt as you turn the wheel, especially when docking This can result in a cracked plank or three, a seriously pissed off ole man, a mom in shock and never drove the boat again and a bummed out pre-teen (Me).
First weekend dipping it in Lake Arrowhead after spending all winter re-finishing it, so back on the trailer it went so dad and I could replace some busted planks. I always got stuck with the sanding

I always liked the bullnose Chris's, I thought it was distinguishing from so many other wooden boats growing up. Although my two favorites were the 19' Chris racing runabout and the 21' Cobra.

 

[sirbob]

If you get that one or one similar with the throttle in the middle of the steering wheel be careful --- they can get easily caught up in the sleeve of a long sleeved jacket or shirt as you turn the wheel, especially when docking This can result in a cracked plank or three, a seriously pissed off ole man, a mom in shock and never drove the boat again and a bummed out pre-teen (Me).
First weekend dipping it in Lake Arrowhead after spending all winter re-finishing it, so back on the trailer it went so dad and I could replace some busted planks. I always got stuck with the sanding

I always liked the bullnose Chris's, I thought it was distinguishing from so many other wooden boats growing up. Although my two favorites were the 19' Chris racing runabout and the 21' Cobra.

I also like the Cobras with the gold tail wing! The bummer with those is they only have the front bench.

 

[Uncle Dave]

wow is that cool..

UD

 

[sirbob]

Lots of places that restored & build wooden boats but these guys are one of the top players in this market.

http://sierraboat.com

I spend too much time daydreaming on this site!

 

[DrunkenSailor]

My father in law was into wood boats and had a small mahogany sailboat. The shop that did the restore had all kinds of cool stuff laying around. I wish I would have taken pictures but they had about 15 boats in various stages of completion. They are special and I always stop and watch when I see one. It's part of the retirement plan at this point. I would feel horrible if I didn't have the time to keep one up.

 

[Taboma]

I also like the Cobras with the gold tail wing! The bummer with those is they only have the front bench.

View attachment 689290

They made those in two lengths, an 18' and the 21'. Would appear that guy's got a bit more HP in that one (Guessing by the twin intake scoops) and the added cav plate. My dad and his best buddy ski raced both the Racing chris and the 21' Cobra in the early to mid-50's, both had 50's Hemis. Also both had custom automotive "Spring" front seats to ease the ride since both and especially the Cobra had fairly flat bottoms rear of the mid-section. The later Cobra had more power and had a bad habit of rolling over if you applied to much power coming out of a turn and it happened in a blink. That thing got picked off the bottom of Arrowhead two or three times as a result.
The odd thing was, my dad and I took it out for numerous test runs and did everything to try to make it roll and couldn't, it only happened during races, so the boat got sold.
As a kid I hated that car spring front seat, I was so light I had to hang on for dear life or get bounced right out Of course now-a-days my dad would be jailed for the "Abuse" he put me through, LOL You bet I loved ever minute of that shit, bring it baby

To gain some speed, the 19' Racing Chris was sold to a fellow Arrowhead lady racer in favor of a new 18' plywood Higgins. Her rich-ass dentist husband was a pussy, but that gal had the family balls for sure.
The Higgins had a built SBC and in smooth water was faster, but in the rough the heavy Chris was tough to pass.
During the 56' Lake Mead Overton 75 mile ski race, the Higgins with Bill driving and my dad as mechanic / observer was running neck and neck tied for first next to his ole Racing Chris, with lady Purcell driving, coming across the Mead basin towards the finish.
Dad got pissed cuz due to the heavy chop, Bill kept backing out, yet his son, the skier Kim, was full thumbs up --- so dad bailing wired the twin carbs WFO so Bill couldn't back off Now they're finally starting to pull the Chris, but with the finish line looming, dad grabs both cans of ether starting spray and starts emptying them into the air cleaners, fuck yeah, now we're moving, LOL
They won the race, then spent the night install a new camshaft due to a couple of rather flat lobes !!!!!
That was 50's racing !!!

 

[spectras only]

I'll be waiting out to see how much I could steal the CC bullnose. My friend with the 1924 23' Dodge Watercar also have an early barrel back Greavette with a small Kermath engine that needs to work on the bottom to epoxy it. He has a classic BMW M/C I could restore for him in exhchange for the boat. We'll see if he's ready to part with it
Another guy I know up in Kelowna has a Riva Ariston that is to die for, but he ain't ever will sell that.
The Riva

And the Seasonic Centaur on top he built. 29' twin 496's

 

[KevinR]

Love this thread and photos! Wow.

My dad had this one at Arrowhead when I was a nipper. Sold it and went with a Mandella.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Comitti builds a nice combination wood/fiberglass boat with their Portofino series. Still a Mahogany deck and capable of 55mph.

The lead designer for Mclaren has this in his stable:

 

[sirbob]

Comitti builds a nice combination wood/fiberglass boat with their Portofino series. Still a Mahogany deck and capable of 55mph.

The lead designer for Mclaren has this in his stable:

I was pretty hot on Comitti for a while - I went up to Sierra in Tahoe to look at one and came away unimpressed with their build quality. The wood work was OK but for anybody used to the rigging of a west coast performance boat you will not be satisfied.

Pretty underwhelming - the switches and gauges seemed cheap. over all just left me feeling like I wasted time even looking. Its hard to blend the old wood style with modern updates and have it look good. Even guys like Stancraft who by most accounts build epic wooden boats leave me flat with most of their designs. I won't knock their quality but not a fan of most of their designs.

Here is a copy of the price sheet when I looked at the Comitti a few years ago...

 

[DrunkenSailor]

I was pretty hot on Comitti for a while - I went up to Sierra in Tahoe to look at one and came away unimpressed with their build quality. The wood work was OK but for anybody used to the rigging of a west coast performance boat you will not be satisfied.

Pretty underwhelming - the switches and gauges seemed cheap. over all just left me feeling like I wasted time even looking. It hard to blend the old wood style with modern updates and have it look good. Even guys like Stancraft who by most accounts build epic wooden boats leave me flat with most of their designs.

Here is a copy of the price sheet when I looked at the Comitti a few years ago...


View attachment 689811

Well I hate to hear that. I was starting to get into their boats. I do like the Stancrafts quite a bit but haven't seen one in person. I have been on a couple of Riva's and they are incredible and I believe the hype but not the price tag. This may be my favorite wood decker still:

 

[toyaddiction]

This is a good site with some nice Chris Crafts for sale

http://www.classicboat.com/boats.htm

I picked this 2005 Hogan replica up last year. Its a nice boat with a newer fuel injected Mercury V-6 wakeboard boat drivetrain, so the reliability is nice. I just need to install a closed cooling system so I can take some Newport Harbor cruises.

 

[sirbob]

Well I hate to hear that. I was starting to get into their boats. I do like the Stancrafts quite a bit but haven't seen one in person. I have been on a couple of Riva's and they are incredible and I believe the hype but not the price tag. This may be my favorite wood decker still:

That boat should be on every wood boat guys list !!!

 

[sirbob]

This is a good site with some nice Chris Crafts for sale

http://www.classicboat.com/boats.htm

I picked this 2005 Hogan replica up last year. Its a nice boat with a newer fuel injected Mercury V-6 wakeboard boat drivetrain, so the reliability is nice. I just need to install a closed cooling system so I can take some Newport Harbor cruises.

View attachment 689814 View attachment 689815

Nice lines on that boat.

Are you storing it in Havasu - if so, any issues with it being so dry in the air?

 

[toyaddiction]

Nice lines on that boat.

Are you storing it in Havasu - if so, any issues with it being so dry in the air?

It has been in Havasu for a few years. There are some cracks but they could of been there for a while. I figure its just as dry in Big Bear and there won't be any dry rot as if it was in a humid climate. I am not sure what I am going to do with it. It was always a dream to have a wooden boat and I just like looking at it.

 

[Yellowboat]

Probably spend less on a wooden boat, over your life time, then you would on those girls, on the HTM thread.

Um, girls cost more then any thing else

 

[footer]

I love all that stuff.

Nothing screams " I have disposable income" like a real wooden boat.
Like an Italian Mistress- it always wants something, regardless of what you are getting from it.

Myself, I'd be happy with a fiberglass version but it would have to be so well done it looked like a wood boat - indistinguishable from the real thing..and of itself the real thing.

If only there were a place that could do that.....

UD

View attachment 689210 View attachment 689211

Where's the engine in that thing?