The biggest problem we have around here is the inside of the Stern ,,,they dry rot sumthin' fierce ,,the Mahogany Hull stays good as long as there's stain on it ,,and once the wood stern is replaced ,,,it's a new boat again ,, Those big Gibson Wood House Boats take the cake ,,inside is every kind of wood you can think of ,,Mahogany ,,Walnut ,,Oak,,Teak ,,Etc ,,Plus All the Chrome ,,Stainless and Br*** ,,a friend has a 32 footer and he works on it constantly ,,but then ,,he's in his 60's and retired and ain't got nuthin' else to play with ,,
There was a company called (I believe) Chris Smith and Sons in the early '20s, and they had a sporty runabout model that Chris Smith's son dubbed the 'Chriscraft'. I believe the year was 1922 when they reorganized into a new company called 'Chris-Craft' and the rest is history. I'm sure this stuff is all online, but this is from memory and I could be mistaken. I LOVE the wooden boats and I want to find one to restore. I'd like a prewar 26' runabout, really the standard by which all other boats are judged.
Beautiful boat! I remember when our plating shop was in Muskegon and then Shelby, we were always rechroming some Chris Craft stuff. Now in IN we have traded regular boat jobs for tractor jobs. I appreciate tractors and all, but I really miss the boats and the lake.
GotGas; i posted this on the other page ,,but ,,Chris Smith built his first wood boat at age 13 in 1874 ,, ,,in 1884 Chris Smith Boats became Chris Craft ,, the reason i said 1917 was because the Boat Shop i bought in Des Moines ,Iowa in the '70's was first started in 1917 and their first line of boats was Chris Crafts ,,
Awesome boat man! Have some fond memories of cruising the canels in upstate New York. My dads buddy had a '65 45 foot chris-craft wooden yacht (?i'm not totally sure of the year or size, I was 15 at the time) we went out on for a few summers. The sound of those two 327s still sends shivers down my spine...
wood boat show in hessell michigan every year,was told first chriscraft dealer in the country was in hessell. 2-300 wood boats is an awesome site.
I was reading sum of Chris Crafts history on Google ,,they also built landing craft for the Navy during WW II ,, There's a 1980-90 sumthin' 50 foot Chris Craft House Yacht here on Table Rock ,,with two 454's ,,in '95 I tried to buy a Chris Craft 30 ft "CAT",,a tunnel hulled off shore go fast rig with a pair of Merc Cruiser 500 hp 454's ,,only trouble was ,,it was in Florida ,,and it was 10 feet wide ,,too wide to tow on a regular trailer to here ,,had to be towed at an angle on it's side ,,the cost was "Outa Site"!!,,
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